WIBC Leaderboard 2015: Leading Islamic banks represented in the global financial disclosure rankings

As per the rankings, Malaysian based Hong Leong Islamic Bank lead the global financial disclosure index rankings with a score of 80. Next, on the ranking charts is Al Baraka bank and Venture Capital bank, both based in Bahrain with a score of 69 and 68 respectively.

Middle East Global Advisors, the organisers of the WIBC for the past 22 years, utilises the Financial Disclosure Index as one of the sub-indicators of the WIBC Leaderboard, an industry benchmark that will form the basis of the WIBC Performance Awards 2015. The Ceremony for the Awards will be held at the Gala Dinner of the 22nd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference which is taking place on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd December at Gulf Hotel Bahrain.

The financial disclosure rating measures the extent to which customers and stakeholders are protected through disclosure of ownership and financial information. The index ranges from 0 to 100, with higher values indicating more disclosure.

First in the series of the WIBC Leaderboard performance indicators, the Financial Disclosure Index chart shows the bank’s name (horizontal axis) and Financial Disclosure Index score (vertical axis) of the top 15 Global Islamic banks ranked on the basis of financial disclosure score.

(CPI Financial / 09 September 2015)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com

Islamic finance model to ‘solve income inequality

 The chairman of Turkey's main stock exchange, Borsa Istanbul, said yesterday that the Islamic finance model could solve the issue of income inequality. Speaking at the International Islamic Finance Symposium in Istanbul, Talat Ulussever described the role of Islamic finance in the global economy: "Islamic finance will pave the way for creating a more prosperous and fair world for all." 

Ulussever said the economic term "risk" comes from the Islamic term "rizq," which means livelihood. "So, we can understand the idea of risk sharing as 'rizq' sharing ... Islam encourages people to share their income with others through Islamic customs such as 'sadaqah' [voluntary charity] and 'zakat' [obligatory alms-giving]. All these means of sharing can reduce income inequality around the world," Ulussever said.

This is why the term "Islamic finance" should be changed to "Finance of Islam," Ulussever said. "Instead of a stock market model where only Islamic shares and sukuk - which does not earn interest - are traded, we should develop a system, a model, where all stock market-listed securities could be traded in an Islamic way," Ulussever added. 

The first annual symposium on Islamic finance was organized by the World Bank Group's Global Islamic Finance Development Center, in collaboration with Borsa Istanbul, the Islamic Development Bank, the Islamic Research and Training Institute and the Guidance Financial Group.

The two-day symposium, of which Anadolu Agency (AA) is the media partner, hosted a broad range of participants from academia, policy-making circles and the private sector from both the region and world. Held under the theme "Islamic Finance: A Catalyst for Shared Prosperity," the symposium aims to foster innovation and discussion in Islamic economics and finance.

(Daily Sabah Finance / 09 September 2015)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com