Scope of Islamic banking in India

Presenter:

Shaikh Shoaib (MFM – 13)

Anjuman-I-Islam’s Allana Institute of Management Studies

Project on

ISLAMIC BANKING

© 2012 Shoaib Shaikh. All rights reserved.

AGENDA

1 Overview of Islamic Banking

2 History of Islamic Banking

3 Largest Islamic Banking

4 Principles of Islamic Banking

5 Fundamentals of Islamic Finance

6 Performance of Islamic Banks vs. Conventional banks

7 Share of Islamic Banks in Total Banking System

8 Scope of Islamic Banking in India

9 Bibliography


Overview of Islamic Banking

Islamic banking ‎is banking activity that is consistent with the principles of sharia Law and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics.

Sharia prohibits the fixed or floating payment or acceptance of specific interest or fees also known as riba for loans of money.

Investing in businesses that provide goods or services considered contrary to Islamic principles is also haraam

Derived from three sources: Quran, revelation from Allah Sunnah, authentication sayings & actions of Prophet Muhammad (Sallal laho

Alahi Wassalam) Fiqh, Collection of interpretations / rulings / precepts based on the Quran and

Sunnah.


History of Islamic Banking

The first instance of Islamic banking came into the picture in Egypt in 1963. The pioneering efforts by Ahmad El Najjar brought this bank into existence, whose key principle was profit sharing (non-interest based philosophy of Shariah).

By the end of 1976 there were 9 such banks in the country

In 1971, Nazir Social Banks is known to be the first commercial bank in Egypt

The first bank explicitly based on Shariah principles was established by the Organization of Islamic countries (OIC) in 1974, called Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

The biggest change in terms of adaptability came in 1991 when the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) was established to advise on Islamic finance standards all over the world


Largest Islamic Banking

Shariah-compliant assets reached about $400 billion throughout the world in 2009, according to Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, and the potential market is $4 trillion. Iran, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia have the biggest sharia-compliant assets.

In 2009 Iranian banks accounted for about 40 percent of total assets of the world's top 100 Islamic banks.

Bank Melli Iran, with assets of $45.5 billion came first, followed by Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Bank, Bank Mellat with $39.7 billion and Bank Saderat Iran with $39.3 billion.

Iran holds the world's largest level of Islamic finance assets valued at $235.3bn

Six out of ten top Islamic banks in the world are Iranian


Principles of Islamic Banking

Islamic banking has the same purpose as conventional banking: to make money for the banking institute by lending out capital. But that is not the sole purpose either as Islam forbids simply lending out money at interest. The basic principle of Islamic banking is based on risk-sharing

Islamic banking introduces concepts such as

Profit sharing (Mudharabah)

Safekeeping (Wadiah),

Joint venture (Musharakah),

Cost plus (Murabahah),

Leasing (Ijar)

Qard Hassan/ Qardul Hassan

Islamic rules on transactions (known as Fiqh al-Muamalat) have been created to prevent this evil.


Profit Sharing (Mudharabah)

Mudarabah" is a special kind of partnership where one partner gives money to another for investing it in a commercial enterprise. The capital investment comes from the first partner, who is called the "rabb-ul-mal", while the management and work is the exclusive responsibility of the other party, who is called the "mudarib". The Mudarabah (Profit Sharing) is a contract, with one party providing 100 percent of the capital and the other party providing its specialist knowledge to invest the capital and manage the investment project. Profits generated are shared between the parties according to a pre-agreed ratio. Compared to Musharaka, in a Mudaraba only the lender of the money ("rabb-ul-mal") may incur a loss.


Safekeeping (Wadiah)

In Wadiah, a bank is deemed as a keeper and trustee of funds. A person deposits funds in the bank and the bank guarantees refund of the entire amount of the deposit, or any part of the outstanding amount, when the depositor demands it. The depositor, at the bank's discretion, may be rewarded with Hibah as a form of appreciation for the use of funds by the bank.

Hibah: This is a token given voluntarily by a debtor to a debitor in return for a loan. Hibah representing a portion of the profit made by using those savings account

balances in other activities. It appears similar to interest, and may, in effect, have the same outcome Hibah is a voluntary payment made (or not made) at the bank's discretion, and cannot

be 'guaranteed’ It is not time bound but is at the bank's discretion


Joint Venture (Musharakah)

Musharakah is a relationship between two parties or more that contribute capital to a business and divide the net profit and loss pro rata.

This is often used in investment projects, letters of credit, and the purchase or real estate or property.

In the case of real estate or property, the bank assess an imputed rent and will share it

as agreed in advance All providers of capital are entitled to participate in management, but not necessarily

required to do so. The profit is distributed among the partners in pre-agreed ratios, while the loss is

borne by each partner strictly in proportion to respective capital contributions. This concept is distinct from fixed-income investing (i.e. issuance of loans).[


Cost Plus (Murabahah)

This concept refers to the sale of goods at a price, which includes a profit margin agreed to by both parties. The purchase and selling price, other costs, and the profit margin must be clearly stated at the time of the sale agreement.

The bank is compensated for the time value of its money in the form of the profit margin.

This is a fixed-income loan for the purchase of a real asset (such as real estate or a

vehicle), with a fixed rate of profit determined by the profit margin. The bank is not compensated for the time value of money outside of the contracted

term (i.e., the bank cannot charge additional profit on late payments); however, the asset remains as a mortgage with the bank until the default is settled.

This type of transaction is similar to rent-to-own arrangements for furniture or

appliances that are common in North American stores.


Leasing (Ijarah)

Ijarah means lease, rent or wage. Generally, the Ijarah concept refers to selling the benefit of use or service for a fixed price or wage. Under this concept, the Bank makes available to the customer the use of service of assets / equipments such as plant, office automation, motor vehicle for a fixed period and price.

Ijarah Thumma al bai' (Hire purchase)

Parties enter into contracts that come into effect serially, to form a complete lease/ buyback transaction. The first contract is an Ijarah that outlines the terms for leasing or renting over a fixed period, and the second contract is a Bai that triggers a sale or purchase once the term of the Ijarah is complete. For example, in a car financing facility, a customer enters into the first contract and leases the car from the owner (bank) at an agreed amount over a specific period. When the lease period expires, the second contract comes into effect, which enables the customer to purchase the car at an agreed to price. The bank generates a profit by determining in advance the cost of the item, its residual value at the end of the term and the time value or profit margin for the money being invested in purchasing the product to be leased for the intended term.


Qard Hassan/ Qardul Hassan (good loan/benevolent loan)

This is a loan extended on a goodwill basis, and the debtor is only required to repay the amount borrowed. However, the debtor may, at his or her discretion, pay an extra amount beyond the principal amount of the loan (without promising it) as a token of appreciation to the creditor. In the case that the debtor does not pay an extra amount to the creditor, this transaction is a true interest-free loan. Some Muslims consider this to be the only type of loan that does not violate the prohibition on 'riba, for it alone is a loan that truly does not compensate the creditor for the time value of money


Fundamentals of Islamic Finance

The term “Islamic banking” refers to a system of banking or banking activity that is consistent with Islamic law (Shariah) principles and guided by Islamic economics. In particular, Islamic law prohibits usury, the collection and payment of interest, also commonly called riba in Islamic discourse.

In addition

Islamic law prohibits investing in businesses that are considered unlawful, or haraam (such as businesses that sell alcohol or pork, or businesses that produce media such as gossip columns or pornography, which are contrary to Islamic values).

Furthermore the Shariah prohibits what is called "Maysir" and "Gharar".

Maysir is involved in contracts where the ownership of a good depends on the occurrence of a predetermined, uncertain event in the future whereas

Gharar describes speculative transactions. Both concepts involve excessive risk and are supposed to foster uncertainty and fraudlent behaviour. Therefore the use of all conventional derivate instruments is impossible in Islamic banking.


Performance of Islamic Banks vs. Conventional banks

Islamic banks have proved to be a viable and efficient way of financial intermediation in the Middle East. According to a recent IMF study, the probability for Islamic banking to develop in a given country rises with the share of Muslim population, per capita income, and the country’s net export of oil. The distance to the two main Islamic financial centres, Bahrain and Malaysia, does matter for the diffusion of Islamic banks across countries. Islamic banks diffuse faster when a country is closer to one of the above two centres. If the importance of Islamic banks in the economy by assets is measured, in almost all countries having Islamic banks, except Iran, the ratio of credit of conventional banks to GDP is substantially higher than the investment to GDP ratio of Islamic banks, which accounts for less than 20 percent of GDP in most countries

Comparing Investment by Islamic Banks with Credit by Conventional Banks in Selected Countries (average 1992-2006, percent of GDP)


Share of Islamic Banks in Total Banking System in

Selected Countries

“Islamic finance is poised to play a bigger and more central role in global finance.”

Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry, Singapore


Scope of Islamic Banking in India

Even after forty years, since nationalisation of the banks about 60% population do not have access to formal banking and only 5.2 % of villages have bank branches. The financial exclusion of a large segment of the population has far-reaching implications for the socio-economic and educational uplift of the masses. These financially excluded classes would not hesitate in sharing a “return on their investment but they often find it difficult to meet the demand of a pre determined return unrelated to the yield. If finance is available without the burden caused by pre-determined interest rates, it will be a welcome development for the marginalized and also especially for same. Interest-free Islamic Banking can fill up this gap. For Muslims, as per the Sachar Committee report based on census 2001 data, the percentage of household availing themselves of banking facilities is much lower in towns and villages where the Muslim population is high. This is due to a certain mindset prevailing in the banking sector which has categorized Muslims and Muslims dominated areas as Negative Zones as documented in Sachar report. Prohibition of interest and thus for reasons of faith Muslims are away from the conventional banks as referred to in the report of the Committee on Financial Sector Reforms of the Planning Commission headed by Dr. Raghuram Rajan



In the absence of an alternative to the convention based on interest, in the state of Kerala where Muslims make up around 25% of the population of Kerala, which was 31.8 million according to the 2001 Census, it is reported that thousands of crores earned in interest is kept in suspended accounts, as believers do not claim it. Muslims both rich as well as those employed in the Gulf invest their money on gold and real estate which are not productive investments. They also indulge in lavish spending in marriages and other rituals and many of them fall into trap of bogus financial institutions lose their hard earned money The collapse of leading Wall Street institutions, notably Lehman Brothers, and the subsequent global financial tsunami and economic recession, Islamic banking is seriously being considered and has emerged as a possible alternative to the conventional banking because of the followings:

• It is based on Ethical and Socially Responsible Investments (SRI) • It aims at Equity and Justice and leads to poverty alleviation and • It acts to new dimension to assets and actual projects aiming to support real

economic growth instead of financial engineering. • It provides services to under banked populations ignored by conventional banks



In 2005, Government of India asked Reserve Bank of India to examine Islamic banking instruments and constituted a Working Group headed by Mr. Anand Sinha, Chief Manager, Department of Banking and Operation and Development along with senior Bankers from SBI, ICICI and Oman International Bank that came up with its report in 2006 which said: In the current statutory and regulatory framework it would not be possible for banks in India to undertake Islamic Banking activities and concluded that if the banks are allowed to do Islamic banking appropriate amendments are required in Banking regulations Act 1949. Another significant development has taken place in the state of Kerala. Govt. of Kerala under KSIDC (Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation) has taken a courageous and commendable step to form an Islamic Investment company named Al Barakah Financial Services Company, an NBFC after an exhaustive feasible report undertaken by a reputed international consulting firm Ernst & Young. This NBFC will be turned into a global Islamic bank as soon as the RBI accommodates it after an amendment in the Banking regulations. Dr. Subramaniam Swamy has submitted a petition in the High court to stop the participation of the Kerala Government. Admission of his petition has put a hold on the proceedings for the time being.


Bibliography


http://www.wikipedia.org/

http://shariah-fortune.com/history-of-islamic-banking

www.ftkmc.com/newsletter/Vol1-25-sep6-2010.pdf

http://investindia.kotak.com/media/scope-of-islamic-finance-in-india.html

http://www.wikipedia.org/










http://www.ftkmc.com/newsletter/Vol1-25-sep6-2010.pdf



















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Scope of Islamic banking in India