Evaluating Qatar Central Bank’s Governance on Islamic Banks in Qatar

Abstract

This paper aims to evaluate the governance of Qatar Central bank (QCB) on Islamic banks (IBs). Related-data will be taken from secondary sources. It is expected that QCB efficiently governs IBs in a way fulfills its unique nature. However, evidence suggests a number of issues in QCB governance towards IBs when looking at various dimensions. In Islamic Financial product dimension, QCB has no clear indications for enforcing its tawaruq-related regulations. This results on the extreme usage of tawaruq by IBs. In the social dimension, while it is suggested by early Islamic economists promoting equity products, such products are very slightly used by IBs in Qatar. The absence of QCB’s regulations to promote such social aspects has led to the concentration of debt-based products. In terms of Sharia governance (SG) dimension, a number of issues have been raised such as the absence of cross-boarding regulations and the proper definition for the qualifications of sharia scholars. It is recommended, thus, to enforce tawaruq regulations properly, to create social-oriented regulations, to fix CG related issues discussed in this paper, and to unify Islamic financial contracts among IBs.

Keywords

• Qatar Central Bank
• Sharia governance
• Islamic bank