Does Shari’ah supervisory board characteristics affect Islamic banks’ financial performance? Evidence from Saudi Arabia

Shari’ah (Islamic law) governance has drawn considerable interest in the past few decades in an effort to enhance the outcomes and prolonged success of banks that follow the Islamic banking system. There is widespread awareness that Shari’ah governance enhances public trust in the integrity, management, and business functioning of Islamic banks and prevents any financial crisis that could affect the performance of banks. The current study has a primary objective to analyze the influence of Shari’ah Supervisory Board (SSB) characteristics upon the financial performance of the banks that follow the Islamic banking system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) based on features possessed by the SSB. The data considered for the period spans between 2013 and 2022 and focuses on four fully-fledged Islamic banks operating in the KSA. The Authors collected the annual reports of the banks to extract the financial data and analyzed it under descriptive statistical analysis. Further, an ordinary least square regression model was also applied in this study. The analytical outcomes reveal that the independence and the experience of the Shari’ah board exert a remarkable influence on the financial performance of the Islamic banks whereas the size of the Shari’ah board has no significant influence to note. The study suggests that the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) should accelerate the incorporation of the Shari’ah governance framework in the banks that follow the Islamic banking system. Therefore, there is an urgent need to establish a central SSB to coordinate the efforts of the committees of Saudi local banks and provide the necessary technical assistance for implementing optimal Shari’ah governance practices.