Compliance and Determinants of the AAOIFI Financial Standards: Evidence from the MENA Region

This paper analyses the level of compliance of financial disclosure with accounting standards of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and its determinants in Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Islamic banks. Based on 40 Islamic banks in seven MENA countries over the period 2010-2016, the authors used a disclosure index to measure the compliance level and the effect of governance characteristics and the Sharia Board on the extent of compliance with the AAOIFI accounting standards. Results show a high level of compliance (67%). Using the Feasible General Least Square Regression, we found that the presence of women on the board of directors, the reputation of the Sharia Board, and the cross membership of Sharia Board members are key determinants of compliance. While independence of board of directors is significantly associated to reduced financial disclosure. The research contributes to the literature on accounting and the Islamic banking sector. These findings will be useful for regulatory authorities to better- understand the accounting disclosure practices of Islamic banks. Although findings are encouraging, the sample is limited only to banks. Future researches could deal with a larger sample and review other disclosure items to ensure compliance with the AAOIFI standards. Few empirical studies have explored the determinants of compliance with the AAOIFI standards for Islamic banks in MENA countries. Therefore, this work complements and enriches the research in the field in the MENA region. Keywords: financial disclosure, AAOIFI compliance, Islamic banks, governance characteristics, Sharia board