The financial tsunami of 2008 emphasized the fragility of a debt-based financial system. Numerous international banks have had their reputations tarnished by the credit crisis, and investors’ confidence in debt instruments and debt financing has since waned. On the other hand, Islamic banks, which operate on principles such as risk sharing, trust, transparency and the upholding of Islamic values to promote equality and social welfare, have remained largely unscathed. This success has lured a growing number of investors to the non-debt, equity-based domain of Islamic finance.  

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Globalization & Islamic Finance: Convergence, Prospects and Challenges (ISBN: 978-0-470-82349-1) is the first serious attempt to study the affiliation between the current trend of globalization and the development of Islamic finance. It explores the potential asymptotic convergence of Islamic and conventional finance as these systems continue to design and develop better risk-sharing structures and an expanded medley of financial instruments.

The crisis has intensified the quest for a reformation of the international financial architecture, toward a system with greater reliance on equity financing and risk sharing. As it would appear that Islamic finance and financial globalization share a common objective of achieving maximum risk sharing, it is plausible that conventional and Islamic finance converge as we continue down this path.

Written by three well-respected authors and voices in this field, Professor Hossein Askari, Dr. Zamir Iqbal and Dr. Abbas Mirakhor share innovative thoughts on the future of Islamic finance in the wake of globalization as well as the legal, institutional, governance and financial preconditions that must exist for this institution to succeed. This book will be an important read for practitioners, academics and anyone with an interest in the impact of globalization on Islamic finance and its portents for the future.

Globalization & Islamic Finance: Convergence, Prospects and Challenges

Published by John Wiley & Sons

Publication Date: October 22, 2009

US$49.95; Cloth; 240 pp.; ISBN: 978-0-470-82349-1