The Role of Shariah Supervisory Board in Legitimizing the Existence of Sudanese Islamic Banks through Social Responsibility Reporting

Abstract

Purpose -This study empirically investigates the function of Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) in legitimizing the social and ethical existence of Sudanese banks through the dissemination of data onIslamic social in annual reports.
 Design/methodology/approach -The paper examines a panel dataset covering the period 2006 – 2015 through the use of disclosure index and content analysis from 150annual reports of Sudanese banks. The role of SSB is expressed from the aspects of Corporate Governance mechanisms (i.e. board size, independency, doctoral qualification, cross- directorship, and the overall effect of SSB mechanisms).The current study employs the multiple regression models by using STATA-13 statistical toolin answering the research questions.
 Findings -The empirical results indicate that the board size, doctoral qualification, and cross-directorship of the members were positively correlatedwith the disclosure degree of Islamic Corporate Social Responsibility (ICSR) in the annual reports of Sudanese Islamic banks, which is in favour of legitimacy theory. Meanwhile, results indicate that, in contrary to legitimacytheory’s assumptions,the independence of SSB members is found to negatively correlate with the ICSR level of disclosure of the sampled Sudanese banks’ annual reports. Furthermore, the overall effects of SSB mechanisms are found to positivelyimpact the ICSR disclosure level. The study’sfindings add new empirical evidence to support the view that social information disclosure by companies is influenced by country- cultural context within which the company operates.
 Theoretical implication - In theory, this paper offers an analysis on CSR in Sudan from Islamic point of view. This paper is vital in view that social responsibility is highly regarded by Islam. Therefore, social responsibility must be adopted by all Islamic organizations, particularly the Islamic banks.
 Originality/value – From the researchers’ perspective, this study is the pioneer thatinvestigates the role of SSB on Sudanese Islamic banks through social responsibility reporting using legitimacy theory.