Transparency and bank risk-taking in GCC Islamic banking

Abstract

This study examines the impact of corporate transparency on bank risk for a sample of 29 Islamic banks operating in five Gulf Cooperation Council countries over the period 2013–2016. We construct a transparency index based on several international regulatory documents and we measure the index using content analysis on the banks' annual reports. The results reveal wide variation in terms of disclosure among Islamic banks. Only two countries, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, have a higher level of transparency. We also find a lack of transparency related to corporate governance, Sharia governance and management risk dimensions. Our regression findings using the random-effect GLS technique show that an increase in the transparency of Islamic banks has a significant impact on banks’ stability. Finally, we identify several internal and external variables that impact bank risk, namely size, efficiency, level of deposit, growth of assets, GDP growth, depth of credit information risk and concentration.