Driving Social Transformation Program through Islamic Financial Criminology
Islamic
Financial Criminology (IFC) is a pioneering research area introduced by the
Accounting Research Institute (ARI) in 2010 when it was accorded the Higher Institutions’
Centre of Excellence (HICoE) status by the Ministry of Education Malaysia. IFC then became the niche research agenda
that ARI, as a HICoE needs to drive.
The
chosen niche research in IFC is in tandem with Malaysia’s vision to become a
Global Islamic Finance Hub by 2020. IFC
as a concept encompasses two main domains namely Islamic Finance and Financial
Criminology. ARI believes that to
develop a sustainable Islamic Finance Hub, Malaysia must continue introducing
new Islamic finance products as well as be mindful of the potential risks of
financial crimes that could retard the growth of the Islamic Finance sector. When developing a sustainable Global Islamic
Finance Hub, there are various strategic aspects that must be considered. Specifically
for ARI, it focuses on three basic questions.
Firstly, what new Islamic finance products can it propose?.
As a research institute, ARI is looking at
products that could possibly contribute towards Malaysia’s aspiration to become
a high income nation by 2020. Through
strategic collaborations with other industry players, ARI establishes three Islamic
finance-based research clusters: (i) Islamic Microfinance, (ii) Islamic Social
Enterprises and (iii) Corporate Waqaf.
New products developed from these research clusters will be able to
potentially enhance the socio-economic stature and the quality of life of the
Ummah. Secondly,
how can the Islamic Finance sector mitigate financial leakages that could
retard its development?. Understandably
leakages such as money laundering, tax evasion and financial fraud could dampen
the growth of the Islamic Finance Hub for Malaysia. To look at ways to mitigate financial
leakages, ARI develops three financial criminology-based research clusters
namely (i) Anti-money laundering, (ii) Financial Fraud and (iii) GST. It is only by mitigating these financial
leakages that sustainable development of the sector can be achieved. Thirdly,
what steps are taken to promote the Islamic Finance globally?. Any effort towards international agenda must
start right here in Malaysia.
As such,
the first step undertaken by ARI was to establish strategic alliances with
various related agencies such as Islamic banks, Zakat centres, Wakaf
institutes, Religious councils, Islamic universities, JAKIM, IBFIM, Amanah
Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), Islamic Foundations, Registry of Societies, Companies
Commissions Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia, PDRM, RMC, IRB, SPRM and many
others. Next, collaborations are
established at regional and international levels involving entities and
agencies from various countries. To
date, ARI has signed Memorandum of Understanding with countries such as
Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, India, Pakistan, Japan, Korea,
Taiwan, China, Bangladesh, Turkey, Tunisia, Australia, New Zealand, United
Kingdom and the United States of America.
