An exploratory study on the understanding of AAOIFI accounting standards for investment in Islamic bonds : the case of Malaysian`s accounting academics

Abstract

For the last ten years, Malaysia has seen a rapid growth in the development of its Islamic Capital Market which includes Islamic Equity Market and Islamic Debt Market. Islamic Private Debt Securities (IPDS) or Islamic bonds as a product of Islamic Debt Market have become useful financial instruments to meet the various needs of business. One of the main challenges for the regulators in Malaysia is to ensure that the application of Islamic bonds is based on the Sharīcah precepts. In addition, it should be reinforced and facilitated by the Islamic financial infrastructure that includes legal and Sharīcah infrastructure and regulatory and supervisory framework. Hence, a proper development of Islamic Capital Market requires a wellregulated Islamic financial instruments and one of the key elements of regulation is accounting regulation. The introduction of Financial Accounting Standard No. 17 by AAOIFI is considered as a commendable effort to specifically address the complex issues of investment in Sukūk. Nevertheless, the conventional accounting standards like Financial Reporting Standard, FRS 132 and FRS 139 do not provide detail guidelines on Islamic financial instruments. A review of the literatures shows a dearth of studies that specifically elaborates on the accounting regulation on the investment in Islamic bonds. Thus, this research is an exploratory study to explore the understanding of Islamic bonds among Malaysian accounting academics and their level of acceptability of AAOIFI FAS 17. Using a self-designed questionnaire, a sample of 224 Malaysian accounting academics in public universities was selected. But, only 67 questionnaires were returned. The results indicate that the accounting academics in Malaysia have only a moderate level of understanding on Islamic bonds. Despite the moderate level of understanding on Islamic bonds, the AAOIFI FAS 17 is highly acceptable by the respondents. Further, factors that contribute to the high level of acceptability of AAOIFI FAS 17 are the understanding of Islamic bonds, academic backgrounds and frequency of attending accounting seminars. All these factors were found positively associated with their perceived acceptability of AAOIFI FAS 17. The only significant factor influences the level of acceptability is professional qualification of the respondents. Since the issue of Islamic bonds is considered new, perhaps the exposure on the current issues of investment in Islamic bonds might lead to a better understanding on the accounting treatment as per AAOIFI standards FAS 17.