LL M. (Commercial Law) / It is believed that Islamic banking and finance is currently the fastest growing system of banking in the world. In 2010, Islamic finance institutions reported an estimated USD 1 trillion in global assets, and an estimated growth rate of 15%.1 Many countries have taken notice of this growth, and have attempted to implement measures that will allow them to best reap their share of the spoils. This dissertation will attempt to explain the nature of Islamic banking, its history and development, as well as the main principles upon which it is based. The dissertation will then compare Islamic banking and its Western or conventional banking counterparts as well as advantages and drawbacks of both systems. The dissertation will attempt to provide an exposition of the current regime in South Africa and its impact on the functions of Islamic banks, as well as providing an explanation of how these banks operate within the South African legal framework. The dissertation will also explore the legal systems and regulation of Islamic banks and other financial institutions in other jurisdictions, and also attempt to provide a guide as to whether the South African position needs reform or whether it is sufficient to take advantage of this growing sector of finance ...

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy / Ethical investing has become increasingly prevalent in recent years and mirrors a rise in shareholder activism, consumer ethics and corporate social responsibility. Shariah funds are a subset of ethical funds. The rise in popularity of ethical funds has raised questions as to whether ethical funds perform better than conventional funds, and whether ethical funds are riskier than conventional funds. A number of studies have been carried out in different countries utilising the traditional performance measures as well as factor models to determine the risk profile and returns of ethical funds compared to conventional funds. These studies have shown that the results are country specific and hence each country needs to be analysed separately. The aim of this study is to investigate ethical funds (incorporating Shariah funds) in the South African context. The study examines the performance and risk profile of ethical funds relative to conventional funds utilising traditional performance methods as well as the CAPM model and Fama French 3-factor model. Furthermore, the study determines the factors that influence investors to invest in ethical funds and to examine their investment preferences when choosing between conventional funds and ethical funds through a survey of Muslim investors. Finally, the study examines the role of advertising in ethical fund investment and investigates whether the marketing material of ethical funds is aligned to investor requirements by utilising content analysis to compare the fact sheets of various mutual funds for the presence of factors identified as important by investors. The empirical results show that conventional funds outperformed ethical funds with a greater variability of return over a truncated time period. Both ethical and conventional funds were driven primarily by the market return with no clear style bias. In fact, ethical funds had a stronger beta to the ALSI than to the JSE SRI index. The qualitative analysis showed that the sampled investors perceived conventional funds as offering better returns, but being more risky. The sampled investors were willing to undertake financial sacrifice in order to invest according to their faith. The most important source of information regarding investments was cited as professional advice, followed by word of mouth and advice from family and friends. Advertising came in behind these factors and was not an influential source of information for the sampled investors. The factors most important to investors when deciding to invest in a fund was the philosophy of the fund (i.e. it’s investment strategy or ideology) followed by the risk profile of the fund and past returns of the fund. The content analysis showed that the factsheets of South African mutual funds were aligned to the factors identified by the sample of investors as most important with influencing their decision to invest. Moreover, conventional funds focused more on returns than risk, with ethical funds focusing more on risk than return – thus funds tended to emphasise their strong points most in their factsheets. / MB2016

With the rapid development of the Islamic banking and finance in South Africa, the legal regime of South Africa, must be able to progress at the same rate of development. The recognition of a foreign legal system such as Islamic law in South Africa is challenging and difficult. South Africa, has an interest based insurance legislative framework and this is not aligned with the principles of the Islamic financial system. As a result of this, regulators have taken various measures to develop and promote the Islamic Industry. The amendment to the South African Tax legislation has created an equitable and level playing field for Islamic law. The South African government also has a further obligation which is to develop a legislative framework to govern Islamic law, as well as to enhance the regulatory and supervisory framework. The study of the development of the Islamic legal regime is an important area that aids legal practitioners in identifying and resolving legal disputes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the accommodation of the Islamic law of Takaful under the South African Insurance legal framework. / Public, Constitutional and International Law / LL. M. (Public, Constitutional and International Law)