Abstract
Over the past sixty years, the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its
disclosure has evolved from its origins in the West to encompass Islamic countries in the
last three decades. In the realm of Islamic Banking and Finance, CSR is both conceptually
and practically integral, rooted in the principles of the Islamic moral economy. This
mandates Islamic banks to actively participate in and advocate for social initiatives,
showcasing their dedication to CSR principles. Additionally, transparent CSR disclosure
in this context is vital for fostering accountability and trust. Openly communicating their
social and environmental endeavours not only fulfils ethical responsibilities but also aligns
with the values of stakeholders, contributing to the development of a sustainable and
ethical financial ecosystem. Despite CSR being active in Islamic Banking worldwide, there
has been a lack of research on the aspect of social responsibility reporting, particularly in
Brunei Darussalam, where most businesses are either government or family-owned, with
no capital market authority regulating such companies, and where BIBD is a public
company. Hence, further research and analysis into CSR disclosure within this context is
justified.
This thesis aims to measure the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure level
of Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD). The study further seeks to examine the motives
behind the CSR practices and its disclosure by the bank. Additionally, it identifies
influential internal and external factors impacting the practice of CSR and its disclosure
of the selected bank. To achieve these aims, a mixed research method approach was
employed, encompassing content analysis, a survey questionnaire, and semi-structured
interviews. Content analysis provided a comprehensive overview of the CSR disclosure
level in the bank’s annual reports, covering ten years from 2012 to 2021. Primary data
were gathered through a survey questionnaire to capture the perspectives of the bank’s
employees regarding their knowledge of CSR and its disclosure, which was then analysed
using statistical description. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews were conducted with
executive staff members and thematic analysis through coding was employed to identify
similar patterns of answers. This study also employed the chi-square test to examine the
impact of three potential factors on CSR disclosure of the selected bank.
The findings of this study indicate that the selected bank is actively engaged in CSR
activities and has a significant track record of disclosure of such activities in its annual
reports. Moreover, it was also found that the bank's employees exhibited substantial
knowledge of CSR, although their awareness of its disclosure within the bank was
comparatively lower. Despite this, the bank has demonstrated social responsibility and
has contributed to poverty reduction through its CSR practices since 2008. This research
revealed that the bank’s motive behind practicing and disclosing CSR was to fulfil its
ethical duties towards the community. Therefore, the initiation of CSR practice and its
disclosure was driven by the bank, rather than being influenced by external pressure,
such as regulatory bodies, as opposed to being influenced by internal and external
pressure. The study makes several contributions: first, as a case study, it bridges a gap
in the literature and offers insight into the field of CSR and its disclosure in Islamic Bank
in Brunei by employing institutional theory. Secondly, the study highlights the motives
behind the Islamic bank’s CSR disclosure in its annual reports. Thirdly, it examines the
impact of internal and external factors on the bank’s CSR disclosure level. The study
emphasises the need for further research on CSR and its disclosure in the Islamic
Banking sectors in Southeast Asia to enhance and compare the level of CSR disclosure
among counterparts and understand the factors influencing and impacting on CSR
disclosure.