INDONESIA - BANKING - Asia Islamic Banking Assets Grow 15 Percent per Year

WWW.REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KUALA LUMPUR - Islamic Banking Assets showed geliatnya Asia last year. Estimated growth of sharia banking assets reached 15 percent per year for the next 10 years.
It is inferred by the global body setting standards, which recorded growth of sharia banking in Asia.
Based on data from the central bank, ownership of assets in Malaysia increased by 27 percent over the past year. Until April 2012 the value of assets in Malaysia reached 344 billions dollars. Official state office in Indonesia's growth in assets reached Rp 144 trillion (15.2 billion dollars), or increased 43 percent.
Secretary General of the Kuala Lumpur-based Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), Jaseem Ahmed, said the growing need for increased consumer as a motor of this asset.  (source)

MALAYSIA - REGULATIONS - The IFSB Council Adopts Two New Guiding Principles for the Islamic Financial Services Industry

www.ifsb.com - The IFSB Council Adopts Two New Guiding Principles for the Islamic Financial Services Industry

Manama/Kuala Lumpur, 29 March 2012 - The Council of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) has resolved to approve the adoption of two new Guiding Principles in its 20th Meeting in Manama, Bahrain today. The two documents are:

IFSB-12: Guiding Principles on Liquidity Risk Management for Institutions offering Islamic Financial Services (excluding Islamic Insurance (Takāful) Institutions and Islamic Collective Investment Schemes)
IFSB-13: Guiding Principles on Stress Testing for Institutions offering Islamic Financial Services (excluding Islamic Insurance (Takāful) Institutions and Islamic Collective Investment Schemes) (source)

WORLD - PSIA should not form part of Islamic banks' capital, says Sudan central bank official

www.bt.com.bn - TREATING Profit-Sharing Investment Accounts (PSIA) as "deposit-like" products would expose Islamic banks to credit, market and operational risks, a general manager of the Central Bank of Sudan said here yesterday.

Dr Badreldin Gurashi Mustafa (pictured), the general manager of Banking System Regulation and Development, said that neither restricted nor unrestricted PSIA should form part of the bank's own capital, as outlined by international standard-setting body Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) on capital adequacy requirements for PSIA. (source)

WORLD - REGULATIONS - IFSB revising requirements standard for Basel III framework

www.bt.com.bn - THE Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is revising its capital adequacy standard to meet the requirements of the Basel III framework for financial institutions, the secretary-general of the international standard-setting body said here recently.

The revision to the IFSB-2: Capital Adequacy Standard started in January 2011, following the introduction of the Basel III the previous year, which was a response to the 2008-2009 financial crisis that saw governments bail out major banks across the world. (source)

WORLD - BANKING - IFSB : Islamic banks urged to develop more instruments to manage risks

ISLAMIC financial institutions (IFIs) should develop more products for them to better manage risks, in light of the recent financial crisis that has affected public image and trust in the global banking sector, experts said here yesterday.

The secretary-general of Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) said that Islamic banks were more conservative than their mainstream counterparts and generally had the capital required under the new Basel III framework, which began implementation last year. (source)

BRUNEI - EVENTS - Bandar Sri Begawan, BRUNEI DARUSSALAM Seminar on Emerging Shari`ah Issues in Regulatory Capital and Risk Management in Islamic Banking (Jan 17, 2012)

Category	:	Awareness Programme
Name	:	[EVE00169] Seminar on Emerging Shari`ah Issues in Regulatory Capital and Risk Management in Islamic Banking
Description	:	This IFSB Seminar is hosted by the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam and supported by the Centre for Islamic Banking, Finance and Management, Brunei Darussalam. This one and a half-day seminar aims to discuss Shari`ah issues emerging from the regulatory capital requirement for institutions offering Islamic financial services in light of international regulatory developments such as Basel III. In this respect, the Seminar will examine current issues relating to the utilisation of funding, sources of funds and market practices on the management of risks, and their impacts to the capital regulatory requirement. For more information on the Seminar, please email to Ms. Puteri at puteri@ifsb.org
Start Date	:	17/01/2012	End Date	:	18/01/2012
Venue Name	:	Songket Hall 2, Level 4, Rizqun International Hotel, Gadong
City	:	Bandar Sri Begawan
Country	:	BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
Event Website	:	-
Registration	:	View in PDF

WORLD - REGULATIONS - 71% of Islamic institutions implement IFSB's Guiding Principles on Sharia'a Governance, says Deloitte Middle East's Islamic Finance Knowledge Center

www.bi-me.com - BAHRAIN. Top ranking figures from the world of Islamic finance were brought together during an event in Bahrain supported by Deloitte Middle East’s Islamic Finance Knowledge Center.

National regulators, leaders of the key global industry standard-setter the Islamic Financial Services Board, professional services firms, and executive Islamic bankers joined Deloitte experts to focus on the topics of risk management and regulation of institutions offering Islamic financial services, as well as lessons learned from the global financial crisis.

The event took place on December 13 in Manama and was co-organized with the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) and Central Bank of Bahrain.  (source)

MALAYSIA - REGULATIONS - New Exposure Drafts from IFSB

Exposure Drafts

ED12: Guiding Principles of Liquidity Risk Management
[ ENGLISH]

ED13: Guiding Principles of Stress Testing
[ ENGLISH]

MALAYSIA - REGULATIONS - The IFSB issues two new Exposure Drafts for Public Consultation

ameinfo.com - The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) issues two new Exposure Drafts (EDs) for a three-month Public Consultation period starting today. The EDs are drafts of guiding principles on: 1) Liquidity Risk Management and 2) Stress Testing for institutions offering Islamic financial services (IIFS).

The drafts were approved for issuance by the Technical Committee, in its 25th meeting held in Abu Dhabi on 6 October 2011. The IFSB invites comments from among regulatory and supervisory authorities, international organisations, market players, academics and other interested parties on the two drafts.  (source)

INDONESIA - REGULATIONS - BI Prepare New Rules For Islamic Banking

Jakarta (16 / 9) - Bank Indonesia (BI) will issue two new policies in the form of Bank Indonesi (PBI) for Islamic banking. PBI itself contains the rules of risk management and the fit and proper. This was revealed by the Director of the Directorate of Islamic Banking BI Mulya Siregar said here on Thursday (15 / 9) night. (source)

MALAYSIA - EVENTS - IFSB-FIS Workshop on IFSB Standards for Regulatory and Supervisory Authorities of the IFSB Member Countries (Nov 21-25, 2011)

The Workshop will cover the following IFSB Standards and Guiding Principles:

- IFSB 1- IFSB 2 - IFSB 3 -  IFSB 4 - IFSB 5-  IFSB 7 - IFSB 10 

- GN-1 - GN-4

Participation is by INVITATION only.

For more information on the Workshop, please email to Ms. Yazmin Aziz at yazmin@ifsb.org. (source)

INDONESIA - EVENTS - High level conference - VP : Sukuk balances global portfolio flows

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Vice President Boediono said the sukuk (bonds / Islamic bonds) to balance the flow of global portfolio funds into Indonesia and became an alternative source of funding for infrastructure development in Indonesia. "For Indonesia, the global sukuk market has become an alternative source of funding for infrastructure and other investments. Simultaneously sukuk market was used as a counterweight to global portfolio flows into Indonesia," said vice president at the Joint High Level Conference On Islamic Finance in Jakarta Monday.
According to Vice President, sukuk continues to experience significant development in various countries, not only in Islamic countries. Even China has also begun to pay serious attention to the development of the global sukuk market. (source)

ARTICLE - The Emergence of Asia’s Islamic Finance Industry

By Mercy Kuo, PhD - Islamic finance is rooted in Shariah law, which prohibits interest-based financial transactions, gambling high-risk speculation, and financing any form of economic activity that can be considered detrimental to society. The industry’s modern-day evolution, beginning in the 1970s to the present day, was still considered an infant industry at the turn of the 21st century. (source)

SINGAPORE - Singapore officials rue low understanding of Islamic finance among investors

It has almost become a ritual that there has to be some sort of announcement either by the government, regulator or a financial institution at international conferences on Islamic finance. 

Singapore is no exception. Not surprisingly, Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry, who is also the Deputy Chairman, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) (the financial regulator), announced a few days ago at one such conference in the island state that Singapore will in due course issue new income tax regulations for Islamic finance to provide greater tax clarity and certainty to the industry. (source)

BANKING - EVENTS - IFSB Summit Luxembourg - World Bank declares Islamic finance a priority area

" The presence of Sri Muliani Indrawati, managing director of the World Bank Group, underlined the importance the global multilateral development bank views the Islamic finance industry."

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), the prudential and supervisory standard-setting organization for the global Islamic financial industry, embarked on a new phase of its development which may lead to a review of its mandate to facilitate a wider reach including those countries and organizations that are not currently members of the board. (full story)

INTERNATIONAL - BI seeks House approval for $5m to grow Islamic finance

Bank Indonesia (BI) is seeking the House of Representatives’ approval for $5 million in capitalization funds for the International Islamic Liquidity Management (IILM) to develop sharia financing in Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population.

BI Governor Darmin Nasution on Monday said IILM members comprised 12 countries and multinational institutions, including Iran, Malaysia, Kuwait, Luxemburg, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and the Islamic Financial Services Board (IGFB). (source)

EVENTS - MALAYSIA - IFSB-ISRA - Seminar on Enhancing Shariah Structure and Compliance in Promoting Financial Stability (Jan 24, 2011)

The Seminar is jointly organised by the IFSB and ISRA.

Participation is open to representatives of IFSB member organisations and interested parties. Please register by 21 January 2010 to confirm your seat.

NEW YEARS THOUGHTS - Will dawn of new year take Islamic finance to next level?

By MUSHTAK PARKER | ARAB NEWS

Published: Jan 3, 2011 00:42 Updated: Jan 3, 2011 00:42 

The dawn of the new Hijrah year and 2011 could either signify more of the same as in the last year or a leap toward the first steps to taking the global Islamic finance industry to the next level as Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak's government says it aspires to do.

REGULATIONS - IFSB - Commodity Murabahah and Investment Account Holders (Dec 2010)

The IFSB issued 2 new Guidance Notes :

Guidance Note in Connection with the Risk Management and Capital Adequacy Standards: Commodity Murābahah Transactions (CMT); 

GN-2 aims to highlight the risks associated with Commodity Murābahah Transactions and to guide supervisory authorities in their assessment of their implications with regard to the regulatory capital requirements of institutions offering Islamic financial services (IIFS). In addressing these risk management and capital adequacy issues, the document complements the existing IFSB Guiding Principles of Risk Management for IIFS (IFSB-1) and IFSB Capital Adequacy Standard (IFSB-2), both of which were issued in 2005.


Guidance Note on the Practice of Smoothing the Profits Payout to Investment Account Holders.

GN-3 draws attention to the practice of smoothing the profits payouts to investment account holders by IIFS by highlighting a number of related prudential concerns with respect to corporate governance, transparency, capital adequacy and harmonisation of such practices. The document provides a framework and a number of best practices which will guide supervisory authorities in their evaluation and standardisation of profit payout smoothing practices in their jurisdictions. GN-3 complements a number of IFSB standards and guiding principles, including IFSB-1, IFSB-2, Guiding Principles on Corporate Governance (IFSB-3) and Disclosures to Promote Transparency and Market Discipline for IIFS (IFSB-4).

TAKAFUL - IFSB - Islamic insurance aligns with global rules

The Islamic Financial Services Board has released a standard on solvency requirements for Islamic insurance undertakings to bring it into line with global insurance standards.

There are key differences between Takāful (Islamic insurance) and conventional insurance and the IFSB and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors have been working together to resolve this.