The IFSB Launches Its Third Edition of the Islamic Financial Services Industry Stability Report 2015 in Kazakhstan

20 May 2015, Almaty – The Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, H.E. Kairat Kelimbetov launched the Islamic Financial Services Industry (IFSI) Stability Report 2015 during the Opening session of the 12th Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) Summit on 20 May in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The Summit, which is held from 20 – 21 May 2015 is hosted by the National Bank of Kazakhstan. The first IFSI Stability Report was published by the IFSB in 2013.

The Secretary General of the IFSB, Mr. Jaseem Ahmed, said that, “The issuance of the IFSB’s third Islamic Financial Services Industry Stability Report takes place at a time of continuing concern over a fragile and uneven global economic recovery, and the potential for volatility in the financial sector. Against this backdrop, the regulatory changes to the capital and liquidity framework initiated by the Group of Twenty (G20) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) has seen the issuance of a range of guiding principles by the IFSB, culminating in two standards in 2015, on liquidity management and on core principles.” These standards set the stage not only for the integration of the IFSI into the global economy, but also into the global surveillance mechanism for financial stability.

In essence, the IFSI Stability Report 2015 discusses the following topics:

• An overview of the IFSI as well as updates on trends and developments in the three sectors of the industry –Islamic banking, the Islamic capital market and Takaful. It also assesses the resilience of the Islamic financial system, which includes technical analysis of selected indicators as well as assessment of risks and vulnerabilities in the sectors.
• Initiatives undertaken by international standard-setting bodies to further ensure the stability of the financial institutions and markets, as well as the implications of such reforms for institutions offering Islamic financial services (IIFS). It also reviews the progress of various projects and initiatives undertaken by the IFSB to enhance the supervisory framework so as to ensure stability and soundness of the IFSI.
• Surveillance framework for the global financial system including identification of the gaps in the global surveillance framework in the absence of a set of core principles for Islamic finance, which eventually led to the development of an advanced approach to the assessment of supervisory and stability regimes for Islamic finance. It also tracks the implementation mechanisms undertaken by the global standards-setters, which provide a valuable reference for strengthening implementation efforts in the IFSI.
• Emerging issues in Islamic finance wherein the two issues discussed in the chapter are: (a) financial consumer protection in Islamic finance – in particular, in Islamic finance jurisdictions with growing systemic importance; and (b) the importance of having a global Islamic finance database for financial stability, focusing on the IFSB’s initiative on the Prudential and Structural Islamic Finance Indicators (PSIFIs).

The IFSI Stability Report 2015 aims to contribute to a wider cross-border engagement on stability issues in Islamic finance, while helping to strengthen the building blocks needed for greater resilience.

The IFSI Stability Report 2015 is available for download from the IFSB website, www.ifsb.org.