8th IFSB Summit – Enhancing Global Financial Stability: Challenges and Opportunities for Islamic Finance

Kuala Lumpur, 14 December 2010 – The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is organising its 8th Summit which is themed: “Enhancing Global Financial Stability: Challenges and Opportunities for Islamic Finance” on 10-13 May 2011 in Luxembourg. Banque centrale du Luxembourg is hosting the Summit.

The changing facade of the global financial services industry over the last 12 months has been felt in, and impacted, many jurisdictions across the globe. These changes include calls by industry stakeholders for more prudent controls, greater supervision and good governance. The calls also point to greater cooperation among the guardians of the industry be it at the global or regional level. At this point in time, the need for international cooperation in the financial services industry as a key theme in enhancing global financial stability has never been more prominent.

The key challenges and opportunities identified for the Islamic financial services industry (IFSI) to enhance global financial stability will be discussed in this year’s Summit. The topics of discussion will cover the international developments in the financial regulatory landscape and what they hold for the IFSI, the impediments and prospects for regional and international cooperation, development of capacity building to enhance financial stability, as well as issues in transparency and market discipline and information environment.

The one-and-half day Summit aims to bring together an experienced international group of chairpersons and speakers, with a projected audience of over 200 delegates from all sectors of the financial services industry across the globe. The Summit will address the following topics:

• International Developments in Regulatory Landscape: Implications for Islamic Finance
• Financial Stability: Regional and Global Cooperation
• Developing Capacity Building to Enhance Financial Stability in the Islamic Financial Services Industry
• Enhancing Transparency & Market Discipline and Information Environment
• Panel Discussion on Issues in Enhancing Global Financial Stability

The confirmed Chairpersons and Speakers for the Summit are:

• H.E. Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, Governor, Central Bank of Bahrain
• H.E. Yves Mersch, Governor, Banque centrale du Luxembourg
• H.E. Faris Sharaf, Governor, Central Bank of Jordan
• H.E. Rundheersing Bheenick, Governor, Bank of Mauritius
• H.E. Sanusi Lamido Aminu Sanusi, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria
• H.E. Sheikh Abdulla Saoud Al-Thani, Governor, Qatar Central Bank
• H.E. Mohammad Sulaiman Al-Jasser, Governor, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
• Huseyin Erkan, Chairman, Istanbul Stock Exchange
• Paul Koster, Chief Executive, Dubai Financial Services Authority, UAE
• Dr. Tunc Tahsin Uyanik, Sector Manager, The World Bank
• Makoto Utsumi, President and Chief Executive Officer Japan Credit Rating Agency Ltd, Japan, and Former Vice Minister of Finance
• Dr. Philip Wackerbeck, Principal, Booz & Company, Germany
• Paul-Henri Pruvost, Associate, Standard & Poor’s, France
• Professor Volker Nienhaus, Former President, University of Marburg, Germany and IFSB Consultant
• Professor Simon Archer, Professor ICMA Centre, University of Reading, UK and IFSB Consultant

Two events will precede the Summit, a Workshop on Islamic Finance and IFSB Standards for Institutions Offering Islamic Financial Services and Islamic Capital Markets and the IFSB Country Showcases, which the IFSB is organising on 10 May 2011 and 11 May 2011, respectively.

For more information on participation in and sponsorship of the Summit, please visit the IFSB website, www.ifsb.org or email: [email protected]