Islamic Finance Standard-Setting Bodies IFSB and AAOIFI Join Forces to Strengthen the Development and Resilience of the Islamic Financial Services Industry

23 October 2018, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), represented by Dr. Bello Lawal Danbatta, Secretary-General, and the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), represented by Mr. Omar Mustafa Ansari, Acting Secretary-General, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today to facilitate international cooperation between the two organisations to jointly undertake technical activities relating to development and revision of prudential, Sharīʿah, accounting and governance standards as well as for raising awareness on emerging issues in the Islamic financial services industry.

With the aim of providing guidance to members of both organisations as well as to coordinate efforts for strengthening the development of the Islamic financial services industry, areas of cooperation under the MoU between the IFSB and AAOIFI include:

• Development and revision of prudential, Sharīʿah, accounting and governance standards on areas of mutual interest
  Collaboration includes joint initiatives in activities for developing and revising prudential, Sharīʿah, accounting and governance standards on areas of mutual interest, as well as supporting activities of either organisation through circulation of research materials and exposure drafts to the combined membership.
• Promote the implementation of prudential, Sharīʿah, accounting and governance standards to facilitate the development of the Islamic financial services industry
  Collaboration includes organising of joint workshops, providing expertise for technical assistance missions as well as coordinated policy dialogues to regulatory and supervisory authorities in the member jurisdictions.
• Enhance awareness through knowledge sharing and organisation of executive programmes, workshops, conferences, seminars etc.
  Collaboration includes exchange of information and knowledge-sharing activities to benefit from each organisation’s experiences and expertise. These also include promotion and dissemination of any work related to standards or research as well as enhance outreach to respective member jurisdictions for creating awareness through jointly organising and hosting of international conferences, seminars and forums on areas of mutual interest.

At the occasion, Dr. Bello Lawal Danbatta said, “this MoU between the IFSB and AAOIFI paves way for strengthening coordination and combining efforts for the sustained growth, development and resilience of the Islamic financial services industry. The IFSB and AAOIFI have each been actively promoting the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry through various activities in line with their respective mandates. The MoU going forward provides an excellent opportunity for both standard-setting bodies to consolidate their efforts and provide the Islamic finance stakeholders with more harmonised guidelines and standards.”

Mr. Omar Mustafa Ansari added, “the collaboration between the two major standard setting bodies of the Islamic financial services industry (by way of signing this MoU) is a landmark step which was a need of time and a greater need for times to come. The industry must have its footings on strong and sustainable principles and both the institutions need to strive for that together.”