Seminar on Corporate Governance Issues in Islamic Finance

KUALA LUMPUR, February 6, 2008 – The Islamic Financial Services Board, the World Bank Group Corporate Governance Department, and the IFC Global Corporate Governance Forum are organising a Joint Seminar on Corporate Governance Issues in Islamic Finance. The two-day Seminar will be hosted in Manama by the Central Bank of Bahrain on March 11 to 12, 2008.

The Seminar aims to increase awareness of corporate governance issues in Islamic finance, including banking, insurance, and capital markets (particularly collective investment schemes), among financial regulators and market participants. It will be structured around the corporate governance standards that were developed by the Islamic Financial Services Board, with insights from regulatory officials, corporate governance specialists from international multilateral agencies, and industry practitioners.

H.E. Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, and Professor Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim, Secretary General of the Islamic Financial Services Board, will deliver the opening and welcoming remarks.

Peter Dey, Chairman of the Forum’s Private Sector Advisory Group, will deliver a keynote address on the Cross-Sectoral Approach toward Good Governance. Dey served as chairman of the Toronto Stock Exchange Committee on Corporate Governance in Canada, which released a report entitled Where Were the Directors? (also known as the Dey Report) in December 1994. He will be joined by 20 other speakers.

The Seminar’s main objectives are to:

• Highlight corporate governance issues specific to institutions that offer Islamic financial services and to help regulators and market participants improve their understanding of these, especially as the Islamic financial services industry continues to grow rapidly within the global financial system.
• Provide stakeholders an opportunity to exchange views and experience about good governance frameworks and best practices.
• Generate discussion and policy recommendations about strengthening and improving the corporate governance of institutions that offer Islamic financial services, in accordance with internationally accepted standards.

List of Confirmed Chairpersons and Speakers

1. H.E. Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, Governor, Central Bank of Bahrain
2. Professor Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim, Secretary General, Islamic Financial Services Board
3. H.E. Dr. Anwar Khalifa. Al-Sadah, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Bahrain
4. Peter Dey, Chairman of Paradigm Capital Inc. & GCGF Private Sector Advisory Group
5. Former Head of Morgan Stanley Canada, former Chair of the Toronto Stock Exchange Committee on Corporate Governance
6. Professor Volker Nienhaus, President, Universität Marburg Germany & IFSB Consultant
7. Wafik Grais, Senior Advisor, Financial Strategies and Policies, the World Bank
8. Sebastian Molineus, ROSC Assessment and Policy Practice, Corporate Governance Dept., World Bank Group
9. Hiro Tsubota, Regional Financial Officer, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Sector Unit, East Asia and Pacific Region, the World Bank
10. Professor Samy Nathan, Professor of Accounting and Finance, New York Institute of Technology, Bahrain
11. Khalid Al-Bassam, Chairman, Bahrain Islamic Bank, Bahrian
12. Nada Abdelsater-Assamra, Board Member, the Lebanese Transparency Association, Lebanon
13. Sohail Jaffer, Partner, FWU Group, Luxembourg
14. Hamid Yunis, Partner, Taylor Wessing, UK
15. Ahmed Adil, Partner, Ernst & Young, Bahrain
16. Paul Lee, Director, Hermes Equity Ownership Service
17. Stilpon Nestor, Principal, Nestor Advisors Limited, UK
18. Madhukar Shenoy, Financial Services Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Bahrain
19. Dr. Nasser H. Saidi, Executive Director, Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance, DIFC, UAE
20. Anne Simpson, International Corporate Governance Network, UK
21. Dr. Hamid Alamin Ahmed, General Manager, Al Rowad Financial Services, Sudan
22. Professor Simon Archer, Consultant, IFSB
23. Madzlan Mohamad Hussain, Senior Project Manager, IFSB