The IFSB Launches the Fourth Edition of its Flagship Islamic Financial Services Industry Stability Report 2016

Photo 1 – From left to right: H.E. Dr Hendar, Deputy Governor, Bank Indonesia, Mr Jaseem Ahmed, Secretary-General, IFSB and Mr Mohd Zabidi Md Nor, Director, Department of Islamic Banking and Takaful, Bank Negara Malaysia

Photo 2 – From left to right: H.E. Dr Hendar, Deputy Governor, Bank Indonesia, Mr Jaseem Ahmed, Secretary-General, IFSB and Mr Mohd Zabidi Md Nor, Director, Department of Islamic Banking and Takaful, Bank Negara Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, 10 May 2016 – H.E. Dr. Hendar, the Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia, officially launched the fourth edition of the Islamic Financial Services Board’s (IFSB) Islamic Financial Services Industry Stability Report 2016 in Kuala Lumpur today. Following his keynote speech, Dr. Hendar launched the Report during the IFSB Regulator’s Forum held on 10 May 2016, in conjunction with the Global Islamic Finance Forum 2016 (GIFF 5.0). The first IFSB IFSI Stability Report was released in 2013 and has since become a benchmark publication on growth, development and stability assessment of the Islamic financial services industry.

Following the launch, the Secretary-General of the IFSB, Mr. Jaseem Ahmed, said, “The Islamic Financial Services Industry Stability Report 2016 is released at a time of challenging economic times that has led to a moderation in 2015 of the high growth rates of Islamic finance observed since the global financial crisis. Increasing concern about volatility in the global financial system has been a feature in 2015, underscoring the importance of developing robust liquidity infrastructure and strengthening regulatory frameworks for prudential regulation in Islamic finance jurisdictions, which is supported by proactive stress testing and an enhanced set of capabilities for offering financial safety nets. These issues continue to be central to the IFSB’s mission, as is elaborated in this report.”

Various chapters of the IFSI Stability Report 2016 cover the following topics:

• An overview of the IFSI as well as updates on trends and developments in the three main sectors of the industry – Islamic banking, the Islamic capital market and takāful – along with some recent developments in Islamic microfinance sector.
• Assessment of the resilience of the Islamic financial system covers technical analysis of selected financial indicators of the three main sectors of the Islamic financial system in order to identify imminent risks (if any) to its stable performance. It also studies the risk impacts on the Islamic financial system from the current depressed global economic conditions and raises awareness on relevant issues for the ex-ante planning and remedial initiatives by the industry stakeholders.
• 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.
• Emerging issues in Islamic finance wherein the three issues discussed are: (a) Cross sectoral links between various sectors of IFSI and the implications for systemic stability; (b) the implementation of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Regulations implementation in jurisdictions where Islamic financial services are offered. Such development is captured in a case study of Malaysia AML and CFT regulations where they are applied to a dual financial system and (c) Assessing Regulatory Consistency in the Implementation of Global Prudential Standards.
• Box Article Contributions: IFSI Stability Report 2016 has also benefitted through box articles contributed by Bangladesh Bank that includes the examination of financial stability of the Islamic banking system in Bangladesh; and also by the European Banking Authority (EBA) which provides an overview of its work on convergence of banking supervisory practices in the European Union. Additionally, there is a box article contributed by the Secretariat that sheds light on recent developments in the unconventional monetary policy in some crisis affected jurisdictions.

The IFSI Stability Report 2016 aims to provide updates on the trends and development of the industry, initiatives undertaken at the global level to further strengthen the resilience and stability of the financial institutions and markets, as well as emerging issues affecting the stability and resiliency of the industry.

The IFSI Stability Report 2016 is available for download from the IFSB website, www.ifsb.org.