NH-2016-q2

NEWS
NEWHORIZON Shawaal 1437 to Rabi al awwal 1438
IFSB Appoint Iranian Central Banker
as Chairman for 2017
In mid-December the Council of the
Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB)
appointed H.E. Dr. Valiollah Seif,
Governor of Central Bank of the Islamic
Republic of Iran, as its charirman. H.E.
Fazle Kabir, Governor, Bangladesh
Bank was appointed Deputy Chairman.
H.E. Dr. Valiollah Seif assumes the
chairmanship of the international
standard-setting body.
H.E. Dr. Valiollah Seif is a veteran of
banking and finance and was appointed
Progress in Morocco
The Central Bank of Morocco has
approved five requests to establish
Islamic banks. The approvals were
granted to three major Moroccan banks
Attijariwafa Bank, BMCE of Africa
and Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP)
and two smaller lenders Credit Agricole
(CAM) and Credit Immobilier et Hotelier
(CIH). Subsidiaries of French banks
10 IIBI
as the Governor of the Central
Bank of The Islamic Republic of
Iran and Chairman of the Money
and Credit Council in August 2013.
He has also served as the managing
director of major Iranian stateowned
banks including Mellat,
Saderat, Sepah and Melli and has
steered Karafarin, a major private
Iranian bank. He also has some
international experience, having
chaired Future Bank in Bahrain and
Melli Plc in London.
Bahrain Proposes Changes to
Shari’ah Governance Rules
To date Islamic financial institutions
in Bahrain have been able to rely on
internal Shari’ah boards and auditors
to demonstrate Shari’ah compliance.
Bahrain’s central bank has now proposed
changes to governance rules, which
would mean that all Islamic banks would
have to have their operations audited
Societe Generale, Credit du Maroc and
BMCI also received permission to sell
Islamic products. (Credit Immobilier
et Hotelier are working with Qatar
International Islamic Bank. At the
end of February 2017 they announced
the name of their joint venture bank
will be Umnia Bank and said they were
close to launching their operation.)
annually by external Shari’ah experts.
These external experts would have to
be approved by the central bank. In
addition internal Shari’ah scholars would
have to declare conflicts of interest and
step down from any involvement in
decisions where there are such conflicts
of interest.
H.E. Fazle Kabir is
the former Senior
Secretary to the
Government of
H.E. Dr. Valiollah Seif
Bangladesh, and
joined as the 11th
Governor of Bangladesh Bank on 20
March 2016. During his 34 years in
the Bangladesh Civil Service, he held a
variety of positions in different ministries
including as Secretary Finance Division
of the Ministry of Finance. He has
also served as a Director of Janata Bank
Limited between 2008 and 2010 and
Bangladesh Bank from 2012 to 2014.
Prior to joining Bangladesh Bank, he was
Chairman of Sonali Bank Limited.
In addition, Morocco’s finance
minister has said the country will issue
its first sovereign sukuk during the
first half of 2017. The country has
also set up a central Shari’ah board, to
be known as the Central Committee
for Participative Finance, who will
oversee all Islamic transactions. It has
also approved five types of transaction
murabaha, musharaka, ijara, mudaraba
and salam.
Proposed Merger to Create the Largest Bank in Qatar
In late December 2016 Masraf Al Rayan,
Barwa Bank and International Bank of
Qatar announced that they have entered
into initial negotiations regarding a
potential merger of the three banks to
create a larger and stronger financial
institution with a solid financial position
and liquidity to support Qatar’s economic
growth and to finance development
initiatives in line with Qatar Vision
2030. The merger would lead to
the creation of the largest Shari’ahcompliant
bank in the Qatar and the
third largest Shari’ah-compliant bank
in the Middle East with assets worth
more than 160 billion Qatar Riyals and
a share capital of more than 22 billion
Qatar Riyals.
The proposed merger is
subject to the approval of the
Qatar Central Bank, the Qatar
Financial Markets Authority,
the Ministry of Economy and
Commerce and other relevant
official bodies and the approval
of the shareholders in each of
the banks involved.
Banks would also have to disclose
the aggregate remuneration paid
to internal Shari’ah scholars. The
amount of any non-permissible
income would also have to be
disclosed along with the way
in which the banks intend to
dispose of any such income.
If these changes are ratified,
Bahrain will become one of the
strictest jurisdictions for Shari’ah
scholars.
www.islamic-banking.com