IFSB accpets Qatar as a new member<\/p>\n
Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
The newly established Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB)
\nheld its first council meeting and general assembly on Sunday
\nnight and accepted Qatar as a new member.<\/p>\n
The board also elected Rifaat Ahmed Abdul Karim of Sudan as
\nits secretary-general.<\/p>\n
While addressing an international press conference, Rifaat,
\nwho is presently the secretary-general of the Accounting and
\nAuditing Organization for the Islamic Financial Institutions
\n(AAOIF), said on Monday the IFSB's regulations and standards
\nwould be complimentary to the existing Islamic auditing and
\naccounting bodies, adding that they were voluntary.<\/p>\n
\"Our role is to set the standards and it's up to member
\ncountries whether to follow the IFSB's standards or not,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
However, several delegates of the IFSB were pessimistic about
\nits success.<\/p>\n
\"IFSB should at least make it mandatory for member countries
\nto follow the standards and procedures,\" said Mohd. Daud Bakar,
\ndeputy rector of the International Islamic University of
\nMalaysia, Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n
The two-day-old IFSB will start functioning next year.<\/p>\n
\"I am going to leave my present position in the AAOIF and take
\nup my new job at the end of February,\" said Rifaat.<\/p>\n
He also clarified that United Arab Emirates was not a member
\nof the IFSB as earlier reported in the media.<\/p>\n
The IFSB comprising Bahrain, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait,
\nMalaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait agreed on Sunday to
\nadmit Qatar, subject to \"legal formalities,\" the board said in a
\nstatement.<\/p>\n
The first meeting was chaired by Bank Indonesia Governor
\nSyahril Sabirin because IFSB's first chairman, Shaikh Ahmed
\nMohammed Al-Khalifa, who is also the governor of the Bahrain
\nMonetary Agency, did not attend the meeting.<\/p>\n
While revealing the details of IFSB's first council meeting
\ndecisions to the media, including the Jakarta Post, Syahril said
\nall the member countries were optimistic that the new body would
\nsucceed in its mission.<\/p>\n
The council has also appointed the members, chairman and
\ndeputy chairman of the Technical Committee and also approved the
\nbylaws of the IFSB, which are the rules and procedures governing
\nthe board.<\/p>\n
\"We also approved the annual subscription of US$30,000 for
\nfull membership, $20,000 for associate membership and $10,000 for
\nobservers,\" said Syahril, who will take the chairmanship of the
\nIFSB at its next general assembly.<\/p>\n
The IFSB -- an association of central banks, monetary
\nauthorities and other institutions responsible for supervising
\nand regulating Islamic banking -- was inaugurated by Malaysian
\nPresident Mahathir Mohamad on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n
The two-day meeting, which was attended by more than 1,500
\nparticipants from 32 countries, ended on Monday.<\/p>\n
The launch of the panel has been hailed as a significant step
\nfor the global Islamic financial market, which is estimated to be
\nworth US$200 billion with an annual growth rate of 15 percent.<\/p>\n
The board is expected to help develop a uniform application of
\nIslamic Shariah law to financial practices and regulation.<\/p>\n
Among others, the Islamic financial system forbids payment of
\nany fixed rate of returns, which effectively prohibits charging
\ninterest.<\/p>\n
Under risk-sharing principles, Islamic banks instead share the
\nlosses or profits incurred by their borrowers, so they must
\njudiciously scrutinize the honesty and ethics of their clients.<\/p>",
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