CBB Governor to lead discussions at 13th annual WIBC

WIBC 2006 is supported by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), the central bank and regulator of the Kingdom's financial services industry, which comprises the banking, insurance and the capital market sectors.

This year's WIBC will open with the prestigious Governors Table keynote session, titled Regulation & Supervision: Creating a Framework for Islamic Banking & Finance to Thrive on the 10th of December at the Gulf International Convention Centre in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

HE Rasheed M. Al Maraj's inaugural address will be followed by the keynote speech by HE Sheikh Salem Abdul Aziz Al-Sabah, Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait.

The panel session will be led by HE Anwar Khalifa Al Sadah, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Bahrain and features senior regulatory, policy, advisory and industry specialists from key countries, including Dr. Ahmad Jachi, First Vice-Governor, Banque du Liban, Chia Der Jiun, Executive Director: Prudential Policy Department, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Necati Sahin, Board Member, Central Bank of Republic of Turkey, Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, Group Head- Islamic Banking Division, CIMB Banking Group & CEO/ED of CIMB Islamic Bank, and Ozgur Tanrikulu, Partner (Principal), McKinsey & Company.

The Governors Table will be hosted by CIMB Islamic, the Islamic financial boutique of CIMB. Fully equipped with relevant insights into all aspects of Islamic finance, CIMB Islamic offers a wide range of products and services covering Investment Banking, Consumer Banking and Asset Management.

"CIMB Islamic is delighted to host the WIBC Governor's Table and to be associated with the WIBC for the second year running. The Islamic financial system has returned to take its place as a contemporary and mainstream financial system globally and the WIBC has played a significant role in heralding the return. Just like the WIBC, we will continue to do our very best to serve the demand of the market and create value for all our stakeholders as well as for our customers," says Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, CEO/ED of CIMB Islamic Bank.

The panel of international experts will tackle the most significant issues related to enabling an effective environment for sustainable industry growth. Key discussion points for this session are Assessing new regulatory initiatives in key international markets, Impact of regulatory choices on the development of Islamic finance: Comparative analysis of various regulatory systems, Effective regulation and its impact on sustainable industry growth, and Transparency & good governance.

To ensure that this session really probes the key issues from all angles, the Governors Table will be moderated by Dina Salem, Editor & Presenter at Al Arabiya News Channel.