12th meeting of the Council of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) in Jeddah

In its' 12th meeting held at the Islamic Development Bank's (IDB) headquarters in Jeddah, the Council of the IFSB resolved to admit 14 new members to the IFSB bringing the total members to 164.

The meeting was chaired by H.E. Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and Chairperson of the 18-member Council, and attended by 13 central banks' governors, 3 governors' representatives as well as the President of the IDB.

The 4 newly admitted supervisory and regulatory authorities' members are the Maldives Monetary Authority (Full member), Maldives Capital Market Development Authority and Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (Associate members) and Ministry of Economy and Finances, Senegal (Observer member).

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which is already an Observer member, has been upgraded to Associate member. The Council also admitted the Islamic Corporation for the Development of Private Sector, which is one of the IDB group, as an Associate member. The nine new financial market players admitted as Observer Members are from Bahrain, Japan, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Sudan (see list below).

Professor Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim, Secretary-General of the IFSB said "The continuous growth of the IFSB membership from organisations across multiple jurisdictions demonstrates the interest and appreciation of the industry in the work of the IFSB. The IFSB 164 members now comprise 41 regulatory and supervisory authorities, six international inter-governmental organisations and 117 market players and professional firms operating in 33 jurisdictions."

He added that the IFSB looks forward to its members participating in the working groups, responding to surveys, providing feedback on exposure drafts, and attending the various workshops and seminars. Participation of members greatly support the IFSB in its' mandate to provide guidance on effective supervision and regulation that assists in enhancing the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry.

The newly admitted members are:

Full Member

1. Maldives Monetary Authority, Maldives

Associate Members

2. Capital Market Development Authority, Maldives
3. Islamic Corporation for the Development of Private Sector Sector, Saudi Arabia
4. Dubai International Financial Centre Authority, United Arab Emirates
5. Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Hong Kong SAR (upgrade)

Observer Members

6. ABC Islamic Bank (E.C.), Bahrain
7. Hannover ReTakaful B.S.C, Bahrain
8. Shariyah Review Board, Bahrain
9. Nomura Securities Co. Ltd., Japan
10. Asian Finance Bank Berhad, Malaysia
11. Masraf Al Rayan, Qatar
12. Allied Cooperative Insurance Group, Saudi Arabia
13. Ministry of Economy and Finances, Senegal
14. Algazeera Sudanese Jordanian Bank, Sudan
15. Farmer's Commercial Bank, Sudan