IFSB membership increases to 94

These include 22 regulatory & supervisory authorities as well as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, Bank for International Settlements, the Islamic Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and 67 financial institutions from 17 countries.

The newly admitted members are:
Associate Member
1. Malaysia Deposit Insurance Corporation, Malaysia
Observer Members:
2. Ahli United Bank, Bahrain
3. Perbadanan Tabung Amanah Islam Brunei, Brunei Darusaalam
4. The Islamic Insurance Co. Plc, Jordan
5. Osoul Leasing and Finance Company, Kuwait and
6. Al Baraka Bank Lebanon.

The Council of the IFSB has recently amended its Articles of Agreement to enable the insurance and securities regulatory authorities to join IFSB as Full Members. With this amendment, Full Membership is now available to:
i) Supervisory authorities responsible for the supervision of banking, securities and insurance or takaful industry of each sovereign that recognises Islamic financial services, whether by legislation or by established practice, and
ii) inter-governmental organisations that have an explicit mandate for promoting Islamic finance markets.

The inclusion of the securities and insurance/takaful industry players in the IFSB's scope has broadened the focus of IFSB - allowing it to initiate the development of industry standards encompassing the whole spectrum of Islamic financial services. The IFSB is expected to issue its Guiding Principles of Corporate Governance in November this year and has recently established a working group to develop standards for Corporate Governance in Takaful Operations.