Author: IFSB Secretariat
Affiliation: International standard-setting organization
Organization/Publisher: Islamic Financial Services Board
Date/Place: July 2019, Malaysia
Type of Literature: Report
Number of Pages: 118
Link:https://www.ifsb.org/download.php?id=5231&lang=English&pg=/index.php
Keywords: Islamic Financial Services Board, Islamic Finance and Services Industry, Brexit.
Brief:
The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) issues Islamic financial industry related standards. Three have been issued in 2018, and presently 10 standards exist across the three sectors of Islamic banking, the Islamic capital market and takāful. The report “assesses key issues and provides insights on matters relating to the development, soundness, resilience and future outlook of the global Islamic Finance and Services Industry (IFSI) in general and in the IFSB member jurisdictions in particular.” The report also dedicated a chapter on the regulatory and supervisory developments in the IFSI arising from block chain technology, as well as box article contributions from the Central Bank of Kuwait, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Astana International Financial Centre on the developments and prospects of the IFSI in their respective jurisdictions. The report, indirectly, reminds of the reactive nature of humans by pointing to the fact that reforms arising from the 2008 financial crisis are now being finalized and operationalized, and at the same time “new challenges have since emerged from evolving market structures due mainly to advancements in financial technology, increasing activities of the non-bank financial institutions, as well as increasing cyber risks.” The report indicates that the global economy is facing downside risks including the normalization of interest rates in advanced economies, escalating tension of trade war, currency depreciation in key emerging economies, and Brexit uncertainties. The global financial system is also faced with declining growth, increasing public and corporate debt, and building up of financial vulnerabilities.” However, the IFSI, especially in the past three years, has recorded significant financial growth performance and resounding recovery. “The total worth of the IFSI, which surpassed a landmark USD 2 trillion for the first time in 2017, has further increased to USD 2.19 trillion in 2018 on the back of significant improvement across the three sectors.” However, “the improvement recorded by the IFSI in 2018 is at a slower pace of growth when compared to 2017.”
By: Abdalrahman Migdad, CIGA Research Fellow
