20/08/19

MIDDLE EAST: The self-governance of financial services firms.

As published on international-adviser.com, Tuesday August 20, 2019.

The Qatar Central Bank (QCB) is looking to introduce central supervision of the Islamic finance landscape.
This follows countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and others in the Gulf Co-operated Council that have already done so.

The Qatari regulator said: “Shariah governance structure of the Islamic banking institutions remains mostly decentralised.

“Individual banks have their own Shariah supervisory boards to oversee their operations and ensure their compliance with the Islamic principles.

“In this context, efforts are in place to harmonise the Shariah regulatory framework for the Islamic banking sector in Qatar.

“This includes, establishing a centralised Shariah supervisory body to achieve greater market-wide consistency and credibility in Shariah governance, in line with the best global practice.

“A consultancy firm has been entrusted with the mandate of preparing Shariah principles and standards that govern the various Islamic banking products and transactions and the legal supervision thereof.”

But more details were not provided by the QCB, including a timeline as to when the regulatory body will be introduced and how it will operate.