MANAMA: The National Bank of Kazakhstan, the central bank and financial services regulator of the Republic of Kazakhstan, got the membership of Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).
The signing ceremony marking the membership was held on the sidelines of the World Islamic Banking Conference 2014 in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain.
Signing on behalf of the National Bank of Kazakhstan was Nurlan Kussainov, Deputy Governor, while signing on behalf of AAOIFI was Dr. Hamed Hassan Merah, Secretary General. The signing ceremony was attended by senior officials from both organisations.
“We are deeply honoured to welcome the National Bank of Kazakhstan as a member of AAOIFI and we would like to record our utmost appreciation for the support that has always been given to us by the National Bank of Kazakhstan”.
He added that the membership would allow AAOIFI to work more closely with the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the finance industry in the Republic of Kazakhstan to support continuing development of Islamic finance.
“On behalf of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, I would like to thank AAOIFI represented by its Secretary General Dr. Hamed Merah, for accepting the membership of the National Bank Kazakhstan in this esteemed organization. The membership gives us an opportunity to gain from the international experience in development of Islamic finance industry, to benefit from recommendations of international experts and financial institutions, and to participate in workshops and conferences organized by AAOIFI,” Nurlan Kussainov said.
The Republic of Kazakhstan introduced in early 2009 law and regulations for operations of Islamic financial institutions. This then led to establishment of the first Islamic bank (Al Hilal) and the first Islamic insurance (Takaful) company in 2010. The Development Bank of Kazakhstan then became the first Sukuk issuer in the Central Asia region with its Sukuk al Murabaha issuance in July 2012, denominated in Ringgit Malaysia at the equivalent amount of approximately United States Dollar 76.7 million (or Ringgit Malaysia 240 million). Earlier in 2014, the first Islamic leasing (Ijarah) company was set up in the Republic of Kazakhstan through participation of the Islamic Corporation for Private Sector Development, a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group.
AAOIFI is a leading international Islamic finance industry development body primarily responsible for development and issuance of standards for the global Islamic finance industry. It has issued a total of 88 standards in the areas of Shari’a, accounting, auditing, ethics and governance for international Islamic finance. It is supported by over 200 institutional members, including central banks and regulatory authorities, financial institutions, accounting and auditing firms, and legal firms, from over 45 countries. Its standards are currently followed by all the leading Islamic financial institutions across the world and have introduced a progressive degree of harmonisation of international Islamic finance practices.