DUBAI: The Islamic Finance trainers have introduced seven more Sharia Standards for the Islamic Banks and Institutions in the United Arab Emirates, calling on operators to hold ‘meetings on regular basis’ to meet industry’s growing demand.”

The launch of the standards, which were developed by the Bahrain based premium Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai on Wednesday was attended by dozens of financial institutions and trainers.

It was announced and organised by the local trainers, Minhaj Advisory and sponsored by Mawarid Finance, Al Hilal Bank, Noor Islamic Bank, Arab Insurance Company (Salama) and Al Khowarazmi College.

The new Shari’a Standards have been added to the existing 41 and the 40 accounting standards.

They are detailed in Arabic “but will be translated in the near future,” said the Secretary General of Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions and a notable scholar, Dr Khaled Al Fakih.

They seven were summarised as: Financial Rights and Its Management; Regulations of Liquidity Management; Bankruptcy, Capital and Investment Protection, Agency in Investment; Calculation of the Profit Transactions and Options of Trust.  

A host of scholars and trainers, all drawn from the Middle East countries, showed the operators how to implement the new standards in their applications.

The Chairman of Minhaj Advisory, Dr Abdul Sattar Abu Ghaddah told the participants more standards are in baking because “the Islamic finance industry is growing rapidly.”

The standards are mandatory in some six countries operating Islamic Banking, but not in the United Arab Emirates. However, they generally “play a significant and noticeable role in supporting the Islamic finance sector and industry,” said the General Manager of Minhaj Advisory, Dr Amin Fateh.

He called upon regulators to keep meeting on a regular basis.

“These standards have helped Islamic financial institutions throughout the world to ensure that the products and services they offer are complied with Shari’a,” he noted.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mawarid Finance, Mohamed Al Nueimi said that since the inception of his organisation, “it has been adopting the standards of AAOIFI in all the applications.”

The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions was established in 1990 and based in Bahrain.

It is an Islamic international independent non-for-profit corporate body that develops accounting, auditing, governance, ethics and Shari’a standards for Islamic financial institutions and the industry and to professional qualification programmes (notably Certified Islamic Professional Accountant -CIPA, the Certified Shari’a Adviser and Auditor -CSAA).