The Islamic financial services industry currently manages assets in excess of $225 billion and is growing at an annual rate of 15 percent, according to Professor Rifaat Abdel Karim, secretary general of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).
A conference on Islamic banking and finance is set to take place in Bahrain next year. The event, scheduled for March 2-3, 2003, is jointly organized by AAOIFI and the World Bank, with the support of the Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA).
It will be held under the theme, ’Adapting to a Rapidly Changing Regulatory & Financial Environment’. Speaker line-up already includes a minister, three central bank governors, top officials from various regulatory authorities and leading industry representatives.
Over 350 delegates from throughout the world are expected to attend the event, which will discuss and debate several critical issues facing the global Islamic financial services industry.
The main mission of the conference is to provide the most stimulating and effective environment for the dissemination and discussion of current information relating to regulatory issues and accounting, governance and banking practices in the Islamic financial services industry.
The upcoming event, which will be held at the Diplomat Radisson SAS Hotel, is aimed at chief executive officers, decision-makers, regulators, accounting professionals, lawyers, academics and researchers.
AAOIFI, based in Bahrain, is a self-regulatory standard-setting body that issues accounting, auditing, governance, ethics and Shari’a standards for Islamic financial institutions. To date, the organization has issued 43 standards and statements, which are mandatory in Bahrain, Sudan, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and form the basis for regulatory standards in several other countries. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
