Central Bank of Iran to Head IFSB in 2017

The council of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) announced the appointment of the Central Bank of Iran’s governor as its chairman for 2017.

“Dr. Valiollah Seif, governor of Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, will steer the chairmanship of IFSB while Fazle Kabir, governor of Bangladesh Bank [the central bank of Bangladesh], was appointed deputy chairman,” reported IFSB’s official website.

According to IFSB, Seif will take over the chairmanship of the international standard-setting organization from Tarek Amer, governor of the Central Bank of Egypt. The new appointments will take effect on 1 January 2017.

The 29th meeting of the IFSB council, hosted by the Central Bank of Egypt, was held on Wednesday in Cairo, Egypt. It was attended by 10 central bank governors and deputy governors of regulatory and supervisory authorities, and 10 representatives from among IFSB members, representing 14 countries and Islamic Development Bank. The meeting was chaired by Tarek Amer.

The Kuala Lumpur-based IFSB was officially inaugurated on Nov. 3, 2002, and started operations on March 10, 2003. It serves as an international standard-setting body of regulatory and supervisory agencies that have vested interest in ensuring the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry, which is defined broadly to include banking, capital market and insurance.

In advancing this mission, IFSB promotes the development of an Islamic financial services industry by introducing new, or adapting existing international standards consistent with principles of Islamic law, and recommending them for adoption.

To this end, the work of IFSB complements that of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, International Organization of Securities Commissions and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors.

The new deputy chairman for IFSB is the former senior secretary to the government of Bangladesh and joined as the 11th governor of Bangladesh Bank on March 20, 2016.

During his 34 years in the Bangladesh Civil Service, Fazle Kabir held key positions in different ministries. Prior to joining Bangladesh Bank, he held the position of chairman of the Board of Directors of Sonali Bank Limited.

As of December 2016, the 188 members of IFSB in 70 regulatory and supervisory entities, eight international inter-governmental organizations and 110 market players (financial institutions, professional firms and industry associations) operate in 57 jurisdictions.

Malaysia, the host country of IFSB, has enacted a law known as the Islamic Financial Services Board Act 2002, which gives IFSB the immunities and privileges usually granted to international organizations and diplomatic missions.