Global: Reza Baqir appointed as chairman Council of Islamic Financial Services Board

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir has been appointed as the Chairman of the Council of Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), Malaysia, for the year 2022.

According to a recent statement issued by the central bank, Baqir’s appointment was approved by the IFSB Council in its 39th meeting held on December 9, 2021, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It is pertinent to mention here that he had been earlier serving as the deputy chairman of the IFSB council for the year 2021.

The IFSB is an international standard-setting organisation that promotes and enhances the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry by issuing global prudential standards and guiding principles for the industry, broadly defined to include banking, capital markets and insurance sectors.

The statement further mentioned that Baqir will also be serving as the Chairman of the IFSB General Assembly — the representative body of all the members of the IFSB — for the year 2022.

Speaking on the occasion, the SBP governor said he aspires to help IFSB realise its mandate and “continue providing high-quality intellectual guidance to the global Islamic finance industry as envisaged in IFSB’s forward-looking and ambitious Strategic Performance Plan 2022-24.”

Baqir pledged to transform the board as one of the most progressive and robust standard-setting bodies globally.

The statement revealed that IFSB Council is the senior executive and policymaking body of the IFSB. It consists of one representative each from a full member of the IFSB, comprising senior executives from leading regulatory and supervisory authorities on Islamic finance.

Currently, there are 187 members of the IFSB, which comprise 81 regulatory and supervisory authorities, 10 international inter-governmental organisations, and 96 market players (financial institutions, professional firms, industry associations and stock exchanges) operating in 57 jurisdictions.

According to IFSB’s global Islamic financial services stability report 2021, the total worth of the Islamic Financial Services Industry (Islamic Banking, Islamic Capital Markets and Takaful) is estimated at $2.7 trillion in 2020.

It is pertinent to mention here that SBP being the founding and full member of IFSB has played an active role in achieving the objectives of the IFSB through representation on its various forums.

In Pakistan, currently, there are five full-fledged Islamic banks and 17 conventional banks operating with standalone Islamic banking branches offering a wide array of Shariah-compliant financial solutions.

“As of June 2021, the market share of the Islamic banking industry assets and deposits in the overall banking sector stood at 17% and 18.7% respectively and the branch network of Islamic banking institutions comprises over 3,583 branches and 1,562 windows,” the statement read.