The National Bank of Kazakhstan, the
central bank and financial services regulator of the Republic of
Kazakhstan, has taken up membership in Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). The signing
ceremony took place on 2 December at the World Islamic Banking Conference 2014 in Manama, Kingdom of
Bahrain.Dr Hamed Hassan Merah, Secretary General of the AAOIFI, said 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.
Nurlan Kussainov, Deputy Governor, Bank of Kazakhstan said, "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 organised
by AAOIFI”.
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 Malaysian ringgit at the equivalent amount of
approximately US$76.7 million (RM240
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’ah,
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.