On 12th September 2019, Cassim Docrat, DDCAP’s Regional Director based in Dubai, attended the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) Awareness Seminar on Islamic Finance, co-hosted by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and the Oman Banks Association (OBA) and held in Bank Muscat’s Head Office in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. The event was held under the auspices of H.E. Tahir Salim Al Amri, Executive President, Central Bank of Oman, who delivered the keynote speech. Also present were dignitaries including Sheikh Waleed Khamis Al Hashar, Chief Executive Officer, Bank Muscat and Chairman of the Oman Banks Association, who delivered a welcome speech to guests attending this significant occasion.
The seminar covered various banking issues with a focus on policy making and strategy building to enhance the Omani banking sector, particularly in the area of Islamic banking.
The seminar saw participation from banking representatives in Oman along with global leaders in Islamic finance, as speakers discussed not only IIFM standards but also additional industry development initiatives. The day-long seminar touched upon numerous deliberations on vital subjects such as the Global Sukuk Market and its development and digitisation; the ISDA-IIFM Islamic Hedging Standards; the IIFM-BAFT Islamic Trade Finance Standards; the IIFM Islamic Liquidity Management Standards; and discussions on Global Benchmark Reforms.
DDCAP was afforded the opportunity to be a panellist on the Trade Finance session. The panel’s consensus was that the absence of standard documentation in this and other areas of Islamic finance has hindered the growth of the industry at large.
IIFM is a global entity that regulates trading and capital flows across the full spectrum of Sharia’a-compliant financial instruments internationally by issuing standardized Sharia’a-compliant financial documentation, product confirmations and guidelines for the Islamic financial services industry. Building on this, the Awareness seminar certainly facilitated greater understanding of the product areas referred to above, where IIFM is playing a leading role in developing standard documentation for market participants within the industry with the cooperation of regulators in a number of relevant jurisdictions.