The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) held the 13^th meeting of its Governance and Ethics Board (AGEB) for the term (2015-2019) at AAOIFI head office in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The meeting was the last meeting of the current board term.

During the meeting, the board deliberated on and approved three exposure drafts for final issuance namely, Sukuk governance, Waqf governance and the revised Code of Ethics for Islamic finance professionals.

The Sukuk governance standard aims to introduce detailed guidelines on sukuk by providing a comprehensive framework for managing sukuk issuance, management during investment and maturity / termination phases. The standard is expected to bring enhanced governance into practice and strengthen the trust in Sukuk markets.

The Waqf governance standard aims to provide the core principles of governance as applicable to Waqf and Waqf based institutions and prescribes the principle-based guidance on the corporate (institutional) and Shari’ah governance. These include the specific considerations for the setup of Waqf, the key responsibilities and principles for establishing the terms of reference of different organs of Waqf, including the proposed organs, guidance on internal control, policies and procedures, guidance on transparency and disclosures, etc. The Waqf comprehensive project for the revision and development of the Shari’ah, governance and accounting standards was initiated in collaboration with Future Investments and the International Institute of Islamic WAQF (IIIW) in 2017. Multiple working group meetings were held to discuss the overall approach and content of the standards.

The revised code of ethics for Islamic finance professionals provides detailed guidance with regards to the ethical behavior of professionals working for Islamic financial institutions (IFIs). This code supersedes two codes of ethics previously issued by AAOIFI in June 1998 and April 2002 respectively.

Mr. Omar Mustafa Ansari, Secretary General, AAOIFI  thanked all the members of the board for their contribution and said,  “AGEB meetings were held in four countries (Bahrain, Jordan, Pakistan, and Oman) with 8 final standards approved for issuance. During this term,13 projects were initiated and 35 public hearings were held in 11 countries”.  He added “I would also like to thank all members and specifically Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Chairman of AGEB and Sh. Esam Eshaq,  Deputy Chairman for providing the direction to the board’s functioning”.

Sh. Esam Eshaq, Deputy Chairman of AGEB said “despite challenges, this board was able to have an exceptional performance during the last four years., and I congratulate the members and AAOIFI’s secretariat for their efforts and hard work”.

The next AGEB meeting will be held after the formation of the new board.