The Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) held the 27^th meeting of its Governance and Ethics Board (AGEB / the board) on 6-7 September 2022 in Türkiye. AAOIFI also held a public hearing in English language on the exposure draft of the governance standard (GS) “Syndicated Financing” on 8 September 2022 in collaboration with Participation Banks Association of Türkiye (TKBB).

During the AGEB meeting, the board primarily discussed and reviewed the content of the exposure draft of the governance standard on institutional framework for the implementation of ethics. This standard is part of the comprehensive Ethics project that was launched by AAOIFI in 2017. The first outcome of said project was the Code of Ethics for the  Islamic finance professionals which was issued in 2019. The institutional framework for the implementation of ethics standard seeks to implement and facilitate the upholding of ethical values of Shari’ah in the conduct of Islamic financial institutions and their stakeholders. Furthermore, it aims to play a role in securing and promoting the integrity of Islamic finance, boosting stakeholders’ confidence in the industry. The board reviewed the draft, deliberated conceptual matters, approved the exposure draft in principle, and directed the secretariat to incorporate the necessary changes before the issuance of the exposure draft for public comments.

In addition, the board reviewed and finalized the governance standard on Islamic crowdfunding after addressing the comments received throughout the public consultation process and made the necessary changes to the exposure draft.

The Chairman of the AGEB, Mr. Farrukh Raza, stated: “I would like to thank TKBB, all members of the board and the secretariat for their devotion and hard work to AAOIFI’s cause, and for offering time and effort despite their commitments and work arrangements.” He added: “I am pleased with the outcomes of the meeting, and I believe that both governance standards on institutional framework for the implementation of ethics exposure draft and the Islamic crowdfunding final standard will play a significant role in promoting the integrity of Islamic finance around the globe.”

On this occasion, Mr. Omar Mustafa Ansari, the Secretary General, AAOIFI stated: “Alongside AGEB meeting, the visit to Türkiye included meetings with important stakeholders in the industry and we highly value and appreciate the interest of the stakeholders in implementing and adoption of AAOIFI standards.” He added “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our host TKBB for their support and cooperation. I believe support of institutions such as TKBB is vital for AAOIFI in the adoption its AAOIFI standards in respective jurisdictions.”

Mr. İsmail Vural, Acting Secretary General, TKBB said, ” As a leading institution that aims to standardise and harmonise international Islamic finance practices and financial reporting according to Islamic Finance principles, we are pleased to welcome AAOIFI in Türkiye and I hope outputs of the meetings significantly contribute to the development of the Islamic finance sector including both our participation banks and international stakeholders.”

I would like to add that “As TKBB, we updated our strategy plan in 2021 to enable participation finance sector to achieve its strategic goals covering ecosystem development, standardization and governance, effective communication, diversity in product range, digitilization and capacity building to enhance performance of the participation finance sector both in Türkiye and in the wider region and we are looking forward to collaborate with AAOIFI as a strategic partner.”