The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) held the 16^th meeting of its Governance and Ethics Board (AGEB / the board) on 1, 2 and 8 July 2020, respectively, via video conference to specifically review and finalize the Waqf governance standard (GS 13).

Mr. Farrukh Raza, Chairman of AGEB, opened the meetings and expressed his appreciation to all the members and the secretariat, as well as, the relevant working group for their invaluable devotion and commitment towards AAOIFI’s Waqf standards project, despite their eventful work agendas and engagements.

The Waqf governance standard provides the core principles of governance (corporate and Shari’ah) as applicable to the Waqf and the Waqf based institutions. It includes specific considerations for the setup of the Waqf, key responsibilities and principles for establishing terms of reference of different organs of the Waqf, policies and procedures, guidance on internal control, guidance on transparency and disclosures, etc. Exposure draft of the said standard was issued in 2019 and the same has undergone multiple public hearings and multi-layer reviews, before being brought to AGEB for its final review.

The Chairman of the AGEB, Mr. Farrukh Raza, stated: “Waqf is a key segment in the Islamic economic system and the Islamic social finance sector. I am confident that this standard will contribute towards strengthening the core values of the Waqf and the governance practices as well as enhancing the public and stakeholders’ confidence in the institution of Waqf”. He further added: “AGEB is optimistic that this standard will also contribute to achieving international harmonization in the Waqf sector”.

On this occasion, Mr. Omar Mustafa Ansari, the Secretary General, AAOIFI stated: “AAOIFI initiated the Waqf comprehensive project which comprises the development of three all-encompassing and detailed standards to cater the global industry requirements. The project consists of a Shari’ah standard, a governance standard, and an accounting standard. The Waqf governance standard is presently in its final review stage and it shall be finalized shortly alongside with the Waqf accounting standard”. He added: “I would like to thank the board and the working group members for their tremendous efforts and contributions”.