Kingdom's status as financial hub hailed

MANAMA: Bahrain's role as an Islamic finance hub and a leader in financial regulation was praised by the chairman of the body represents more than 90 per cent of regulatory authorities.

Speaking at the GCC Regulators' Summit the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) executive committee chairman Jane Diplock revealed the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) had been the first national capital market in the GCC to sign a memorandum of understanding with the organisation on consultation and co-operation and exchange of information.

"I would like to commend the CBB for their foresight and leadership in signing up for the information sharing network of the world's securities regulators."

The MoU was signed on behalf of the CBB Governor Rasheed Al Maraj.

Spain-based IOSCO is the world's standard-setting body for securities regulations.

The IOSCO MoU is aimed at raising the standards of cross-border co-operation among securities regulators and to fight cross-border violations.

"The CBB is delighted to be accepted as a signatory to the IOSCO MoU," said CBB capital markets supervision director Ali Salman Thamer.

"It is an acknowledgement of CBB's status as a credible regulator with strong enforcement capability."

Acceptance as an IOSCO MoU signatory is preceded by a rigorous assessment of the applicant's legislative and regulatory regime, he pointed out.

Of IOSCO's current total membership of approximately 200 international securities regulators, only 44 have so far been accepted as signatories to the IOSCO MoU.

"IOSCO's acknowledgement marks a major milestone in strengthening CBB's regulatory, supervisory and enforcement efforts in the kingdom's capital market," added Mr Thamer.

The acknowledgement follows the Bahrain Financial Sector Assessment Programme report issued by the International Monetary Fund, which confirmed that the standard of securities market regulation and supervision in the kingdom is generally high and is compliant with most of the IOSCO principles of securities regulation.

"Such international acknowledgements encourage us to continue our established policy of adhering to and applying international best practice," said Mr Thamer.