IFSB – FSC/FSS of Korea to organise Seminar on Islamic Finance in Seoul

openPR :The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is organising a Seminar on Islamic Finance on 13 - 14 January 2009 in Seoul, Korea. The Seminar, which is the first for the IFSB in Korea, is co-organised with the Financial Services Commission/Financial Supervisory Service of Korea. The Seminar aims to create awareness of Islamic finance in Korea to facilitate sufficient recognition among its financial community, as well as to highlight the industry’s potential opportunities in the country.

The Seminar will address the following topics:

• Overview of the Islamic financial services industry (IFSI) from the perspectives of for Regulators (banking, capital markets and Takāful)
• Operational and business structural issues in starting an Islamic financial services unit
• Current Sharī`ah, legal and ratings issues facing the IFSI
• Case studies on Sukūk issuance Challenges and opportunities for Islamic finance in Korea
• Islamic Finance: Challenges and Opportunities for Korea

The IFSB has held its series of Seminar on Islamic Finance in various countries over the past three years. The format of the Seminar on Islamic Finance is more general in nature and provides participants with an overview of the Islamic financial services industry (IFSI), which under the scope of the IFSB comprises the banking, capital markets and Takāful sectors.

Professor Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim, Secretary-General of the IFSB said, “These Seminars, held in jurisdictions that have interest in promoting awareness of Islamic finance, provide participants with an overview of the current developments in the different segments of the IFSI. They also explore the challenges and opportunities for the host country in developing its Islamic financial services industry. The Seminars promote the sharing of experiences by industry experts and counterparts, be they market players or regulators, within the industry who have experience in addressing the challenges in the development of Islamic financial services/products in jurisdictions of similar nature.”

The January 2009 Seminar on Islamic Finance in Korea is targeted at regulators, supervisory bodies, financial practitioners, key executives and academics. For more information, please visit www.ifsb.org/korea .

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is an international standard-setting organisation that promotes and enhances the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry by issuing global prudential standards and guiding principles for the industry, broadly defined to include banking, capital markets and insurance sectors.

To date, the 178 members of the IFSB comprises 42 regulatory and supervisory authorities, six international inter-governmental organisations and 130 market players and professional firms operating in 34 jurisdictions. The IFSB also conducts research and coordinates initiatives on industry-related issues, as well as organises roundtables, seminars and conferences for regulators and industry stakeholders. Towards this end, the IFSB works closely with relevant international, regional and national organisations, research/educational institutions and market players.

For more information about the IFSB, please visit www.ifsb.org

Siham Ismail
Islamic Financial Services Board
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Email: siham@ifsb.org
Tel: + 603 2698 4248 ext 119