Islamic financial services board admits NDIC

The Council of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) which has its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has admitted the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) as a full member of the board.

The NDIC joins the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as the other Nigerian institution on the Board of the IFSB. The approval for the membership of the NDIC was conveyed to the Corporation via mail dated Tuesday, 6th December, 2018 which was subsequently posted on the website of the IFSB.

The decision to admit the NDIC was taken at the 33rd meeting of the IFSB Council, hosted by the Islamic Development Bank Group (ISDB), on 6 December 2018 in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Council Meeting was chaired by H.E. Dr. Mohammad Y. Al Hashel, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait and Chairman of the IFSB for 2018, attended by the President of the ISDB, H.E. Dr. Bandar Mohammed Hajjar, 12 central bank Governors and Commissioners of regulatory and supervisory authorities, and 10 senior representatives from among the Council and Full members of the IFSB, representing 19 countries.

IFSB is an International Standard-setting organisation for the Islamic Financial Services Industry that promotes the soundness and stability of the global industry, by issuing global prudential standards and guiding principles for Islamic Banking, Islamic Capital Markets and Takaful (Insurance) Sectors.

According to IFSB, members of the institution are classified into three categories, namely Full Member, Associate Member and those classified as observers. As a full member of the Board, the NDIC has voting rights – a status which is only available to the financial sector supervisory authorities of its member countries.

The work of the IFSB complements that of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), International Organisation of Securities Commission (IOSCO) and International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), by introducing new, or adapting existing international prudential standards consistent with Islamic Shari’ah principles and recommending same for adoption by the relevant Regulatory Authorities.

The IFSB had in March, 2018 invited the NDIC to its membership. The institution is currently developing work plans on standards for the Supervisory Review Process of multiple Islamic Banking products that could further strengthen the capacity of the NDIC to continue the robust supervision and provision of guidelines to operators of Non Interest Banks such as Jaiz Bank; Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) with and Micro-Finance Banks (MFBs) with Non Interest Banking windows.