Rabat – Wali of Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) Abdellatif Jouahri called on Thursday in Rabat for enhanced international cooperation to further promote Islamic finance.
“The challenges facing Islamic finance require reinforced international cooperation, in line with global standards while remaining sensitive to local specificities of each country”, Jouahri stated, speaking at the 23rd Stability Forum on Islamic Financial, held by BAM and the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), under the theme “Reinforcing Stability: Strengthening the Resilience of the Islamic Financial Sector and Addressing Structural Vulnerabilities”.
There are four main challenges, namely Shariah compliance, liquidity management, sustainable finance and digitization risks, he noted.
According to Jouahi, Islamic finance has become increasingly integrated into the global financial system, noting that the principle-based approach allows regulators to set standards according to each country’s specificities.
“A prime example is Morocco, which chose to centralize fatwa issuance with the support of the Supreme Council of Ulema, guaranteeing product compliance with Sharia principles and strengthening public trust,” he maintained.
He pointed out that in Morocco, participatory finance today accounts for 2% of banking assets, recalling that since 2015, BAM has worked with stakeholders to develop a robust regulatory, institutional and tax framework .
He took the opportunity to salute the remarkable achievements of the IFSB since its inception in 2003, underlining that the current reform of its governance framework eyes adapting missions to new challenges, capacity-building of member institutions and technical assistance, as was the case with BAM.
IFSB annual meetings and side events brought together central banks, regulatory and supervisory
