The IFSB has urged the Islamic institutions to follow specified procedures for assessing their capital adequacy in terms of the nature of risks and pursue strategies to maintain their capital at required levels. It has also required supervisors to review and assess internal assessment measures of these institutions’ capital adequacy and ensure their compliance with the required capital level and take supervisory measures in case of non-compliance. In addition, the Board has urged supervisory authorities to take prudential measures to prevent the decrease of capital to lower than minimum level, and stipulate quick correcting measures in case of such a decrease. Stress tests are considered one of the prudential measures that the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is keen to emphasize, and it urges Islamic financial institutions to apply them, including the assessment of prudential and control steps to reduce qualitative and quantitative risks, apart from applying transparency and accounting disclosure in financial reporting. In the realm of coordination with the national supervisory authorities, the IFSB seeks to enhance work in the area of consolidated and effective supervision and ensure the stability of the Islamic financial system by abiding to best practices for risk management and transparency. In this vein, the IFSB organizes conferences and symposiums for supervisory authorities and those interested in this industry. The IFSB also endeavors diligently to work with international and regional institutions, research centers and educational institutes to promote this significant industry. Dear audience, In Saudi Arabia, we are aware of the importance of Shari’ah-compliant banking products and services.

Muhammad Al-Jasser: Overview of the Islamic banking industry Speech by Dr Muhammad Al-Jasser, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, at The Fifth Conference for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions, hosted by the Central Bank of Syria, Damascus, 15–16 March 2010. *  *  *  In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Let me first thank the Central Bank of Syria, the official sponsor of the Fifth Conference for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions, and, in particular, I would like to thank the Bank’s Governor, His Excellency Dr. Adeeb Mayalah. Ladies and Gentlemen, Islamic banking has grown widely in recent years and has extended to several international financial centers, which invested in this field, reflecting an increasing interest in financial Islamic products and services. Because of this interest, some of the international markets indices such as “Dow Jones” and “FTSE” have been launching indices for Shari’ah-compliant activities since 1999. According to the latest available data, the Islamic financial institutions’ assets exceeded $ billion by end of 2009, and they are expected to exceed $ trillion by end of 2010. In addition, issuance of Islamic Sukuk has risen fourfold over the last four years, exceeding $ billion by end of 2009. Islamic banks and financial institutions account for 15 percent of the Middle East top 30 banks’ assets. There are more than 430 Islamic banks and financial institutions in more than 75 countries and about 191 conventional banks have Islamic windows.