17 Second, as part of our broader SkillsFuture national initiative, MAS is partnering various other players to enhance continuous learning. We must in particular equip financial professionals with stronger digital skillsets: The Financial IT Academy (FITA) is delivering a digital transformation programme for midcareers that includes topics such as data analytics and agile development, to deliver software faster and with high quality. The Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) will be offering new learning modules on a set of core capabilities covering data science, human-centric design, agile thinking, and cyber-risk awareness. To develop the cyber security talent pool in Singapore, the Info-comm & Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) have introduced the Cyber Security Associates and Technologists (CSAT) Programme1. The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School will also be launching a new executive education programme in Singapore focused on financial innovation. i) Called the Wharton FinTech Innovation Program for Financial Institutions, it is expected to launch in the second quarter of next year. ii) The Program aims to expose senior managers in incumbent financial institutions to current topics in FinTech. iii) Participants will learn to how to grapple with disruptive trends, and drive change and innovation across their organisations to compete in the FinTech space. We also want to ensure that professionals trained in ICT skills have good placement outcomes in the financial sector. We are doing this through the recently-formed Finance Committee of the Technology Skills Accelerator, or TeSA, programme.

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.