more attention needs to be given to translate these rulings that are commonly practised into documentation, products and services in a unified manner. however, this could only happen if there is common understanding on the issues or fatwas involved. to contribute towards this process, bank negara malaysia has taken the initiative to enhance the transparency on juristic reasoning in islamic finance through the publication of shariah resolutions by the sac. we have also been issuing a series of “ shariah parameters ” for several major shariah contracts which are aimed at promoting consistent application of these contracts in islamic finance. by leading these various efforts, we hope it can pave the way towards greater understanding and contributes towards international convergence on shariah matters across jurisdictions. before i end my remarks, i would like to take this opportunity to highlight the importance of continuing a close and effective partnership in islamic finance between malaysia and the uk. collaboration between financial centres in islamic finance is an important part of the process that would contribute towards expanding global development of the industry. with london ’ s keen ambition to establish itself as the center in islamic finance in europe, there is certainly much room for cooperation between kuala lumpur and london. the importance of our relationship has been cemented not long ago with the signing of the memorandum of understanding between bank negara malaysia and the uk trade and investment. our strong collaborative endeavors are already visible in the area of education and capacity building, evidenced by the growing number of strategic alliances between several malaysian and the uk education and training institutions in recent years. several uk financial institutions have also successfully established presence through joint - venture with local partners in our takaful market. i am most hopeful that there will be more collaborative endeavors going forward to exploit the strength and synergies between the two centers, particularly in areas that will lead to enhancing the efficiency of islamic finance and greater cross - border transactions. on that note, i wish all of you a successful workshop. thank you.

with the ability of the market players to analyse, and appropriately interpret the information. closely related to this issue is the need to strengthen the framework for consumer protection to provide an avenue for redress in the event of disputes. emphasis on improved corporate governance goes hand in hand with the need for improvements in risk management standards. sound risk management practices will minimise adverse consequences faced by financial institutions during periods of uncertainty. robust internal controls to provide qualitative standards are also necessary to complement the quantitative analysis of risk to provide the necessary checks and balances. in the area of islamic banking, the requirement to manage the risks becomes more important because of the unique peculiarities in the contracts. basel ii has, to a certain extent, incorporated some aspects in the identification of risks, in particular the credit, market and operational risks that can be assimilated by the islamic banks in terms of its product offering. another important pre - condition to sustain the continued growth of islamic banking and finance is a comprehensive legal infrastructure for legal redress arising from disputes in islamic financial transactions. the legal infrastructure needs to comprise both effective regulatory and substantive laws as weil as appropriate adjudicative fora to resolve disputes relating to islamic financial transactions. to address this, efforts are needed to develop a sufficient number of competent lawyers and judges that are equipped with sound knowledge and expertise in both shariah and civil laws to deal with such matters. this would need to be supported by an efficient court system that can effectively deal with all islamic banking and finance cases, whose decisions are enforceable over the range of financial issues. above all, these pre - conditions have to be in conformity with the shariah framework. whilst it is necessary to have in place the market infrastructure, institutional players and the regulatory, shariah and legal framework, it is still not sufficient in sustaining the robustness and dynamism of an islamic financial system. to achieve this, the strong linkages and synergies especially among the components in the financial markets, namely, the money market, foreign exchange market and the capital market, have to be extensively capitalised. the islamic money and foreign exchange markets are integral to the functioning of the islamic banking system, firstly, in providing the islamic financial institutions with the facility for funding and adjusting portfolios over the short - term and thus the necessary liquidity mechanism to promote stability, and secondly, serving as a channel for the transmission of monetary policy. the inter - linkages in the functioning of the