Standard Bank chairman Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, also chairman of the CSBIB executive committee, addresses a national seminar titled ‘Accounting, Auditing, and Governance of Islamic Banks’ at a hotel in Dhaka on Saturday. | Press release
A national seminar titled ‘Accounting, Auditing, and Governance of Islamic Banks’ was held on Saturday at a hotel in Dhaka under the joint auspices of the Central Shariah Board for Islamic Banks of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management.
Three keynotes were presented in the seminar and detailed discussions on them were held, said a press release.Md Abdullah Sharif, secretary general of Central Shariah Board, delivered the welcome speech in the inaugural session chaired by Md Akhtaruzzaman, director general, BIBM.
Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, chairman, executive committee, CSBIB and chairman, Standard Bank, inaugurated the seminar as chief guest.
The special guests included Professor Sayed Kamaluddin Abdullah Zafree, chairman, Fiqh Committee, CSBIB and chairman, Shariah supervisory committee of Mutual Trust Bank Limited, Mughees Shoukat, senior manager, Capacity Building Programmes, AAOIFI (Kingdom of Bahrain), Syyid Siddique, senior manager, Standards Implementation and Regulatory Authority, AAOIFI and Md Alamgir, director (training), BIBM.
The chief guest Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed in his speech said, ‘Allah the Almighty has prohibited interest. So, I have converted my bank from conventional system into Shariah-based one. At present, there is no alternative to it. I hope most of the banks and financial institutions of Bangladesh will be conducted as per Islamic Shariah in near future.’
The special guest Mughees Shoukat said that the government has a plan in its Vision-41 to upgrade economy of 500 billion dollar to trillion dollars. It cannot be implemented without Shariah-based banking and finance. Islamic banking professionals will have to prepare themselves and make important contributions in this regard.
Syyid Siddique congratulated Bangladeshi fellows of AAOIFI whose number has already exceeded 600. He also declared a discount of 80 per cent for Bangladeshis in the courses which was introduced by AAOIFI and are conducted by CSBIB that was 70 per cent in the meantime.
The Chairman of the seminar Md Akhtaruzzaman in his speech said the benefit of banking cannot be reached to the doorsteps of people from all walks of life without Shariah-based banking-system.
In the 1st session of the seminar, Md Mahabbat Hossain, associate professor, BIBM and Academic Advisor, CSBIB presented the keynote on ‘Strengthening Shariah Governance of IFIs in Bangladesh: International Standard Perspective’.
The panelists who gave their valuable opinions on the keynote included Abdul Awwal Sarker, former executive director, Bangladesh Bank, Mosleh Uddin Ahmed, managing director, Shahjalal Islami Bank, Md Alamgir, director (training), BIBM and Zubair Mohammad Ehsanul Haque, professor and chairman, Department of Arabic, University of Dhaka.
In the 2nd session, Mezbah Uddin Ahmed, Research Fellow, ISRA Research Management Centre, INCEIF University, Malaysia and academic advisor, CSBIB, presented the keynote on ‘Financial Reporting of Islamic Banks: Essential Considerations from the Shariah Perspective’.
The panelists included Md Mahamud Hosain, council member, ICAB and managing partner, Mahamud Sabuj and Co Chartered Accountants, Maria Howlader, vice-president, ICAB, Mohammad Abul Hashem, director, BIBM and Bangladesh Bank and Mohammad Abdur Rahim, managing director and CEO, Islami Bank Capital Management.
In the 3rd session, Md Shamsuddoha, senior executive vice president and head of Shariah Secretariat, IBB PLC, presented the keynote on ‘Shari’ah Audit and Compliance Functions in Islamic Banks: Things We are Doing Right and Things Need Further Improvement’. The panelists of the session included Professor HM Mosharraf Hossain, Department of Finance, University of Dhaka, Akhtar Sanjida Kasem, managing partner, A Qasem and Co, Chartered Accountants, A K M Golam Mahmud, director, DBI 6, Bangladesh Bank and A K M Saif Ullah Kowchar, DMD and Head of ICCD, City Bank PLC.
Guests of the closing session were Mohammad Omar Farooq, Professor and head, Department of Economics, United International University, Shah Mohammad Wali Ullah, chairman, Shariah Supervisory Committee, NRB Bank, Md Arup Haider, DMD and Head of Retail Banking and Coordinators from BIBM and CSBIB.
The seminar was jointly moderated by Md Alamgir, director (training), BIBM and Md Mahabbat Hossain, associate professor, BIBM and academic advisor, CSBIB, Syed Sakahwatul Islam, Vice President and In-charge (admin) and Md Abdullah Al-Faruque, Principal Officer.
The seminar has been organised on the 1st and opening day of the 5-day training course titled ‘Shariah Audit of Islamic Banking Operations’ in the CSB Training Institute. The seminar was attended by about 150 participants who include 40 trainees from 23 banks, as well as local and foreign guests.
