Monday, 11th April 2022 - Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain: The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) and the Participation Banks Association of Turkey (TKBB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on areas of common interests for the development of the participation banking sector in Turkey and globally.
IIFM is an Islamic finance standard-setting body which issues Shari’ah-compliant financial contracts and product confirmation Standards as well as related guidance notes which provide the market participants with legally robust, operationally efficient and Shari’ah strong set of documentation templates.
TKBB was established in 2001 with a mandate to represent and support the development of the participation banking sector both locally and internationally and contribute to the efforts of raising the sector’s market share, develop professional principles and standards, and protect the rights and interests of participation banks in Turkey.
The agreement was signed by Mr. Ijlal Ahmed Alvi, Chief Executive Officer of IIFM and Mr. Ismail Vural, Acting Secretary-General of TKBB.
On the occasion, Mr. Ijlal Ahmed Alvi said, “The collaboration between TKBB and IIFM through this MoU presents an opportunity to explore areas of synergy for both organizations for the development and benefit of the Islamic financial market in Türkiye as well as globally. The joint initiatives under the MoU will further promote the use of IIFM Standards which is seeing an increasing level of adoption by stakeholders around the globe”.
Mr. Ismail Vural said, ‘’The partnership between the leading international Islamic finance standard-setting body, IIFM and TKBB is an important step for the enhancement of participation finance sector in Türkiye. That will ensure an important initiative for the dissemination of the use of IIFM standards by Turkish participation banks for the standardization of documentation which will lead the sector cooperation with counterparties with high level of operational efficiency. As highlighted at signed MoU agreement, we are aiming at working closely with IIFM to increase the awareness about IIFM standards in understanding the practical aspects of the standards by financial institutions across the industry in general at Türkiye.’’
The MoU will facilitate translation of IIFM standard agreements into Turkish language which will complement TKBB’s national level Shari’ah Standards and will benefit the participation banking community in Turkey as well as the cross-border market. The MoU will also enable regular exchange of information between the two bodies and aim for both organizations to work together in increasing awareness by way of joint awareness events, workshops and other capacity building initiatives.