TEHRAN (CBI PR dept) - Iran's central bank governor, Valiollah Seif, will assume the periodical chairmanship of Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) in 2017 with Fazle Kabir, Governor of Bangladesh Bank as his Deputy Chairman. The new appointments will take effect on January 1, 2017 and accordingly, the Central Bank of Iran will host IFSB annual meetings in 2017 in Tehran.

The 29^th meeting of the IFSB Council, hosted by the Central Bank of Egypt, was held on December 14, 2016 in Cairo, Egypt. It was attended by ten central bank governors and deputy governors of regulatory and supervisory authorities, and ten senior representatives from among the Council and Full members of the IFSB, representing 14 countries and the Islamic Development Bank. The meeting was chaired by Tarek Amer and the Iranian delegation was headed by Akbar Komijani, CBI Deputy Governor.
In this session, topics such as the measures taken with regard to Islamic financial institutions' ways of dealing with economic crises (Stress Test), strategic plans of IFSB council and confirmation on the furtherance of the studies in this field, membership status of the members and the budget performance of 2016 and financing council in the coming years were discussed.
Also during this council meeting, the new Secretary General of IFSB was elected based on the results given by the specialized committee for evaluation of candidates' interviews.
The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), which is based in Kuala Lumpur, was officially inaugurated on November 3, 2002 and started operations on March 10, 2003. It serves as an international standard-setting body for regulatory and supervisory agencies that have vested interest in ensuring the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry, which is defined broadly to include banking, capital market and insurance. In advancing this mission, the IFSB promotes the development of a prudent and transparent Islamic financial services industry through introducing new, or adapting existing international standards consistent with Shariah principles, and recommending them for adoption.
To this end, the work of the IFSB complements those of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, International Organisation of Securities Commissions and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors.
The 188 members of the IFSB comprise 70 regulatory and supervisory authorities, eight international inter-governmental organisations, and 110 market players (financial institutions, professional firms and industry associations) operating in 57 jurisdictions.
The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CBI) is also one of the founders and main members of the IFSB.