The Brunei Institute of Leadership & Islamic Finance (BILIF), with the support of Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB), in collaboration with the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), organised the Syariah Advisory Conference 2022 (SAC 2022) at the Musyawarah Hall, International Convention Centre, Bandar Seri Begawan, on Thursday, Zulkaedah 2, 1443H, corresponding to June 2, 2022. This event was organised in association with the Bahrain Institute of Banking & Finance (BIBF) and Cambridge International Financial Advisory (UK) as the international media and marketing advisor for the event.
SAC 2022, held in the support of the Brunei Mid-Year Conference (MYCE) 2022, organised by the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT), Brunei Darussalam, carried the theme “Syariah Governance Framework: Quality vs Compliance”. The event acted as a platform to gather renowned Shari’a experts, regulators, practitioners, scholars, advisors, and academicians to exchange and share views, experiences, and best practices on the implementation of a Shari’a governance framework in the financial services industry alongside marketing Brunei Darussalam as an Islamic finance hub. The hybrid event was attended by representatives from ministries, government agencies, financial institutions and private companies in Brunei Darussalam as well as participants from Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Bahrain, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Africa and Abu Dhabi, among others.
The conference kicked off with a welcoming remark by Yang Mulia Mardini bin Haji Eddie, Assistant Managing Director, Monetary Operations Division, Monetary Operations/ Development and International Department, BDCB on behalf of Yang Mulia Dayang Hajah Rokiah binti Haji Badar, Managing Director, BDCB as Chairperson of BILIF’s Board of Directors. In his remarks, he highlighted the event’s aim of providing participants with insights to enhance knowledge on the implementation of a Shari’a governance framework for the benefit of the Islamic finance industry locally and globally. He also shared that BDCB is actively involved in standards formulation with international standard setting bodies and on this front, continuously engages Islamic financial institutions to ensure that regulations remain relevant and practical.
The event was followed with a keynote address by Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Ahmaddin bin Haji Abdul Rahman, then Deputy Minister of Finance, Ministry of Finance and Economy and the current Minister of Home Affairs, as Chairman of BDCB. In his address, he highlighted Brunei Darussalam’s achievement as one of the
top countries with a strong regulatory landscape, referencing the Islamic Finance Indicator (IFDI) Report for 2020, which assessed Brunei Darussalam’s governance system through its regulations, corporate governance, and Shari’a governance. He also encouraged BDCB to further enhance its standards at par with international best practices to advance the country’s Islamic finance ecosystem.
The conference featured a series of presentations titled “Exploring Issues & Challenges in Syariah Governance in the Dynamic Finance Era”; “Syariah Governance Framework: Quality vs Compliance”; “Syariah Governance Framework Development – Embracing the Future”; and “IFSB-AAOIFI Revised Syariah Governance Framework” delivered by local and international speakers including Yang Mulia Awang Haji Muhd Shukri bin Haji Ahmad, Principal Shari’a Advisor, Shari’a Finance, BDCB; Yang Mulia Dr Awang Mohd Hairul Azrin bin Haji Besar, Shari’a Financial Supervisory Board member; Yang Mulia Dr Haji Mohd Aidil Yusrie bin Haji Shari, Head of Financing Office, Ministry of Finance and Economy; Dr Ishrat Husain, Professor Emeritus and Chairman Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance, Institute of Business Administration, (IBA) Karachi, Pakistan; Mr Omar Mustafa, Secretary General of AAOIFI; Dr Mufti Irshad Ahmad Aijaz, Chairman Shari’a Advisory Committee, State Bank of Pakistan and Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan; Dr Aznan Hasan, member of AAOIFI Shari’a Board; and Professor Engku Rabiah Adawiah binti Engku Ali, member of the Shari’a Advisory Council, Bank Negara Malaysia and Securities Commission Malaysia.
The event ended with concluding remarks by Yang Mulia Dayang Hajah Sufinah binti Haji Sahat, Chief Executive Officer of BILIF. In her closing remarks, she expressed her appreciation for the event partners, guests, and participants for supporting the conference and hoped that the participants will be able to apply the knowledge gained to strengthen their innovation strategy in Shari’a governance for their respective organisations.
Established in 2010, the Brunei Institute of Leadership & Islamic Finance (BILIF), formerly known as Centre for Islamic Banking, Finance and Management (CIBFM), is a centre of excellence under the purview of BDCB. BILIF provides high-quality learning solutions, as well as organises signature and collaborative events for human capacity development in the Islamic finance and leadership areas.
