Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Institutions (AAOIFI)

External Shariah #audit in Islamic banks

The external Shariah audit is the latest development in the area of Shariah governance of the global Islamic banking industry. Traditionally, Islamic banks appoint a Shariah supervisory board with the mandate to oversee Shariah compliance. An additional layer of assurance by an independent party will provide greater assurance to the Islamic banks' stakeholders. Several central banks are already using the external Shariah audit in their governance system, for example the Central Bank of Kuwait or the central banks of Oman and Pakistan. Several other jurisdictions, including Bahrain, are also likely to do the same. The Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Institutions (AAOIFI) recently issued an Exposure Draft specifically on external Shariah audit. Availability of human resource can be a challenge in implementing external Shariah audit. This can be overcome by taking initiatives to train both the professional accountants and Shariah experts to conduct an external Shariah audit.

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