The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has launched the fourth round of the Certified Shariah Auditor program to strengthen the Shariah supervision of Islamic banks in Kuwait and reinforce Shari’ah-compliant auditing in such banks.
The CBK organized the new edition of the program as part of the “Kafa’a Initiative”, which has been launched by the CBK in collaboration with Kuwaiti banks and managed by the Institute of Banking Studies (IBS), local media reports said
Dr. Mohammad Y. Al-Hashel, the CBK Governor and the IBS Chairman, said the program is aimed at strengthening auditing in the Islamic Shari’ah-compliant financial institutions, particularly in light of the changes in the Islamic banking sector and the banking industry in general.
Dr. Al-Hashel added that the program was organized to meet the need for more qualified resources in the field of Shari’ah audit.
He said 100 certified Shari’ah auditors graduated in past sessions, after presenting all requirements to obtain this certificate, which has become mandatory for practicing Shari’ah audit work on CBK-and Capital Markets Authority (CMA)-regulated Islamic banking and financial entities.
The reports said that on 20 December 2016, the CBK issued instructions regarding “Shari’ah Supervisory Governance in Kuwaiti Islamic Banks”, including a set of elements regulating the governance of Shari’ah supervision.
The instructions were also regarding the general requirements of the governance of Shari’ah supervision, its principles, roles of the board of directors, executive management and the Shari’ah Supervisory Board, internal and external Shari’ah audit, scope and objectives of the Shari’ah audit as well as required conditions and qualifications.