Islamic Banking

The Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka (IBSL) has launched the first Diploma Course in Islamic Banking with the assistance of the country’s pioneering institution in Islamic Financial Services, Amana Investments Limited. The Amana resource pool has facilitated the course by designing the Diploma structure, including its contents, practical knowledge and training. The IBSL has included the Diploma in Islamic Banking (DIB) as one of its core Diplomas for the year 2009, and has selected Amana Investments as its Strategic Partner to provide the resource personnel for this course.

The course structure is based on research conducted by M.Z.M. Sheroz, Amana’s Training Officer, on the GAP analysis, the training need analysis and projection of core competencies for the finance sector in 2009.

The course includes a 92 hour comprehensive study spread over 6 months, covering areas such as origins of Islamic Finance, Sources of Sharia Law, Islamic Economic Theory and Applied Economics, Islamic Financial Products and their respective documentation, Principles of Sharia Accounting, Risk Management, as well as Islamic Takaful (Insurance) and Capital Markets. The DIB programme has already begun with its first batch of students. It has generated an overwhelming response of over 60 students, including employees of conventional banks. The course director and lecturer for the programme is Mr. Fairoze Burah, head of HR and Administration at Amana Investments. He is supported by Mr. Moulavi Siraj, Sharia Supervisor at Amana and other senior managers of the Amana Group. Other local Islamic Finance professionals are also invited as guest lecturers during the program. Mr. Burah is a qualified HR practitioner and training specialist, having over 20 years of experience in his field. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree specialising in Human Resources Management from the Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and conducts regular skills development training programmes. Mr. Moulavi Siraj has a BA in Islamic Finance from the International Peace University, Capetown, South Africa and also a Diploma in Comparative Religions from the Islamic Propagation Centre International, Durban. Mr. Siraj is proficient in all aspects of Sharia and has previous teaching experience at the Asian Institute of Management.

Explaining why Amana joined hands with IBSL, Burah said “IBSL is one of the best regarded institutions when it comes to banking studies, and most students find the institute very accessible. The Diploma itself is affordably priced. We want the youth to embrace and benefit from Islamic Finance as it has the potential of being a US$ 4 trillion industry”. He added, “the course learning is evaluated by individual assignments, group projects and presentations, student journals as well as periodic examinations up to the final exam.”

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From Ahmad Farizal Abdul Hajat

COLOMBO, Nov 28 (Bernama) — Sri Lanka is now well positioned to become a producer and supplier in Islamic banking and financial professionals with the newly established Faculty of Islamic Banking and Finance, International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF)’s chief executive officer Agil Natt said today.

He said the faculty was the first in the country and established as an affiliate between INCEIF and Sri Lanka-based Ceylinco Sussex Business School (CBS) to offer the Certified Islamic Finance Professional (CIFP) qualifications.

This, according to Agil, will develop the human capital needs for the Islamic financial services industry in Sri Lanka as well as those of neighbouring countries.

"The idea of establishing this faculty is to meet the needs of human capital, qualified in Islamic banking and finance, for the rapidly expanding global Islamic financial services industry," he said.

"Together with CBS, INCEIF hopes to drives the industry in Sri Lanka and help build up a meaningful pool of Islamic professionals, bankers and takaful operators with sound grounding of Syariah and corporate finance," he told Bernama after the signing of an agreement between INCEIF and CBS here.

INCEIF was represented by its chairman Dr Rozali Mohamed Ali and Agil while representing CBS were its chairman Dr Lalith Kotelawala and deputy chairman K.A.S. Jayatissa.

Bank Negara Malaysia’s deputy governor Datuk Mohd Razif Abdul Kadir and the Malaysian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Nazirah Hussain, witnessed the signing.

The agreement marked the appointment of CBS as the education provider and marketing agent for INCEIF in Sri Lanka.

The new faculty will be the latest addition of CBS, which is currently involved in producing professionals in the finance, accountancy, marketing, management and information technology fields.

Sri Lanka, with about 77 percent of its population Buddhists and Muslims constituting 8.5 percent, is one of the few non-Islamic countries to have legislations for Islamic banking.

The revised Banking Act No. 30 of 1988, amended in 2005, allows both commercial banks and specialised banks to operate on a Syariah-compliant basis.

Sri Lanka has 22 commercial banks, comprising two large state-owned banks — Bank of Ceylon and Peoples Bank — together with nine private banks and 11 foreign banks.

Their total assets as at end of July 2005 was US$11.76 billion. The two-state banks accounted for about 48 percent of the total assets while the foreign banks accounted for 14 percent.

The takaful concept in insurance is now experiencing increasing market acceptance in Sri Lanka.

The country has 13 licensed insurance companies, including a takaful operator named Amana Takaful.

According to a spokesperson for Sri Lanka’s insurance business, two of the country’s largest insurance operators have plans to offer takaful products to the market.

INCEIF was established by Bank Negara Malaysia in December 2005 to contribute towards the global development of human capital that is required to support the future growth and development of the global Islamic financial industry.

With the aim of producing high-calibre practitioners and professionals in Islamic finance as well as specialists and researchers, INCEIF has become a platform for training in this area.

– BERNAMA