The board of directors of the Bahrain based global standard setting body the 
On the sidelines of the meeting, a specialized industry briefing event was also organized by IIFM with the support of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) where more than 100 market participants from over 50 institutions based in Singapore and the region were briefed by leading international experts from the Middle East, Europe and the region on the latest developments in Islamic risk mitigation and liquidity management instruments.
The Board of Directors reviewed IIFM standards development particularly the progress on Inter-Bank Unrestricted Wakalah and publication of new Islamic hedging product standard on Mubadalatul Arbaah (Profit Rate Swap) as well as future standards development particularly on foreign currency risk mitigation as these are key instruments which are very much required by the industry.
The Board of Directors also deliberated on the industry requirement for Sukuk standardization.
On the collateralized liquidity management tool, which IIFM has been working on for some time; the Board agreed to proceed in developing collateralized product and documentation standard in consultation with Shariah Scholars and market participants as this standard will pave the way for a more efficient and more liquid domestic as well as cross border activity to facilitate the liquidity management.
The IIFM administrative Policy and Procedures and Audited Accounts for the Year 2011 were among the agenda items also discussed, reviewed and approved by the Board.
“These are exciting times in the development of the Islamic finance industry with increasing interest from more countries to allow Shariah compliant banking and also from financial centre’s keen to support its growth. IIFM has a major responsibility to not only set standards to support the growth of the industry but also to educate the market as a whole,” Simon Eedle, Vice Chairman, IIFM, said.
“We are honored that the IIFM has decided to hold their latest board meeting in Singapore and at the same time offered to share their work on developing Islamic hedging and liquidity management instruments,” Tai Boon Leong, Executive Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore. said.
Ijlal Ahmed Alvi, Chief Executive Officer, IIFM thanked the Board of Directors for their support. Alvi also extended his appreciation to Monetary Authority of Singapore for hosting the IIFM events. He also stressed on the importance of IIFM market unification efforts particularly in the area of liquidity management and risk mitigation and hoped that these standards will soon be adopted and implemented across the global market and that Singapore will be one of the key jurisdictions in supporting IIFM efforts.