UK partners with the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos to establish regulatory for Islamic finance in the Philippines

45 days to go Friday 1st August 2014 UK partners with the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos to establish regulatory for Islamic finance in the Philippines Daily Cover PHILIPPINES: Following on from its own recent activity in the Islamic finance sector, the UK government is taking an active role in the push for development of a comprehensive Islamic finance framework in the Philippines. In a discussion with local financial reporters in the Philippines this week, Aaron Francis Chan, the economic advisor at the British Embassy in the Philippines, explained that the embassy is working with the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos on a draft policy framework for the regulation of Islamic financial products. Chan has cited the need for consistency as a part of the reason for the move towards a national framework: “These different regulatory agents are all fragmented and in this case, the way forward, the way to reform and promote this market would be to encourage a more cohesive regulatory framework. Different Shariah experts may disagree…so you need to come up with a consensus view.” The move towards a policy framework for Islamic finance follows the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro in March 2014, which marked an end to the conflict between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Since then, calls have come from various parties, including senator Grace Poe, for the development of Islamic finance and an update to the country’s Islamic finance laws. Currently the legislation relating to Islamic finance in the Philippines applies specifically to Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank, the Philippines’ sole Islamic bank. The country’s central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, has submitted a request to the government to have its charter amended; allowing the bank to issue Shariah compliant instruments to Islamic banks, in particular interbank lending products. Chan and the diplomatic group working on the draft framework will meet with the central bank for further discussions on the Islamic finance framework initiative, which Chan has stated will not be incorporated under the Bangsamoro Framework. 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