CBO inks MOU with Islamic financial institutions body

The Central Bank of Oman signed on Sunday, November 27, 2022, a memorandum of understanding with the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), with a focus on several areas, including standards development, capacity building, and knowledge exchange.

The MOU signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of the AAOIFI and Islamic Development Bank 17th Annual Islamic Banking Conference, which was held in Manama on the theme “Economic Resilience and Governance in Disruptive Times”.

The signing of the MOU also coincides with Oman completing a decade since the official introduction of Islamic finance in the country. During this decade, Islamic finance in Oman managed to take 16% of the market share, making its growth one of the fastest in the world. With assets totalling RO 6.1 billion ($16 billion), the Omani Islamic banking market is today the 15th largest internationally.

AAOIFI is an Islamic international autonomous non-for-profit corporate body, established in 1991 and based in Bahrain, that prepares accounting, auditing, governance, ethics, and Sharia standards for Islamic financial institutions and the industry.

AAOIFI aims to standardise and harmonise international Islamic finance practices and financial reporting in accordance to Sharia. In this regard, it complements the work of the Islamic Financial Services Board, which has a broader mandate and is more focused on prudential regulation standards for the industry.