Governors of Central Banks of Malaysia and Pakistan appointed Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of

• Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia is the fourth Chairperson of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) Council.

[ClickPress, Fri Jan 12 2007] Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia is the fourth Chairperson of the IFSB Council for the annual term beginning January – December 2007. Dr. Zeti assumes the position from Sheikh Salem Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud Al-Sabah.

Dr Zeti is the 4th Chairperson of the IFSB Council, and Kuala Lumpur is hosting the IFSB General Assembly and Council Meetings in March 2007.

Dr. Zeti was appointed Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia in May 2000. She played an instrumental role in the establishment of the IFSB in 2002 and her contributions as an active personality in Islamic finance is globally acknowledged. She is also highly concerned on the human resource development in the Islamic financial services industry, and has spearheaded various training and education centres focusing on developing expertise in Islamic banking and finance.

Under her tenure, Malaysia, the host country of the IFSB, has enacted a law known as the Islamic Financial Services Board Act 2002, which gives the IFSB the immunities and privileges that are usually granted to international organisations and diplomatic missions.

Dr. Shamsad Akhtar, Governor of State Bank of Pakistan is the Deputy Chairperson.

Dr. Shamshad assumed office of the governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in January 2006 and is the first woman and the 14th governor of the State Bank of Pakistan since its establishment in July 1948.

Prior to her appointment as SBP governor, Dr. Akhtar served in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as its Director General, Southeast Asia Department since January, 2004. The Southeast Asia Department covers Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore.

Chairmanship of the IFSB is on an annual rotational basis from among the Full members as specified in the IFSB Articles of Agreement.

See list of ISFB Council Members 2007 at www.ifsb.org

Note to the Editor:
The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), which is based in Kuala Lumpur, was officially inaugurated on 3rd November 2002 and started operations on 10th March 2003. It serves as an international-standard setting body of regulatory and supervisory agencies that have vested interest in ensuring the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry, which is defined broadly to include banking, capital market and insurance. In advancing this mission, the IFSB promotes the development of a prudent and transparent Islamic financial services industry through introducing new, or adapting existing international standards consistent with Islamic Shari'ah principles, and recommend them for adoption.

The 110 members of the IFSB include 27 regulatory and supervisory authorities as well as International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Bank for International Settlements, Islamic Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, and 78 market players from 21 countries.

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