Islamic finance body goes global in quest to fill speciality-skills void

Kuala Lumpur

A MALAYSIAN institute set up seven years ago to improve education standards for Islamic finance professionals is going global as it seeks to fill a void of professionals with specialities such as insurance and law.

The Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals (CIIF) in Kuala Lumpur aims to increase membership of qualified practitioners to 3,000 in three years, from 400 now, said Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, its president and former chief executive officer of CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd. The CIIF, which changed its name and geographical focus in 2015, is in talks with associations and regulators stretching from the Middle East to Indonesia as part of that campaign, he said.