The CBB and the BFX host workshop for Islamic Banks

Workshop focused on e-Tayseer which is a fully automated Shariah compliant platform launched by the BFX for the supply, purchase and sale of assets for facilitating Murabaha transactions between the financial institutions Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain - 4th July 2011: The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and the Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX) hosted a workshop on 29 June, 2011 at the CBB premises in the Diplomatic Area. All Islamic bank licensees were invited to attend this workshop. The workshop focused on e-Tayseer which is a fully automated Shariah compliant platform launched by the BFX for the supply, purchase and sale of assets for facilitating Murabaha transactions between financial institutions. The workshop was followed by a question and answer session, during which those in attendance had an opportunity to interact directly with the senior management at the CBB and the BFX. Commenting on this occasion Mr. Khalid Hamad, Central Bank of Bahrain, said, “The BFX is an integral component of Bahrain’s financial industry. It has established Bait Al Bursa as its Islamic finance division to exclusively offer exchange traded Islamic financial instruments. One key advantage of an exchange is that it does not compete with the banks and financial institutions. Instead its aim is to help the institutions in ways such as increasing accessibility, standardization, and transparency. We believe that exchange traded products such as e-Tayseer can advance Islamic finance to the next level.” The workshop was attended by around 20 representatives from the senior management team of the banks based in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Mr. Arshad Khan, Managing Director & CEO of the BFX said, “The uniqueness of the BFX is something Bahrain can take advantage of. Not only is it a multi-asset exchange, which means it can offer both conventional cash and derivatives products, it can also offer Shariah-compliant financial instruments. And with Bahrain being the hub for Islamic finance, it is most appropriate to have the leading Shariah-compliant exchange hosted in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The BFX has launched e-Tayseer to facilitate Murabaha transactions between financial institutions. e-Tayseer addresses many existing issues and also improves the way of conducting Murabaha transactions. We have worked closely with our Shariah advisors to ensure the product is Shariah-compliant, and are now working to extend the functionality of e-Tayseer to allow for corporate and retail transactions too.”