IslamicFinance.de

Rapid growth in Islamic finance in recent years is pushing up demand for more experts in the field, with the Financial Accreditation Agency (FAA) identifying five key areas in which specialists are urgently needed.
However, programmes offered by local universities now are too generic and provide only a broad-based education on Islamic finance, noted FAA chief executive Dr Amat Taap Mashor in an interview with The Edge Financial Daily.
The industry and its future growth, at the very least, require experts that are specialised in compliance, risk management, governance, audit and the syariah principles guiding all these areas of expertise, he said.
“What is needed now are specialised areas of studies. Currently, if someone wants to specialise in risk management for Islamic finance, the [local] universities might offer only one class on risk management. How is the student supposed to develop the depth of knowledge needed [in] Islamic finance?
“Without a depth of knowledge in syariah principles, how can you design a syariah-compliant product?” asked Amat.
According to the FAA, an independent quality assurance and accreditation body for the financial services industry that is supported by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Securities Commission Malaysia, global syariah-compliant assets are expected to expand to US$3 trillion (RM13.20 trillion) in a few years.
Last year, Ernst and Young said it expected such assets to enjoy a global double-digit growth of 19.7 % a year until 2018.