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The World Bank approved a US$500 million Financial and Digital Inclusion Development Policy Financing (DPF) program, which will support key policy reforms to promote digital transformation. The current DPF seeks to improve financial inclusion and access to more competitive digital infrastructure and services. In addition to promoting microfinance, the program will support access to foreign currency for startups. The DPF also paves the way for the Intelaka entrepreneurship program by supporting reforms conducive to startups’ development and creating new asset classes for early-stage financing for innovative enterprises.

Saudi Arabia's new legislation is part of broader efforts to overhaul the economy, create employment and wean off the economy from reliance on hydrocarbons. Simeon Djankov, World Bank Senior Research Director and Founder of the Doing Business Report, said the bankruptcy law was passed and now investors are eager to see whether the courts actually understand how to implement it. Djankov believes the merit of the law should become clearer in about a year after courts handle initial cases. Only three cases were settled using the new bankruptcy law and around a dozen more are expected to be resolved over the next year. Resolving insolvency was an area of improvement for Saudi Arabia, climbing 30 places to 62nd in the World Bank report.

The World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank want to increase the use of long-term investments in Islamic finance. The two multilateral bodies set out a series of policy recommendations in a joint report, aiming to capitalize on the risk-sharing and asset-backed features of Islamic finance. Islamic banking products have often been developed under the same regulatory regime as conventional lenders, so instruments are sharia-compliant but economically similar to their interest-based counterparts. This contributes to an over-allocation of savings to short and medium-term financial instruments, with a reliance on risk-transfer rather than risk-sharing. To counter this, policymakers could help develop sector-specific investment banks as well as non-bank Islamic firms such as leasing companies, venture capital firms and crowdfunding platforms. The report also raised the need for tax incentives and Islamic insurance schemes to help extend maturities.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group and the World Bank Group launched the second edition of the Global Report on Islamic Finance. The report is entitled "The Role of Islamic Finance in Financing Long-Term Investments". It presents a global perspective on the need for long-term investments in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and proposes the use of Islamic finance. Despite the huge potential in Islamic finance, the report notes that the Islamic financial sector is a small player in the global financial markets and requires a concerted push for the regulatory and legal changes to take root. It therefore recommends strengthening the Islamic financial system by developing a supportive legal, administrative, and regulatory environment. The biennial Global Report on Islamic Finance is a joint initiative of the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) of the IDB Group and the World Bank.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank will engage in public-private partnerships (PPP) for infrastructure development projects. Representatives of both institutions met recently and discussed issues included in IDB’s report "Mobilising Islamic Finance for Infrastructure-Public Private Partnership". IDB spokesperson Dr. Abdul-Hakim Elwaer said these partnerships fall in line with the new development orientations of IDB member countries including Saudi Arabia, whose ambitious 2030 plan is targeting to increase the private sector’s contribution to the GDP from 40-60%. Elwaer added that Saudi Arabia is hoping to achieve these goals by seeking out PPPs and promoting the privatization of government entities.

It is well established that good corporate governance strengthens institutions and financial sectors, and in so
doing contributes to building strong economies and economic growth.

Deficiencies in corporate governance were among the factors that contributed to the global financial crisis
(GFC) of 2007–08. As a result, global standard setters such as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision
(BCBS) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have been updating and
strengthening their guidelines on good governance practices.

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), which sets standards for Islamic financial institutions, published its
Guiding Principles on Corporate Governance in 2006 as its standard IFSB-3. The Principles address, within the
context of corporate governance, the distinct features of Islamic banks, such as the different relationship that
they have with some of their stakeholders.

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The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank are to use the Islamic finance market for infrastructure development projects through public-private partnerships (PPP). The IDB recently organized a forum in Washington in partnership with the World Bank on this subject. The World Bank suggested that the Islamic financial market has reached $1.9 trillion over the past six decades. IDB spokesperson Dr. Abdul-Hakim Elwaer said the aim of the forum was to create awareness about the potential for infrastructure development through PPP. This falls in line with the new development orientations of IDB member countries. For example, Saudi Arabia is targeting to increase the private sector’s contribution to the GDP from 40 to 65%. The Kingdom aims to achieve this through increasing the use of PPPs and through the privatization of government entities.

A report by the World Bank and the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI) aims to encourage the sector’s governance. The findings are based on a survey of 77 Islamic banks across 22 countries, covering the industry’s core centres in the Gulf region and Southeast Asia and extending to Islamic banks in Africa and Europe. The report found risk governance was a weak spot for Islamic banks, recommending increased use of independent directors and strengthening the role of risk management officers. Sharia governance is another area of relative weakness, the big issues being the lack of diverse experience of the members on the sharia board and the infrequency of sharia board meetings. The report recommends the development of a new or revised standard for corporate governance that is specific to Islamic banks.

The World Bank has praised Malaysia for financing sustainable, climate-resilient growth. Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank regional vice-president for East Asia and Pacific, said Malaysia’s innovative green sukuk initiative would help close the gap for both infrastructure and green finance. In July, Tadau Energy issued the Green SRI Sukuk Tadau, the RM250 million Sustainable Responsible Investment shariah-compliant bond, which holds a tenure of up to 16 years. It will finance a 50-megawatt solar power plant. Kwakwa said the framework underlying this instrument was the result of collaboration between the Securities Commission of Malaysia, the Malaysian Central Bank and the World Bank Group. She said the World Bank issued US$10 billion in bonds through the green bond programme since 2008 and new issuances in the global market are expected to exceed US$120 billion this year.

Islamic finance has largely been a priority area in Malaysia for three decades and it is not about to slow down. The World Bank's recent Global Report on Islamic Finance highlighted Malaysia as having the largest Islamic banking assets in the region with US$156.7 billion (RM697.15 billion) as at 2013. Malaysia is also the second-largest economy in terms of total syariah-compliant financial assets. However, the report also suggested the need to address several challenges like the need for alternative investments. On a positive note, the report said the syariah governance framework was advanced in Malaysia. Within Asia, Malaysia has been dominating the sukuk issuance market. The US dollar-denominated sukuk have been growing, but sukuk denominated in Malaysian ringgit are growing even faster and dominate the market.

More than 100 participants participated in the World Bank-Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) High-Level Seminar on Islamic Finance and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on October 6. The Seminar was highlighted by a keynote address by his Royal Highness Muhammadu Sanusi II, the Emir of Kano and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The Emir stressed the potential of Islamic finance to mobilise much needed capital to achieve the SDGs. Ms. Arunma Oteh, the Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank, similarly stressed the importance of Islamic finance as an agent for financial inclusion and for mobilising private investment in infrastructure. The panel discussion examined how countries are increasingly using Islamic finance to support developmental goals, and innovative sukuk structures supporting both physical and social infrastructure.

The important role of the Republic of Turkey in the global Islamic finance industry as well as its distinct standing both at the official and popular levels, the steady growth both of Islamic banks and financial institutions operating there, in addition to the parallel evolution of its regulatory and supervisory framework, the AAOIFI has been keen to strengthen professional and technical ties with this country. This was translated into an official visit by AAOIFI to a number of banking regulatory and supervisory bodies as well as a number of Islamic banks and financial institutions, professional entities and academic institutions.

The financial services industry is a highly-regulated industry due to the mobilisation of investors, depositors and policyholders, that is, public funds. Significant public trust demands proper supervision and monitoring of financial services and, hence, the promulgation of statutes, statutory provisions, guidelines and circulars with direct supervision from financial authorities. Soundness and stability of the financial system are the universal concern of all financial authorities, as specified by World Bank Financial Soundness Indicators (FSIs). With regards to regulation of Islamic financial institutions and services, various jurisdictions present different forms of regulatory framework. Variations of such framework are attributed to a country’s specific approach to the adoption of Islamic financial institutions, in particular, and embracing of the Islamic financial system, in general. A social choice to regulate significantly depends on the types of government financial systems and their perspectives on financial liberation, as well as either having a banking (such as Germany) or capital market (such as the United States) orientation.

Leaders of the World Bank, United Nations, and Islamic Development Bank Group pledged to work closely together in the region. They recently launched the new financing initiative to support the MENA region aimed at uniting the international community to face the region’s immense challenges, including flow of refugees, and to launch of the process of growth, recovery and reconstruction. This approach aims at completing the massive humanitarian effort through strengthening the capacities of individuals and local communities. The plan needs forming broad alliances as the objectives of the new strategy and the resources necessary to achieve them exceeds the capacity of any single organization.

The Vice President of the World Bank for the Middle East and North Africa Hafez Ghanem confirmed that the World Bank aims to give $20 billion to the Middle East to help ease the Syrian crisis within the next five years. The figure is three times what the World Bank has spent up until now, and Ghanem added that his institution has given $4.9 billion to the Middle East and North Africa since July last year and most of this went to Iraq, Egypt, Jordan and, to a lesser extent, Lebanon. The increase had already started before the Syria crisis, when $1.6 billion was given to the region every 12 months. With regards to the monitoring of loans, Ghanem said that the World Bank helps the government design a project and provides technical assistance. Then a team of experts supervises it every six months.

Recognizing the huge economic opportunities of Islamic financing, the Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) in partnership with Al Qalam Institute, Cordaid and World Bank (WB) Philippines, is gearing up for drafting of the 21-year roadmap to attain compliance to Sharia'h-based financing industry.
Islamic Financing is touted as a growing "$2 trillion" global industry,
The roadmap will be patterned from the Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, one of the leading countries in adopting Islamic Finance in the global scale. It will be divided into three stages with seven years each of realization.
Ricardo Torres, PEF's Partnerships and Program manager, in a press conference Wednesday, told reporters this 21-year journey will commence next year.
Torres was in Davao City for the three-day Sharia'h conference dubbed as “Islamic Financing in the Philippines: A Step towards the First Seven years,” at the Ritz Hotel and Garden Oases, "The first seven years will be the first step and we intend to implement it starting 2016. After this Sahria’ah conference which will be attended by some 200 stakeholders we intend to craft fully the whole roadmap,” Torres said.

Five year 150 billion CFA issuance sukuk priced at a profit rate of 5.75%
The Ivory Coast is to become the latest state to issue a Sovereign Sukuk as it today launched its debut five year 150 billion CFA issuance sukuk priced at a profit rate of 5.75%. The addition of the Ivory Coast displays the continued growth of the Islamic finance market into Africa and represents a highlight in quiet year for sukuk issuance’s with total issuance volumes down considerably due to tightening of liquidity in traditional Islamic financial markets of the Gulf and South East Asia.
The sukuk is being arranged by the Islamic Corporation for Private Sector Development (ICD). The ICD signed an agreement in April 2015 for the implementation of a five-year Sukuk programme for 300 billion CFA to be issued in two equal phases of 150 billion CFA each. A road show was held in Saudi Arabia from 14 to 19 November and followed a recent upward revision of the Ivory Coast’s sovereign rating by Moody’s from B1 to Ba3.

A new international bond and grant scheme to help countries dealing with the fallout of war and instability in the Middle East and North Africa should be in place by spring, a senior World Bank official said.
In a Reuters interview, Hafez Ghanem, the World Bank's vice president for the Middle East and North Africa, said the type of investment targeted by the plan - education, infrastructure and jobs - was vital to addressing the region's refugee crises. He said that humanitarian aid alone was not enough and the alternative was “one or two lost generations” in a region with 15 million refugees or internally displaced people.

The Islamic Development Bank wants to use Islamic bonds to help finance the reconstruction of countries ravaged by conflict, with the World Bank as a potential joint issuer, the head of the multilateral lender said.
Refugee and reconstruction financing is a priority for the Jeddah-based IDB, which last month launched an initiative with the World Bank and United Nations to help more than 15 million people displaced across the region.
Work is now underway to identify specific projects for the initiative, with a priority on war torn Yemen, which could see the IDB and World Bank as issuers of the sukuk.
"We need to finalize this with the World Bank, but most likely it will be a joint issuance", IDB president Ahmad Mohamed Ali said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Kuwait.
The IDB, which operates to promote economic development in Muslim communities, has 56 member countries including Saudi Arabia, Libya and Iran as its largest shareholders.

Bold new ideas for helping Syrian refugees and their overburdened Middle Eastern host countries are gaining traction among international donors, shocked into action by this year's migration of hundreds of thousands of desperate Syrians to Europe.
Rather than struggling to gather humanitarian aid for refugees, the plans center around investing billions of dollars, much of it to be raised on financial markets. The money would go for development in countries such as Jordan and Lebanon to improve lives for both their own populations and refugees.
More controversial is a demand by some in the aid community that, in return for such a "Mideast Marshall Plan," Jordan and Lebanon must allow Syrian refugees to work, integrating them more into society. The host countries, however, point to high domestic unemployment in arguing they cannot put large numbers of refugees to work legally.
"We need to be ambitious," the regional chief of the World Bank, Ferid Belhaj, told The Associated Press. "Development is the key."