United Arab Emirates, May 17, 2018:  The Higher Sharia Authority (HSA) for financial and banking activities in the UAE held its third meeting at 9am of Sunday 13 May 2018.

The meeting was chaired by His Eminence Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Bin Abdulaziz Al Hadad, the Chairman Higher Sharia Authority.

The HSA discussed a number of matters related to the creation of a unified Sharia governance framework for Islamic financial institutions (IFIs).
 
The HSA considered the draft standard on the appointment of the internal Sharia boards for IFIs and the fit and proper criteria in addition to some related headlines.

This standard is going to promote the role of the internal Sharia boards and strengthen Sharia compliance assurance in IFIs which will reflect positively on customer confidence in IFIs.  

The HSA considered the possibility of adopting the Sharia standards issued by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) as minimum standards for Sharia compliance.

The HSA also considered the possibility of adopting the prudential standards issued by the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB).

The HSA discussed other agenda items and adopted the relevant resolutions.  .