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Islamic Banking Industry
Since the 1970s, Islamic banking has emerged as a new reality in the international financial scene. Its philosophies and principles are however, not new, having been outlined in the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) more than 1,400 years ago. The emergence of Islamic banking is often related to the revival of Islam and the desire of Muslims to live all aspects of their live in accordance with the teachings of Islam.
In Malaysia, separate Islamic legislation and banking regulations exist side-by-side with those for the conventional banking system. The legal basis for the establishment of Islamic banks was the Islamic Banking Act (IBA) which came into effect on 7 April 1983. The IBA provides BNM with powers to supervise and regulate Islamic banks, similar to the case of other licensed banks. The Government Investment Act 1983 was also enacted at the same time to empower the Government of Malaysia to issue Government Investment Issue (GII), which are government securities issued based on Syariah principles. As the GII are regarded as liquid assets, the Islamic banks could invest in the GII to meet the prescribed liquidity requirements as well as to invent their surplus funds. |
