We are pleased to announce the formation of a Law Harmonisation Committee. This committee comprised members from among key government stakeholders, including the Attorney General’s Chambers as well as industry players and experienced Islamic finance legal practitioners. We are also pleased to announce the appointment of Tun Abdul Hamid bin Mohamad, the former Chief Justice who is also a member of our Shariah Advisory Council, to chair this committee. We will be engaging with the industry and general public for feedback on the laws which require harmonisation. Further details will be announced in due course. The underlying objective in having this Law Harmonisation Committee is to position and strengthen existing laws as the laws of choice for Islamic financial transactions. It is also consistent with our objectives to create an enabling environment that facilitates and accommodates the development of the industry, a clear and efficient system that preserves that enforceability of Islamic financial contracts and a credible and reliable forum for settlement of legal disputes arising from Islamic financial transactions.  

The global financial crisis underscores the interconnectedness of markets.  The sharing of learning and the transfer of knowledge through ties with other markets are therefore important. Lessons and experiences learned and shared can help mitigate the risk of contagion which can be devastating to world economies. At the regulatory level, cooperation and exchange of information have been greatly intensified in recent years.

The remarkable achievements of Islamic banking and highlighted that while the amount of funds managed in the Islamic financial system was only a fraction of the total assets of the international financial system, it represented that portion of financial activities that was truly supported by  underlying productive capacity that generated growth of economies across continents, and that, it was this form of financial activities that we should encourage, as opposed to the financial flows that were destabilising and destructive.

During the recent unprecedented international financial and economic crisis in 2008 and 2009, the Asian region has demonstrated remarkable resilience. The Asian economies have strong fundamentals with low public debt levels, providing flexibility to the governments in the region to implement large fiscal stimulus. In addition, strong and well capitalized financial institutions prevented disruption to credit flows to the private sector. In addition, the household and the corporate sectors in Asia are not over leveraged, thus are in a better position to sustain consumption and business activity. Asia is also not confronted by widespread unemployment.