KUWAIT, Jan 21 (KUNA) -- Implementing Islamic principles and regulations is of utmost importance in financial and banking transactions, thus providing clients with services that are Islam-compliant, said director of the legal authority at Kuwait Finance House (KFH) Ahmad Al-Yaseen.
Speaking at the inauguration of the sixth International Conference for Islamic Financial Institutions, he said that the late Amir, His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, had been keen on providing such services for his people and thus took the initiative for establishing KFH.
As for challenges facing the Islamic financial sector, Al-Yaseen said that bankers in Islamic institutions must avoid transactions that dealt in interest and illegal shares that exceeded in market price, noting that the charging of interest was strictly forbidden by Islamic Sharia (law).
For his part, director of the legal authority at Qatar Islamic Insurance Company Ali Al-Qurra Daghi said in a speech he delivered at the conference that Islamic banking had expanded and reached USD 400 billion, this compelling Islamic insurance institutions to make the same move, with assets reaching USD seven billion at present.
He added that Islamic insurance companies required further studying so as to place applicable solutions for the challenges they face in light of the expansion of the Islamic banking industry.
The two-day conference is being held under the auspices of the Minister of Finance Bader Al-Humaidhi and with the participation of leading researchers and investors in the Islamic financial industry.
