The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Shari’ah Supervisory Board (SSB) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has released the guidelines on the submission of requests for Shari’ah opinions of the SSB.
The SSB issues opinions on Islamic banking transactions and products issued by financial institutions and other stakeholders in the BARMM, and when requested by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), financial institutions, and other stakeholders.
The guidelines outline the procedures for submitting requests for opinion to the SSB, defines the scope of matters that may be referred for Shari’ah opinion, and identifies eligible requesting parties, which include Islamic banks; takaful and retakaful[3] operators; regulatory bodies; and non-governmental organizations, government agencies, cooperatives, and other financial and non-financial institutions, offering Islamic finance products.
Requests may be submitted via postal mail or the official e-mail address of the SSB Secretariat, which will oversee the end-to-end process of handling requests for SSB opinion.
The SSB was established through a joint circular issued on 26 April 2022 by its founding agencies, namely the BSP, Bangsamoro Government, Department of Finance, and the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, to implement their shared mandate under the Bangsamoro Organic Law (Republic Act No. 11054).
The initiative complements the state policy under the Islamic Banking Law (Republic Act No. 11439) in promoting a robust Islamic banking ecosystem.
The SSB supports the development of Islamic banking and finance and complements BSP Circular No. 1070 dated 27 December 2019 or Shari’ah Governance Framework for Islamic banks and Islamic banking units.
In Islamic banking and finance, financial services must be consistent with Shari’ah principles. For instance, Islamic banks offer products that do not involve interest or “riba,” which is prohibited in Shari’ah.
Rather, Islamic banks offer alternative arrangements to generate income.