The president of the Islamic Banking and Finance development fund (IBFD Fund) – the center of competence in Islamic Business and Finance of Russia – has talked about the feasibility study for opening an Islamic bank or an Islamic banking window in Russia.
In February 2015, Linar Yakupov along with the group of Malaysian experts in the field of Islamic banking has participated in a series of meetings, including the meetings on a federal level, where the aspects of introduction of Islamic banking to Russia were discussed. The outcome of these meetings was the creating of the Malaysian-Russian consortium, which will prepare a feasibility study for the launching of Islamic banking in Russia. IBFD Fund is representing interests of Russia in this structure.
A wide range of issues was included in the discussions, which has opened in Moscow: from feasibility study for opening an Islamic bank and the practice of the Russian companies in the Islamic finance field to assessing and managing risks in the process of introducing the Islamic banking.
The discussions’ key topic was the necessity of amendments to Russian legislation to make the Islamic banking or Islamic banking windows work at full capacity. The reason of calling the round table, among other things, is the fact that the Islamic banking bill was submitted to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. The bill is particularly about the making amendments to the Banks and Banking Act of Russia.
The topics of the prospects of Islamic banking introduction to CIS countries, banking regulations and religious economic principles, the future of Islamic finances in Russia, fusion of Islamic finance to Russian legal framework were also discussed at the round table.