Of course, it goes without saying that Asian banks should guard against complacency and continue to meet high prudential standards and strengthen their risk management capabilities. Many of you will be presenting your thoughts over the next two days on these and other issues on the future of Asia’s banking and finance. I look forward to hearing your insights. BIS central bankers’ speeches  5
Fundamental to this is the development of the institutions, the markets, the range of financial products and services and having in place the accounting, legal, regulatory, supervisory and shariah frameworks, as well as, for the monetary authority to have the capacity to manage its financial policies within this context. With the development of these respective components having made significant progress, we are now seeing the Islamic financial services industry enter a new phase of development. Following increased liberalisation, the progress in the development of the international financial architecture for Islamic finance and the increased innovation resulting in the development of new products and services, the international dimension of Islamic finance is becoming increasingly more significant. Islamic financial institutions are now also venturing their operations beyond their domestic borders. Islamic-based papers are also being issued in international financial markets, generating significant interest from global investors. The international financial architecture for the development of Islamic finance has also been strengthened with the establishment of the international boards to set the accounting and prudential standards. These developments have cumulatively evolved the Islamic financial system to increasingly become an integral component of the international financial system. The Malaysian experience has been to evolve a comprehensive domestic Islamic financial system that is diversified in terms of its institutions, markets and players. The strategy has been to institute the entire financial system chain to ensure the efficient functioning of the system.