The Waqf Fund for Research, Education and Training has launched a new professional development initiative as part of its core strategy to develop the human capital for Islamic finance industry.

The WaqfFund comprises the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), and 18 prominent Islamic banks and conventional banks with Islamic finance operations in the Kingdom.

The capacity building initiative is being launched for the benefit of Sharia’a scholars, Shria’a auditors and compliance professionals to enhance their understanding of global financial and capital markets.

Chaired by Khalid Hamad, executive director, Banking Supervision (CBB), the Waqf Fund will jointly host the first training session from April 7 to 8, with the Islamic Finance Council UK (IFC) under its “Scholar Development Program”, covering such topics as the global financial crisis, development of the monetary system, financial derivatives, the treasury function, and equity and debt capital markets.

Hamad said the Waqf Fund's joint initiative with the IFC aims to enhance Sharia’a scholars' understanding of the conventional financial markets and products, to assist them with a comparative understanding that bridges the gap between bankers and scholars during transaction structuring and approval process.

'We are proud to be able to serve and develop the industry, and are also working on other initiatives to produce more Sharia’a scholars specifically for the Islamic finance industry,' he remarked.

The Scholar Development Program, developed by the IFC, a UK based not-for-profit organization, and assisted by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), provides a continuous professional development (CPD) approach comprising of relevant and structured learning activities on conventional markets.

IFC chairman, Tariq Masood, said, 'We welcome the decision by the Bahrain Waqf Fund to introduce this unique program designed to empower Sharia’a scholars. It is encouraging to see Bahrain, a recognized global hub for Islamic finance, working together through global partnerships by joining with the UK and Malaysia on this program to benefit what is now a truly global industry.'

The program is exclusively tailored for Sharia’a scholars and those involved with the Sharia’a compliance function, and has been run successfully both in London and Kuala Lumpur, said Hamad.

A group of 30 Sharia’a scholars, Sharia’a auditors and reviewers will participate in the first training session in the Kingdom.

Based on the feedback, the participants will be able to become members in IFC’s continuous professional development program, which will offer several benefits such as continuous professional development through web-based learning resources; personal development plans for each scholar and a permanent help-line, the Fund said, he added.-TradeArabia News Service