Central Bank of Kuwait launches seventh cycle of Certified Sharia Auditor programme under Kafa’a initiative

The Central Bank of Kuwait announced the launch of the seventh cycle of the Certified Sharia Auditor programme, delivered by the Institute of Banking Studies under the Bank’s Kafa’a initiative with Kuwaiti banks, to strengthen Sharia supervisory governance and embed Sharia audit practices in Kuwait’s Islamic banks. The programme is positioned as a capacity-building track for Sharia-compliant financial institutions, responding to demand for new Sharia audit specialists and higher qualifications for existing staff. The Bank noted that the certification is a mandatory requirement to carry out Sharia audit work for Islamic banking and financial entities supervised by the Central Bank of Kuwait and the Capital Markets Authority, aligning with its 20 December 2016 instructions on governance of Sharia supervision in Kuwaiti Islamic banks, which set out the Sharia governance framework and requirements for internal and external Sharia audit, including auditor conditions and qualifications.