The House of Representatives is currently finalizing its sharia banking bill,
which will provide a legal basis for the expansion of Islamic banking in
Indonesia. Nursanita Nasution, a member of the special committee discussing the
bill, said Thursday that even though sharia banking services had been available
here for many years, they had never been provided with a firm legal basis.
"Even though it might be considered a bit late in the day, legislation on
sharia banking still needs to be enacted," the Commission XI member said. "We
expect that the deliberation process will be completed and that the bill can be
passed into law before the House goes on recess in the middle of July," she
added. The bill was initiated by the House during a plenary session in
September 2005. The House then asked the government to assess it before sending
it to the commission stage. Among the important changes envisaged by the bill
is the establishment of a sharia banking commission that will be
responsible to handing down rulings (fatwas) on sharia products and services.
This had been opposed by the National Sharia Council (DSN), which was
established by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to oversee the activities of
sharia banks. The MUI argued that the committee's work would overlap with that
of the council. But the central bank as the regulator of the country's banking
industry urged the establishment of a sharia banking commission as MUI fatwas
had no basis in civil law. "It has finally been agreed that the commission be
established, with members of the DSN sitting on the commission's supervisory
board," Nursanita said. Another significant change envisaged by the bill is
that sharia banks will be required to submit reports to the central bank on
their transactions. The central bank will have the rights to evaluate all
transactions conducted by sharia banks. Nursanita said that after the House
completed its deliberation of the sharia banking bill, it would
then start deliberating the sharia bond bill.
(The Jakarta Post, 30 June 07)
Link:
http://gifc.blogspot.com/2007/06/house-to-soon-finalize-bill-on-sharia.html
---------------------------------
Shape Yahoo! in your own image. Join our Network Research Panel today!
