The Capital Market Authority in Oman is establishing a new Supreme Sharia Supervisory Board that will take decisions on issues of fiqh disputes in Takaful companies.

Sultan Salim Al Habsi, the Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) issued decision No. 171/2021 establishing the Supreme Sharia Supervisory Board (SSSB) in the Capital Market Authority and issued its Articles of Association pursuant to Article 5 of the Takaful Insurance Law promulgated by Royal Decree No. 11/2016.

SSSB’s establishment aims to enhance the legislative and regulatory processes for the companies operating in the Takaful insurance business field based on best international practices.

The SSSB will put in place the general policies regulating such types of companies and advise the CMA on the Sharia aspects related to Takaful insurance. It will also contribute to developing the Sharia-related legislations besides providing advice on the compatibility of the products, services, and contracts of the Takaful insurance companies.

The SSSB will take decisions on issues of fiqh disputes among members of the Sharia supervisory committees in Takaful insurance companies.

The Articles of the SSSB state that the board must be constituted by the board of directors of the CMA. The board will comprise five members including the chairman of SSSB and at least three members must have a bachelor’s degree in Islamic Sharia or an equivalent degree besides knowledge of Islamic transactions (Fiqh Al Muamalat) or Islamic banking or Islamic finance or capital market or insurance, in addition to ten years of experience in the same field.

The establishment of the SSSB comes in line with the development witnessed by the Takaful insurance market in the Sultanate of Oman during the past years. The volume of the market reached about RO64.8mn, representing 14 per cent of the total insurance portfolio.

Out of the 20 insurance companies operating in the Sultanate of Oman, two are specialized in providing Takaful insurance products.