Islamic finance regulators sign on to formal dispute resolution

On 4 June 2026, at the 3rd Global Islamic Economy Summit in Istanbul, the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI) and the OIC Arbitration Centre signed a memorandum of understanding to promote alternative dispute resolution across Islamic finance. The two bodies will run joint conferences, training programmes and certifications, publish specialised material, and exchange expertise on arbitration and dispute prevention. It reads like bureaucratic housekeeping, and that is precisely its significance. Islamic finance has long had a legal-governance gap: contracts written to Shariah principles end up litigated in London or New York under frameworks that do not recognise those principles, producing unpredictable outcomes and discouraging cross-border deals. An arbitration culture native to the sector — with trained arbitrators, standard clauses and a recognised seat — is how a trillion-dollar market gets legal certainty to match its balance sheet. Paired with Istanbul's new OIC arbitration seat, this MoU is a small, procedural step in the only direction that compounds.

This is a QeRN summary by Ahmed Qerni. Read the original at OIC Arbitration Centre: https://www.oic-ac.org/news/in-a-strategic-step-to-strengthen-legal-governance-in-islamic-finance-cibafi-and-the-oic-arbitration-centre-sign-a-memorandum-of-understanding-to-promote-alternative-dispute-resolution/.