The governance of special purpose vehicles (SPVs) in the Islamic banking industry has been occupying the minds of key stakeholders, said leading experts at a major meeting held in Bahrain.

The roundtable discussion themed, "Shariah and corporate governance issues in SPV governance," was organised by The Waqf Fund at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel and Spa, , reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

The Waqf Fund has been serving the Islamic finance industry in Bahrain since 2006. It offers several programmes targeted at Islamic finance practitioners, internal Shariah reviewers and young Bahraini graduates.

The meeting was attended by a select group including C-suite executives of Waqf Fund member institutions, lawyers, professional firms and Shariah scholars.

Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) executive director for banking supervision Khalid Hamad outlined the agenda for discussion, with CBB's Hana Al Murran making a presentation highlighting the regulatory and legal issues with SPVs.

Venture Capital Bank's Khalid Madani presented the perspective of a market player.

The key issues highlighted were: board composition and related governance, mechanism to safeguard investors' interest (e.g. investor meetings, representation on the board, etc.), Shariah governance and compliance, mechanism and type of fee charged to investors, protection of investor interests in the event of liquidation, reporting frequency and transparency, due diligence - technical, accounting and legal and related party issues.-TradeArabia News Service