The General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI), the global umbrella of Islamic financial institutions is privileged to hold its third Global Forum, with the theme of "The New Face of Financial Services: Disruptions, Opportunities and the New Normals", under the patronage of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency of Turkey (BRSA) on 2 - 3 May 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey. Following the success of CIBAFI's Global Forum, held in May 2016 and 2017, in the Kingdom of Bahrain and Jordan respectively, CIBAFI is pleased to have 2018 edition of the Global Forum to be held in Turkey. This year, CIBAFI Global Forum aims to bring stakeholders of change onto a platform to discuss ground breaking disruptions, which are setting a new normal for the global Islamic financial services industry. All stakeholders, including regulators, bankers and customers alike are poised to reap benefits only if they are informed of the ground realities of these innovations, ultimately shaping their competitive advantages for the future of the industry. Top industry stakeholders from within and outside of the Islamic finance industry, multilateral development institutions, international and national regulatory bodies, policy-makers, leading technocrats, among others will discuss disruptions, opportunities and key emerging issues effecting the Islamic financial sector today. Commenting on the preparations of the Global Forum, the Secretary General of CIBAFI, Mr. Abdelilah Belatik said: "CIBAFI is pleased to hold its 3rd Global Forum in Istanbul, Turkey to discuss key topics of Islamic finance. The region has needs as well as untapped opportunities. Islamic finance can certainly contribute in various areas to promote economic development as well as open new expansion opportunities for Islamic financial institutions. Turkey is playing a vibrant role in the Islamic financial services sector globally, we at CIBAFI are thus very much delighted to have the Global Forum in Istanbul." This Global Forum is organized as part of CIBAFI's 3rd Strategic Objective of Awareness & Information Sharing, which aims to spread awareness and promote information sharing among its members and other stakeholders for the development of the Islamic finance industry. The annual industry leaders gathering of CIBAFI, has marked its place as the industry debate and networking venue.
