Manama, February 24, 2015: Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) has reaffirmed its Shari'a Quality Rating of AA (SQR) assigned to Jordan Islamic Bank (JIB). This rating indicates JIB's conformance to very high standards of Shari'a compliance in all aspects of Shari'a quality analysis.

JIB has garnered significant value as an Islamic brand, since its inception in 1978. The bank is owned in majority by Albaraka Banking Group (ABG), which is a prominent Islamic banking franchise in the world. The group has been the pioneer of Islamic finance in many countries including Jordan.

Rating derives strength from JIB's commitment to maintaining and enhancing the level of compliance with the spirit of Shari'a rulings in Islamic finance. The bank is supervised by an eminent Shari'a Supervisory Board, which comprises both Jordanian residents for ease of access, and those present on the group's Unified SSB, for international reach. The SSB regularly reviews activities of the bank to ensure Shari'a compliance. Shari'a governance infrastructure draws support from the institution's overall governance standards, which are deemed effective.

The bank has a Shari'a audit and compliance department within the broader internal and Shari'a audit department. Segregating the functions of Shari'a audit and Shari'a compliance, which is currently combined, is also more in line with best practices. Other areas of improvement include diversifying across Islamic modes of finance, as Murabaha presently remains the dominant transaction mode.

Transparency of financial reporting vis-à-vis investment accounts and corporate governance disclosures are mainly in line with the recommended best practices by IFSB. Relevant policies and procedures regarding profit distribution mechanism, investment risk fund, Shari'a screening criteria and profit purification are documented and disclosed by the bank.

For further information on this rating announcement, please contact the undersigned at sabeen.saleem@iirating.com or Mr. Moh'd Raza Lakhani at raza.lakhani@iirating.com.

Sabeen Saleem, CFA
Chief Executive Officer
Islamic International Rating Agency

© Press Release 2015