SINGAPORE, January 9, 2023 – Azentio Software (“Azentio”), a Singapore-headquartered technology firm owned by funds advised by Apax Partners, announced today that iMAL™ R14.6, the latest version of the company’s Islamic core banking platform, has successfully gone through the annual compliance exercise and received the certification for the year 2023 from the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions – AAOIFI, the world’s leading Islamic finance standard-setting body.

This certification reflects the adherence of iMAL™ R14.6 to existing as well as the newly issued AAOIFI’s Shari’ah and Financial Accounting Standards, which include:

  • Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) 1 – General Presentation and Disclosures in the Financial Statements
  • FAS 39 – Financial Reporting for Zakat.

Both new standards relate to financial reporting with the objective to make the financial statements of institutions transparent, fair, understandable and comparable. This certification proves yet again that iMAL™’s dynamic reporting system fully complies with these standards.

iMAL™ R14.6 focuses on taxation, reporting, dashboards, access privileges and automating manual processes. It includes enhancements to improve operational turnaround times by optimizing technical processes, making them more efficient and secure.

Omar Mustafa Ansari, Secretary General, AAOIFI, commented, “We are pleased to complete the review of the version 14.6 of iMAL™ for the year 2023 to ensure its compliance with AAOIFI’s Shari’ah and Financial Accounting Standards. By following and implementing AAOIFI standards in the right manner, we believe iMAL™ is mitigating Shari’ah non-compliance risks. AAOIFI standards are now followed in no less than 50 jurisdictions around the world and iMAL™’s compliance with AAOIFI standards places it above others in these jurisdictions. Our continued collaboration is a testament to Azentio’s ongoing commitment to follow best practices not only for itself but also for its clients which are the world’s leading Islamic financial institutions.”

Tony Kinnear, Chief Executive Officer of Azentio, stated, “Achieving AAOIFI certification for the latest version of iMAL™, signifies our commitment to provide our clients with the most advantageous blend of advanced technologies and Shari’ah-compliant processes. We ensure that any financial institution running on iMAL™ has confidence that its products and transactions adhere to AAOIFI’s evolving Shari’ah and accounting standards. The certification should automatically provide confidence to all stakeholders that relevant Shari’ah compliance controls and checks are adhered to by our clients.”

About AAOIFI

The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), established in 1991 is the leading international not-for-profit organization primarily responsible for development and issuance of standards for the global Islamic finance industry.

It has a total of 113 standards and technical pronouncements in issue in the areas of Shari’ah, accounting, auditing, ethics and governance for international Islamic finance.

AAOIFI, based in Bahrain, is supported by over 200 institutional members, including central banks and regulatory authorities, financial institutions, accounting and auditing firms, and legal firms, from over 45 countries. Its standards and technical pronouncements are adopted either fully or partially in more than 28 regulatory jurisdictions globally, in addition to having an even larger footprint in the form of guidance and voluntary adoption by leading Islamic financial institutions across the world which has introduced a progressive degree of harmonization of international Islamic finance practices.