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Dr. Ghiath Shabsigh
Secretary-General
Islamic Financial Services Board
Dr. Ghiath Shabsigh is the Secretary-General of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), a prominent international standard-setting body of regulatory and supervisory authorities with interest in ensuring the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry - defined broadly to include banking, capital market and insurance.
Dr. Shabsigh is an economist with broad experience in financial sector issues. Prior to his appointment as the Secretary General of the IFSB, he served as Assistant Director at the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Monetary and Capital Markets Department, where he had broad responsibilities covering IMF’s work on central banking and fintech. Prior responsibilities at the IMF included working on economic reform programs, financial sector development, and financial stability assessments, in a wide range of countries from low-income to advanced economies. His previous work experience includes working as a financial analyst and university lecturer.
He led the IMF’s work on Islamic Banking for the past 25 years helping to build international institutions, developing policies and standards for the sector, and providing technical assistance on Islamic banking regulatory frameworks, central banking operations, and sukuk markets for large number of IMF member countries.
Dr. Shabsigh holds a PhD in Monetary and International Economics, an MA in Economic Development, a BSc. in Economics and Business, and several professional qualifications in banking and securities market operations.
Speaking at SFF 2026
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1:00–1:30pmFri 20 NovPolicy StageHall 3, Singapore EXPOOpen
Technology Rewiring
Islamic Finance, Built Digital: Tokenization, Transparency and Trust Across Borders
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Dr. Ghiath ShabsighSecretary-GeneralIslamic Financial Services Board
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Maha El DimachkiChief Executive Officer, GFTN SolutionsGlobal Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)Moderator
About this session
Several jurisdictions are now laying the legal and regulatory foundations for Islamic finance, from their first sukuk issuances to Islamic banking pilots in regulatory sandboxes. Unlike established markets, they can embed transparency into market infrastructure from the start, rather than retrofit it later. This panel discussion brings together central bank leaders and the global standard-setter for Islamic finance. They will explore how tokenization and digital verification can make Shariah compliance more auditable and consistent across institutions and borders, while keeping scholarly judgment at its core. The panel will also consider what shared standards emerging markets need so their frameworks connect with global pools of Islamic capital.
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