Pakistani Central Bank sets new qualifications & rules for Shari'ah advisors

The State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan's central bank, has issued new qualifications and restrictions on Shari'ah advisors. The new regulations require Shari'ah advisors to have a postgraduate degree in Shari'ah law, four years of experience and limits the degree to which Shari'ah scholars can hold executive or non-executive positions with Islamic banks other than Shari'ah scholars. The new regulations do allow Shari'ah scholars to oversee multiple Islamic financial institutions as long as they are not involved outside of the Shari'ah compliance role and do not have significant financial interests in any organization to which they provide oversight.