Uzbekistan’s Central Bank Sets Up Islamic Finance Council as Rules Take Shape

The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has established an Islamic Finance Council, a collegial body tasked with coordinating the development of Islamic finance across the country and setting unified standards for banks, microfinance organizations, and other financial institutions operating under Islamic principles, according to UzDaily, which reported the move on July 15, 2026. Saijamol Masayitov, chief specialist at the Fatwa Center of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, has been appointed chairman of the council.

A Mandate to Standardize

The council’s mandate centers on standardization. Uzbekistan’s Islamic finance sector has grown piecemeal, with individual banks and microfinance providers developing their own Shariah-compliant products without a shared regulatory reference point. A single coordinating body under the central bank gives those institutions one authority to answer to, rather than each interpreting compliance independently. That structural gap isn’t new; it’s the same one Uzbekistan’s parliament began addressing last year: as The Halal Times reported in September 2025, a draft law establishing a legal framework for Islamic banking passed its first reading in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis. The new council is the institutional body that framework anticipated.

Days After the CIS Forum in Tashkent

The announcement lands days after Tashkent hosted the 5th CIS Islamic Banking & Finance Forum 2026, held July 9 at the Hyatt Regency Tashkent and organized by AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics. According to AlHuda CIBE’s own release of the event, diplomatic representatives from the United States, Algeria, Russia, Malaysia, and Azerbaijan attended alongside delegations from across the Commonwealth of Independent States. Muhammad Zubair Mughal, the organization’s CEO, said in the release that the growing participation of policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and international experts demonstrates the increasing momentum of Islamic finance across the CIS region. Named attendees included Daniel Rakove, economic and commercial unit chief at the United States Embassy, and Diana Maksyutovna Aynetdinova, counsellor at the Embassy of Russia, according to the organizer. Per AlHuda CIBE, forum sessions covered Islamic banking models and AAOIFI standards, Takaful’s role in attracting foreign investment, and Islamic fintech and digital compliance.

Central Asia’s Institutional Turn

Uzbekistan’s move is not isolated. It follows a broader pattern of Central Asian and CIS states building formal Islamic finance infrastructure rather than leaving it to individual institutions. Uzbekistan has separately reported plans to launch an international financial center and IT hub alongside its Islamic banking development, according to a March 2026 Gazeta.uz report. And the standardization instinct extends beyond banking: The Halal Times reported in February 2026 that Russia and Central Asian states announced a unified halal certification standard for the region’s halal trade. Taken together, the certification standard and the new Islamic finance council point to the same strategy: replacing country-by-country, institution-by-institution rules with regional and national frameworks that international investors and trading partners can evaluate against known benchmarks.

What to Watch Next

Whether the council can deliver on that promise depends on execution the announcement itself does not yet specify. UzDaily’s report doesn’t detail the council’s full membership, its rule-making timeline, or how its standards will interact with the draft banking law still moving through parliament. What is established is the structure: a Shariah scholar with fatwa-center credentials chairing a central-bank-housed body responsible for turning years of piecemeal Islamic finance activity into common rules. The draft law’s progress toward a second reading, and the first standards the council issues for banks and microfinance institutions, are the next markers to watch.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Uzbekistan’s new Islamic Finance Council?
It is a collegial body established by the Central Bank of Uzbekistan to coordinate the development of Islamic finance in the country and set unified standards for banks, microfinance organizations, and other Shariah-compliant financial institutions, according to UzDaily’s July 15, 2026 report.

Who chairs Uzbekistan’s Islamic Finance Council?
Saijamol Masayitov, chief specialist at the Fatwa Center of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, chairs the council, per UzDaily.

Does Uzbekistan have an Islamic banking law?
A draft law establishing a legal framework for Islamic banking passed its first reading in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis in September 2025, as The Halal Times reported at the time; it has not yet completed the second reading or final approval.

What was the CIS Islamic Banking & Finance Forum held in Tashkent?
The 5th CIS Islamic Banking & Finance Forum 2026 was held July 9, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency Tashkent, organized by AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics, with diplomats and regulators from across the CIS region and beyond, according to the organizer’s release.

Why is Central Asia building formal Islamic finance institutions now?
Uzbekistan’s central bank council and the region’s unified halal certification standard, announced in February 2026 and covered by The Halal Times, both reflect an effort to replace fragmented, institution-by-institution compliance with shared standards that international investors and trading partners can evaluate.