H.E. Arifa Ala

ATTY. ARIFA A. ALA
Senior Assistant Governor
Financial Supervision Sub-Sector III

Atty. Arifa A. Ala, a CPA-lawyer and a Certified Internal Auditor, is a career central banker with extensive experience and broad technical expertise in banking supervision and regulation. She has been assigned to various departments within the Financial Supervision Sector and tasked with supervising different types of financial institutions, both banks and non-banks alike.
Atty. Ala has made significant contributions to the development and enhancement of various policies that have had a notable impact on the conduct of the BSP’s supervisory functions and processes. She also played a vital role in developing programs aimed at strengthening rural and cooperative banks, such as the Strengthening Program for Cooperative Banks, the Strengthening Program for Rural Banks, and the Consolidation Program for Rural Banks.
Atty. Ala is the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) point person for Islamic banking and finance. She chairs the Islamic Finance Coordination Forum, which aims to establish an Islamic banking system in the Philippines that can viably operate alongside the conventional banking system.
Her leadership and advocacy has earned her multiple recognition. She was named one of the “Most Influential Women in Islamic Business and Finance” for two consecutive years and recognized as a “WOMANi Five-Star Alumni and Influencer” at the Cambridge IFA’s 5th Annual WOMANi Symposium and Awards in Dubai. Most recently, she received the “Woman Influencer in Financial Services Industry” award from the World Financial Innovation Series on 24 September 2025.
Atty. Ala earned her BSBA in Accounting from Mindanao State University as Magna cum Laude (17th placer, May 1993 CPA Board Examinations), her Master of Business Administration from Ateneo de Manila University, her Law degree from San Beda College, Manila, and her Master in Public Management from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Harvard Kennedy School. In addition, she holds a Certified Qualification in Islamic Finance – Banking from the Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia.