Ahsan Ali – Managing Director, Head of Islamic Origination, Standard Chartered Bank, UAE
Alex Armstrong – Managing Director - Head of Financial Institutions & Structured Finance, QInvest, Qatar
Ayman Khaleq – Managing Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
Hitesh Asarpota – Director, Emirates NBD Capital
Issam Al Tawari – Chairman & Managing Director, Rasameel Structured Finance Company, Kuwait
Khalid Howladar – Global Head, Islamic Finance, Moody´s Investor Service, UAE
Lim Say Cheong – Executive Vice President & Head of Investment Banking Group, Al Hilal Bank
Mohammed Paracha – Head of Islamic Finance - Middle East & Africa, Norton Rose Fulbright (Middle East) LLP
Mohieddine Kronfol – Chief Investment Officer - Global Sukuk and MENA Fixed Income, Franklin Templeton Investments
Naveed Ali – Executive Vice President & Head of Corporate Banking Group, Dubai Islamic Bank
Rizwan Kanji – Partner, King & Spalding
Qasim Aslam – Partner, Dentons
Website: www.kslaw.com
King & Spalding is an international law firm with more than 30 years experience advising clients globally on Islamic finance. Consistently ranked among the best in the world, the firms global Islamic finance and investment practice includes nearly 30 lawyers and professionals in offices across Europe, the US and the Middle East.
In Europe, the firm is recognized as a leader in structuring and advising on Shariah compliant real estate financing and investments, as well as advising various international investment banks in their capacities as arrangers in debt capital market transactions, particularly Sukuk issuances. In the US, the firm is widely acknowledged as the firm of choice for Shariah compliant investment and financing transactions. In the Middle East, the firm leads in the formation of investment funds across a range of asset sectors, and the innovative fund structures it has developed to deal with local ownership and financing restrictions are now precedents followed by the industry. The firm maintains a leading role in handling debt capital markets work, in particular Sukuk issuances for issuers and lead arrangers across the Middle East and Turkey.
Website: www.icd-ps.org
The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) is a multilateral development financial institution and is part of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group.
The ICD was established in November 1999 to support the economic development of its member countries through the provision of finance for private sector projects, promoting competition and entrepreneurship, providing advisory services to governments and private companies and encouraging cross-border investments.
The ICD has an authorized capital of US$4 billion. Currently, the shareholders of the ICD are the IDB (50%), 53 Islamic countries (30%) and five public financial institutions (20%).
ICD mandate and objectives
The ICD fosters sustainable economic growth in its 53 member countries by:
The ICD selects the financing projects based on their contribution to economic development considering factors such as job creation, Islamic finance development, contribution to exports, etc. The ICD also provides advisory services to governments and private sector groups on policies designed to encourage the establishment, expansion and modernization of private enterprises, the development of capital markets, best management practices and to enhance the role of the market economy. The ICD operates to complement the activities of the IDB in member countries.
The ICD is rated ‘AA/FQ’ by Fitch Ratings, ‘Aa3/P-1’ by Moody’s Investors Service and ‘A+’ by Standard & Poor’s.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Tel: (966-12) 6361400; (966-12) 6441644
Fax: (966-12) 644 4427
Email: icd@isdb.org
Website: www.icd-ps.org
Website: www.emiratesnbd.com/en/
Emirates NBD Group
Emirates NBD is a leading banking group in the region. As at the 31st December 2016, total assets were AED448 billion (equivalent to approximately US$121.94 billion). The group has a leading retail banking franchise in the UAE with more than 219 branches and over 1,012 ATMs and CDMs in the UAE and overseas. It is a major player in the UAE corporate and retail banking arena and has strong Islamic banking, global markets and treasury, investment banking, private banking, asset management and brokerage operations.
The group has operations in the UAE, Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the UK and representative offices in India, China and Indonesia.
The group is an active participant and supporter of the UAE’s main development initiatives and of the various educational, environmental, cultural, charity and community welfare establishments.
Emirates NBD Capital
Emirates NBD Capital (EmCap) is the investment banking subsidiary of the Emirates NBD Group, licensed to operate in the Dubai International Financial Center. EmCap comprises an experienced team of professionals combining an international perspective with in-depth regional knowledge spanning debt capital markets (DCM), syndicated/club loans, financial advisory, equity capital markets and project finance. The DCM franchise of Emirates NBD is a leading bond and Sukuk house globally and has helped issuers raise approximately US$60 billion in capital market issuances since 2013. The product suite includes Sukuk (rated and unrated), conventional bonds, subordinated structures and private placement transactions.
Website: www.sc.com
Standard Chartered, under our Saadiq brand, offers a wide range of Islamic financial solutions catering to a broad spectrum of corporate, institutional and retail client needs.
As a major international bank with a long-standing heritage and a global network that covers much of the Muslim world, we bank the people and companies driving investment, trade and the creation of wealth across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Our dedicated Islamic banking team combines Shariah expertise with strong business acumen and offers clients comprehensive international banking services with a wide range of Shariah compliant financial products.
Standard Chartered Saadiq has won more than 200 industry awards in recognition of market leadership solutions centering around capital markets solutions, treasury risk management, project, export, structured and structured trade finance.
For more information, visit us at www.sc.com.
Website: www.cliffordchance.com
Clifford Chance has been instrumental in the development of the Islamic finance economy. We have a best-in-class global Islamic finance practice, spanning five continents, which offers clients the highly renowned Clifford Chance quality with deep specialism and strength in Islamic finance.
Our team consists of leading experts who are the architects behind many of the world's pioneering and groundbreaking Islamic finance transactions. We have for many years been involved in Islamic financing techniques and Islamic product development and advise on a wide range of Islamic financial services and products including: Sukuk, project and infrastructure finance, acquisition and leveraged finance, private equity and real estate funds, financial regulation, structured products and derivatives, real estate finance and tax.
We have helped to establish Islamic finance benchmarks, standards, regulations and systems which are used throughout the world and have advised on several high-profile Islamically financed deals across the Middle East.
For more information, visit www.cliffordchance.com.
Website: www.dentons.com/
Dentons is a global law firm driven to provide clients with a competitive edge in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. Our Middle East network is one of the largest and longest established of any international law firm in the region – we have been on the ground for half a century. With more than 110 legal professionals, many of them bilingual in Arabic and English, our team delivers a comprehensive understanding of local laws, customs and practices.
Dentons's Islamic finance team is a leader in its field. We are at the forefront of innovation in Islamic finance and work closely with key industry stakeholders. Clients use us for our unrivalled Shariah local knowledge and international expertise across the Middle East, Europe and Asia. We offer a full range of services in domestic and international Islamic finance law advice. Our Shariah solutions are world class, offering practical experience and expertise across a wide range of industry sectors.
Website: www.idealratings.com/
IdealRatings was incorporated in 2006 in San Francisco with a corporate objective to provide SRI/ESG and Shariah compliant solutions to ethical investors and enable them to identify such instruments across different asset classes in the global market. IdealRatings serves clients in over 30 countries with a range of capital market solutions including:
Website: www.morganlewis.com
Morgan Lewis has strong experience advising clients on Shariah compliant debt capital markets, structured transactions, and investment fund formations across the Middle East, North America, Europe, and Asia. Our award-winning team focuses on structuring cross-border Islamic finance transactions, particularly where foreign issuers and fund managers are seeking to raise debt or equity from Islamic investors. As such, we have advised clients on complex and innovative transactions across more than 30 jurisdictions including, for example, the first corporate Sukuk issuances out of the US, Luxembourg, Germany, and Oman; the first Islamic capital-protected fund; multiple asset-backed structured notes; and a wide range of feeder and parallel fund structures for some of the largest global buyout and real estate fund managers.
We provide innovative advice to international organizations, financial institutions, corporations, investment banks, private equity firms, government entities, and credit agencies on a full range of Shariah compliant investment and financial products. We also have strong relationships with prominent Shariah advisors whether based in the Middle East or beyond.
Morgan Lewis offers more than 2,000 lawyers, patent agents, benefits advisors, regulatory scientists, and other specialists — in 28 offices across the US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. For more information, visit us online at www.morganlewis.com.
Website: www.path-solutions.com
About Path Solutions
Path Solutions is a leading information technology solutions provider offering a broad, deep spectrum of Sharia-compliant, Riba-free and asset-backed integrated software solutions and services to the Islamic financial marketplace, covering the entire range of Islamic Banking, Retail and Corporate Banking, Investment and Financing, Treasury, Asset Management, Risk Management, and Regulatory Reporting in the GCC and Global Capital Markets.
Designed to meet the needs of modern Islamic banking, Path Solutions’ turnkey solutions are based on an open, flexible architecture and an established deployment methodology. They have been tested and implemented at some of the world’s most sophisticated Islamic banks, Islamic banking windows as well as conventional banks converting into Islamic banking operations.
Path Solutions’ success can be attributed to its multi-award winning Islamic core banking system iMAL that serves and supports the world’s leading Islamic financial institutions across the globe. iMAL is the only 100% Islamic banking solution available in the market. All iMAL modules adhere to the Islamic law and are in full compliance with IAS (International Accounting Standards). The system is based on the Sharia guidelines for the purpose of financing related to Murabaha, Mudaraba, Ijara, Istisnaa, Salam, project financing, real estate and others. The company provides cloud-ready and on premise software solutions with a robust set of capabilities to help Islamic financial institutions enhance their most distinctive operations.
Another flagship product of Path Solutions is iSHRAQ, a web-based solution built using Microsoft .NET platform for Financing & Investment SMEs. iSHRAQ*Microfinance which falls under iSHRAQ*Islamic Finance is a proven solution that adopts forward-thinking best practices to support Islamic microfinance institutions’ profitability and growth. It provides Islamic microfinance institutions with alternate channels such as POS and mobile banking, using the branchless banking concept for online, real time secure services, enabling them to run the mass retail services that comprise microfinance and community banking at lower cost.
Path Solutions helps its clients to manage all of their front-office and back-office software needs, cut costs, meet Sharia and regulatory requirements, exceed their customer expectations, fend off competition and increase their market share. The company’s multilingual team combines deep technical expertise with industry know-how to provide a market-leading array of professional services.
Path Solutions is headquartered in Kuwait City, with world-class R&D centers in Beirut, Cairo, and Kerala and support offices in Dubai, Karachi, Khartoum, Kuala Lumpur, London, Manama and Riyadh, while maintaining a presence through partner companies in other locations around the globe. The company enjoys a strong presence across the Middle East, GCC, Africa, Asia Pacific, South America and United Kingdom with over 120 forward-thinking Islamic financial institutions using its cutting-edge software solutions, strengthening its position as the undisputed leader in the Islamic financial services marketplace.
For more information, go to: www.path-solutions.com
Website: www.tawreeqholdings.com
Tawreeq Holdings is a group of related corporate entities, based in the UAE and Luxembourg, specializing in comprehensive supply chain finance (SCF) solutions targeting SMEs and their corporate clients across the MENA region.
Tawreeq undertook a novel approach by introducing world-first Shariah compliant SCF solutions to provide SMEs in the region with the needed support to grow through partnering with their obligors and offering innovative short-term Shariah compliant financial investment solutions under SCF programs.
Tawreeq Holdings provides an innovative approach to help service the trade flow in the MENA region, offering securitization, factoring, reverse factoring and ethical management of the entire SCF cycle in a Shariah compliant process.
The Tawreeq Holdings group offers its services with four separate functional arms, utilizing the flexibility to serve its clients. Our group includes Dar Al Tawreeq Forfaiting and Factoring Services, iSCF Capital, Tawreeq Investments and HMR Consulting.
Tawreeq Holdings through its subsidiaries offers:
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Website: www.jardinehc.com
Website: www.wvb.com
World Vest Base provides a broad range of informational products directed at institutional investors, universities, bankers, analysts, tax and audit practitioners, government agencies and asset managers, M&A, private capital, equity and fixed income markets.
The company’s latest offering includes the WVB Shariah Compliance Ratings which is a relational database of financial, statistical and market information on active and inactive global companies.
The database covers 153 countries with over 44,600 active listed companies and 30,000 inactive companies. This covers approximately 99% of all listed companies and a global market capitalization of almost 100%.
WVB data is based on the country of incorporation. It describes a company as a legal entity, not individual issues or listings and offers complete documents with indexed financial transparency to the data.
For more information, visit www.wvb.com
Website: www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/
Oxford Business Group (OBG) is a global publishing, research and consultancy firm, which publishes economic intelligence on the markets of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.
OBG offers a comprehensive analysis of macroeconomic and sectoral developments, including banking, capital markets, energy, infrastructure, industry and insurance.
The group’s acclaimed economic and business reports are the leading source of local and regional intelligence, while its online economic briefings provide an up-to-date in-depth analysis. OBG’s consultancy arm offers tailor-made market intelligence and advice to firms operating in these markets and those looking to enter them.
Website: www.islamicfinancenews.com
Islamic Finance news is the industry's leading, capital markets focused, e-newsletter bringing you unrivalled editorial coverage every week on the global Islamic financial market.
This weekly newsletter provides insightful and intelligent editorial coverage from around the world helping you keep ahead. In addition to a comprehensive weekly review of all the stories from around the globe, interviews, forums, market statistics and data, key industry practitioners contribute via non-biased, educational and up-to-date country and sector reports, giving you a firsthand knowledge and understanding of the Islamic finance markets and instruments from an experts' point of view.
For a trial subscription, please contact +603 2162 7800 or email subs@IslamicFinancenews.com
Website: businessislamica.com/
Launched in November 2006, Business Islamica is the first monthly magazine of its kind in the UAE, specifically covering all aspects of Islamic business and finance, both regionally and internationally.
The magazine’s objective is to spearhead awareness initiatives, heighten knowledge of its core principles and practices, as well as to feature the latest developments in this industry.
Our editorial covers interviews with key industry leaders, case studies, and includes features on a wide range of topics such as; Islamic Banking, Wealth Management, Takaful (Islamic Insurance), Islamic Retail Finance, Marketing and Branding of Shari’ah-Compliant products, Regulatory Issues, Islamic Business Challenges and Risk Management.
Website: www.capitalbusiness.me
Website: www.alfi.lu
Website: www.alphasoutheastasia.com
Alpha Southeast Asia celebrated its fifth anniversary as a purely Southeast Asian focused institutional investment and transactional banking magazine in 2011. The magazine has remained steadfast in its coverage of Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand).
As a result, the magazine has firmly established itself as the only magazine of choice among institutional investors interested in understanding the region further. Corporate treasurers and chief financial officers in the region have also found our magazine useful given similarities in the ASEAN region. High net worth individuals and white-collar professionals have also found our articles a good alternative as opposed to what is widely available in the mainstream regional press. The magazine remains the only Hong Kong-based regional financial magazine with a dedicated monthly section on Islamic finance.
Website: www.fundsglobalmena.com
Funds global MENA is a leading publication is directed at institutions, fund buyers, distributors and fund managers in the Middle East and Africa, with editorial focusing on industry developments such as sales trends, new asset classes, fund launches, economic outlook and regulatory changes. The magazine is circulated to a worldwide readership of over 14,000.
As well as in-depth editorial features, content includes regular C-suite executive interviews and profiles, ‘talking head’ viewpoints, academic contributions and industry roundtables for fund management and asset servicing.
Funds global MENA forms part of the funds global series of publications looking at the Asia-Pacific, Latin America and MENA regions. Reports are published by the owners of funds europe magazine, which has been reporting on the institutional and retail fund management markets in the UK and Europe since 2002. To request sample copies of funds global MENA and associated publications, please contact Michael Fennessy at Michael.fennessy@fundsglobalmena.com
Website: iftmagazine.com
Islamic Finance Today, the exclusive Islamic Banking and Finance Magazine published by Pioneer Publications has commenced publication as a monthly in digital format.
It is now available for free downloading as a service to the industry and delivers a mix of exclusive articles by the leading scholars in the field, interviews with prominent personalities, industry trends, news, views and events.
The magazine reaches a large number of industry professionals with its reader-friendly format, rich and varied content and up-to-date, thought-provoking information for investment savvy readers looking for a fresh approach and new perspectives on the developments and growth potential of the industry.
Since its launch as an e-version in early 2015 a number of leading scholars have contributed papers or interviews, among them Rushdi Siddiqui, David Vicary, Joy Abdullah, Shakeeb Saqlain, Abdelilah Belatik Paul Mc.Namara, Sayd Farook, Shafiq Jakhura, Farrukh Habib, Riaz Ansary, Furqan Ahmed, Abbas Mirakhor, Umar Rafi, Valentino Cattelan, Abdul Haseeb Basit, Redha Al-Ansary, Junaid Wahaidna, Nida Khan, Sadia Karim, Shahida Shahimi and Rosie Kmeid.
Website: www.lexismiddleeastlaw.ae
Lexis Middle East Law is the definitive research tool for lawyers working in the Middle East. It provides a single point of online access to the laws and cases of the United Arab Emirates in English and Arabic, as well as the commercial laws of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar. In partnership with SADER Legal Publishers, the Lexis Middle East Law service is supported by dedicated research and translation teams in Dubai, Beirut and London. A bilingual editorial team reviews over 300 regional newspapers, magazines and websites (including regulatory bodies and government agencies) on a daily basis to ensure lawyers are kept informed of the latest legal news and developments, including draft laws in the pipeline. The Lexis Middle East Law service provides access to fully consolidated legislation in English and Arabic, while offering the broadest range of legal commentary and practical guidance across a range of practice areas including arbitration, restructuring, project finance and energy. Visit www.lexismiddleeastlaw.ae
Website: www.oictoday.biz/
OIC TODAY is a business and investment magazine that plays the role as information provider and communication link to members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Now it has come into existence to serve the Muslim Business community at large.
OIC Today was launched by Malaysia's former Prime Minister YAB Tun Haji Abdullah Ahmad Badawi whom indicates the importance of such a pan-Muslim publication for global reach and networking with member countries.
OIC Today is an exclusive magazine published by OIC International Business Centre Sdn Bhd in collaboration with Malaysia OIC Trade Chamber based in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. It focuses on general economy and also acts as the mouthpiece for Muslim Nations seeking partners in progress and development of the Ummah worldwide.
Website: www.thebusinessyear.com/
The Business Year (TBY) is a global media group specializing in economic news, research on national economies, and business intelligence across emerging markets. With operations in over 35 countries, we bring first-hand insights to investors, businesses, and governments worldwide.
Website: www.theoath-me.com
the Oath, is the only monthly legal magazine edited in the UAE that dedicates its coverage to this vibrant industry sector across the Middle East.
In its fifth year now, every issue of the Oath acts as the voice of the industry and reaches out to lawyers, legal counsels, C-level business executives and those wishing to keep updated on legal developments in the Middle East region.
The magazine is dominated by news that affects the legal profession, the legislation that affects the wider business community, and the activities that are driving the legislature.
Website: voicesofleaders.com
Voices of Leaders (VL) is a global business network for top executives and companies to Meet, Share and Grow locally, regionally and internationally.
The data-driven business profiles allow you to Meet top executives across a wide variety of industries, sectors and countries. Share your business needs among members looking for specific business opportunities and Grow your business network at a local and international level, while increasing the possibility of creating synergies, and finding partners and investors.
VL is committed to giving leaders from around the world a voice and in response to the demands of the digital age, VL produces interactive ebooks on the countries visited and the networking events it covers.
