08:00 – 09:00
Registration
09:30 – 09:45
Keynote Address: Securities Market Overview and Opportunities
Dr Ali Saleh Abadi – CEO, Securities and Exchange Organisation
09:45 – 10:45
Session 1: Islamic Capital Markets in Iran: Current Developments & Future Growth
- Structure of the capital markets in Iran and comparison with other markets
- Roles of market players and regulators
- Regulation:recent developments and the current agenda to support growth
- Developing the local sukuk market and the primary market to balance the active equity market and secondary market
- Experience with domestic sukuk and outlook for domestic sukuk in 2014
- Internationalising the Iranian capital markets: what would it take, what are the opportunities (both inward and outward) and challenges
- Cross border sovereign and corporate sukuk issuance: what are the challenges, how can they be overcome and what are the opportunities
- International capital market benefits for local companies exploring offshore opportunities
- International settlement linkages
Hooman Sabeti-Rahmati – Director, SDF Partners, Singapore
Panelists:Dr Ali Saeedi – Deputy for Supervision of Financial Institutions, SEO
Dr Behrouz Khodarahmi – Secretary General, Iran Institutional Investor Association
Dr Hassan Ghalibaf Asl – CEO, Tehran Stock Exchange
Dr Hamed Soltani-Nejad – CEO, Central Securities Depository of Iran
Dr Masoud Rahi – Deputy for Finance and Economic Affairs, Pars Oil Company
10:45 – 11:15
Coffee and Networking
11:15 – 12:15
Session 2: Key Issues Facing Foreign Players and Investors in Iran
- Entry of foreign players into the domestic market – regulations, ease of entry, ownership rules
- Understanding the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Act (FIPPA)
- Addressing regulatory challenges to ease foreign investor participation in the domestic investment markets
- Key Sharia considerations for foreign investors and relevant Sharia differences
- What foreign market players and investors seek, how they view Iran as an Islamic investment destination
- What must the local market do to attract foreign players and investors
- Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Portfolio Investment
- What international investment structures may be appropriate in Iran
- Dealing with currency exposure
Dr Ghasem Mohseni – Director, SEO
Panelists:Abolfazl Koudei – Deputy, Organization for Investment Economic and Technical Assistance
Hamid Azarakhsh – CEO, Mofid Securities
Bishr Shiblaq – Partner, Arendt & Merdenach, Luxembourg and Dubai
Rouzbeh Pirouz – Chairman, Turquoise Capital
12:15 – 12:30
Presentation on Islamic Banking Intelligence: The First Comprehensive Global Islamic Banking Database and Analytical Dashboard
Innovation & Development Corp
Omid Torabi – Managing Director, Innovation & Development Corp
Marjan Naseri – Senior Islamic Banking Expert, Innovation & Development Corp
12:30 – 14:00
Luncheon
14:00 – 15:00
Session 3: Banking Industry Landscape of Iran and Potential Foreign Participation
- Structure of the banking industry in Iran, its features and challenges
- Regulation: background, recent developments and the current agenda to support growth
- Iran’s changing landscape and its impact on the development of Islamic banking
- New Islamic banking products and developments in 2014
- What is the industry-wide strategy required to take Iran’s Islamic banking sector to the next level
- Cross-border trade: Pursuing investment flows from Asia and the Middle East
- What are the opportunities to participate in Islamic banking in Iran: equity participation, free zone licences, joint ventures and others
- Connecting Iran to the global Islamic finance market
- What would attract foreign players into the banking sector
Dr Farhad Nili – Director of MBRI and Advisor to the Governor of the Central Bank of IR of Iran
Panelists:Tom Guest – Associate Director, Eiger Trading Advisors
Mohammad Farrukh Raza – Managing Director, Islamic Finance Advisory & Assurance Services, United Kingdom
Hamid Tehranfar – Vice Governor, Central Bank of IR of Iran
Dr Parviz Aghili Kermani – CEO, Middle East Bank
15:00 – 16:00
Session 4: Potential Sectors of the Iranian Economy for Foreign Players
- Potential growth sectors in the Iranian economy and opportunities for Islamic finance
- Which sectors and classes of the Iranian economy are expected to perform well in 2014?
- Outlook for Islamic asset and fund management
- Government-linked investment and investment funds: prospects, opportunities and challenges
- What are the borrowing needs and financing opportunities in the oil and gas sector
- What are possibilities for dual listings or offshore sukuk for the industry
- Outlook and opportunities in the power sector
Dr Hosein Abdo Tabrizi – Senior Advisor, Ministry of Transportation & Housing
Panelists:Dr Seyed Ali Hosseini – CEO, Iran Energy Exchange
Datuk Noripah Kamso – former CEO, CIMB Principal Islamic Asset Management, Malaysia
Nicolas Poole – Chairman, PouyaFaraz Kish
Dr Mehrdad Sepahvand – Director of Foreign Investment Department, National Development Fund
16:00 – 16:10
Closing Remarks
16:10 – 16:45
Coffee & Networking
