Aditya Shah is the head of circular economy investments at Creek Capital, a Dubai-based climate impact investment manager. Creek Capital invests in sustainable and decentralized infrastructure across the Middle East to help individuals, companies and communities increase value and reduce their carbon footprint. Aditya has more than 15 years of climate impact and infrastructure investment experience across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Previously, Aditya was the assistant director at IL&FS Group, where he spent 10 years raising and managing infrastructure funds, in addition to making proprietary investments for the group. Prior to IL&FS, Aditya was the assistant vice-president at Abu Dhabi Investment Company where he was part of the investment team of the ADIC–UBS Infrastructure Fund.

Aditya holds a Bachelor’s degree in commerce from Mumbai University and an MBA from SP Jain School of Global Management. Aditya is also a chartered alternative investment analyst and a chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Ahsan Ali is responsible for the global Islamic corporate and institutional banking business at Standard Chartered Bank (SCB). Since joining SCB in March 2004, he has built this business from inception and has led several award-winning and industry-defining transactions. Ahsan has over 24 years of experience in the financial services industry, of which the last 14 have been in Islamic banking.

Ahsan holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and a degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, in addition to a CFA [chartered financial analyst] designation.

Aijaz Hussain has worked in the field of investments and Islamic banking for almost 25 years. For the first seven years, Aijaz worked with UBS and Morgan Stanley (formerly Smith Barney) in the area of investment management. His areas of specialty include Islamic investments, hedge funds, and managed accounts. As part of the Private Client Group, he consulted high-net-worth clients in investment and hedging strategies, charitable trusts and estate planning.

In 2003, Aijaz joined Guidance Residential, a then-start-up Islamic financing company and played a major role in its growth into a multibillion-dollar financing company.

On the 1st April 2011, Aijaz joined University Islamic Financial (UIF), a Michigan-based Islamic banking company in the capacity of vice-president of national sales. As the head of sales, his responsibilities include sales management, implementing UIF’s growth strategy and improving overall efficiency within the organization. In January 2013, Aijaz was appointed to the board of directors at UIF for his contribution to the company’s success. Aijaz has conducted over 500 seminars and written numerous articles on Islamic financing over the years.

Anita Wieja-Caruba is an associate director at the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and has been with the company for close to eight years. During this time, as part of its Strategy, Policy and Risk Division, she has been instrumental in implementing various international standards in the Dubai International Financial Centre, including the Financial Stability Board (FSB) Recovery and Resolution Framework and the Basel III reforms. She also works on subjects such as benchmark reforms, client assets protection, equivalence with EU rules, sustainable finance, insolvency law, derivatives and netting and compliance framework.

Prior to joining the DFSA, Anita worked at the European Commission as an advisor to Commissioner Michel Barnier on a package of financial reforms following the global financial crisis.

Anita qualified as a finance lawyer in the City of London (King & Wood Mallesons, ex SJ Berwin), following which she worked at BNP Paribas CIB advising on various aspects of the bank’s structured finance transactions. She holds degrees from BPP Law School (UK), University of Cambridge (UK), College of Europe (Belgium) and University of Silesia (Poland).

Aruna Narayanan is a sustainability enthusiast and strategic thought leader with a passion for driving prosperity through people empowerment and planet protection.

Aruna is a highly accomplished results-driven professional with two decades of corporate experience. She focuses on sustainability, ESG, impact investing, innovative waste management and recycling, marketing communications and corporate social responsibility. With previous leadership positions at organizations including Purecog Holdings, Dulsco, Accenture and Ocwen Financial Corporation, she is adept at supporting companies and their clients on sustainability journeys with a lasting positive impact across multiple stakeholders.

Aruna leads the ESG & Sustainability practice at The Partnerships Advisory. She is a non-executive director on the board of EIGHTClouds Private Equity. She has been nominated to the board of the Sustainability Action Society (an initiative by the Capital Club, Dubai). She also serves on the advisory board for various organizations, enabling them to genuinely embed sustainability and ESG into various aspects of their business. Aruna is a Tedx speaker, panelist and moderator at various discussions on authentic leadership and sustainability.

Aruna is an alumna of the Harvard Business School (US) and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (UK). She is an advocate of diversity and inclusion and leads the Alumni Network of Harvard Women (UAE Chapter).

Aruna has completed the SDG Ambition Accelerator program organized by United Nations Global Compact. She has been named to the ESG Power List 50 2022 that recognizes the most influential ESG leaders in the MENA region.

Asal Saghari is the counsel of the corporate, finance and investments practice. Asal has extensive experience in banking and finance. Her areas of practice include finance, Islamic finance and secured and unsecured lending, with a particular focus on advising sponsors, lenders and borrowers in connection with their lending and investment activities in Europe and the Middle East structured on both a conventional and Shariah compliant basis. Asal joined King & Spalding’s London office in 2008 from one of London’s leading international law firms.

An experienced capital market regulator, Basheer Ahmad joined the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in 2008 and is responsible for primary market regulations and for managing the DFSA Listing Authority. He is the Islamic finance subject-matter expert at the DFSA and is also responsible for the development of ESG securities requirements.

Basheer has spent over 20 years working for international regulators, working across securities rules and regulations, policy formulation, listing rules, operating listing regimes and market disclosures. He holds a Barrister-at-Law degree from the Lincoln’s Inn, UK and a Chartered Islamic Finance professional qualification.

Cassim Docrat is the director of DDCAP (DIFC), the company’s representative office in the Middle East.

Cassim has over 30 years of international banking experience in Canada, the US, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Cassim started his banking career in 1981 with Citibank in South Africa before moving to Canada in 1983, where he went on to hold senior positions at Citibank, Bank of Montreal and the Bank of Nova Scotia. He has worked in the Middle East since 1991 holding senior executive positions with banks including Kuwait Finance House, Al Rajhi Bank in Saudi Arabia and recently, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

Cassim has built strong relationships with major institutions and government entities in the region and beyond. He has experience across commercial, investment and Islamic bank offerings focused at institutional investors particularly in the structured trade and syndication markets.

Faisal Hasan is a senior investment professional with a career spanning 21 years during which he managed diverse award-winning departments such as asset management, direct investments and treasury, investment research and business development.

Faisal’s previous role was in the capacity of senior executive officer at FundRock (ME), which is part of the Apex Group. He also was part of the senior leadership team in KAMCO Investment Company and Global Investment House in Kuwait.

Faisal is a financial market expert who has been a speaker at various international conferences and is well quoted in the media on economic trends and financial markets. He holds a Master’s degree in finance from Delhi University, India and is a CFA charterholder from CFA Institute in the US.

Dr Farrukh Habib is the co-founder of Alif Technologies (Dubai) and Shariah Experts (London). He is an expert in Shariah (Islamic law), finance and economics. He is an advisor, consultant and trainer by profession with a strong educational background. He has been involved in the Islamic fintech and Halal digital economy, focusing on crowdfunding, micro investments, microfinance, blockchain and smart contracts, among others.

Dr Farrukh is also researcher at the International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA), Kuala Lumpur, and a co-editor of the ISRA Journal of Islamic Finance (indexed by ESCI and SCOPUS). He has been doing research in capital markets, Sukuk, banking and social and ethical finance and is a prolific speaker at several international dialogues, conferences and seminars. He is a member of the OIC Working Group for Financial Inclusion and Economic Outlook, and a frequent speaker for the ICCIA which is an affiliated institution of the OIC, representing 57 member countries.

Dr Farrukh holds a PhD in Islamic finance from INCEIF, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and a Master of Science degree in banking and finance from Queen Mary University of London in the UK.

Ismail Ebrahim Dadabhoy has worked within capital market and investment banking spanning over 30 years, gaining knowledge across the market in Islamic finance and conventional banking, dealing in short-term money market, options, swaps, structured products as well as corporate finance

Ismail spent 10 years with Merrill Lynch, then 20 years with UBS across London, Singapore, Bahrain and Dubai.

While at Merrill Lynch, Ismail was a founding member of the international repo market back in 1987 which over the years developed into an over trillions of dollars plus market. In 1992, the repo trading team was headhunted by UBS where he quickly rose to become the head of UBS European Repo trading thereafter moving to Singapore to successfully start the Emerging Markets Repo desk for UBS.

Ismail resigned from UBS in 1999 because he felt uncomfortable dealing in interest with his Islamic belief. However, he did not leave UBS as they allowed him to set up UBS Islamic Finance back in 2000. UBS quickly developed as a major force in the Islamic finance arena and gained many industry awards with number of firsts and innovative products like range Murabahah investment, dual currency Murabahah, exchangeable Sukuk for Khazanah, real estate and structured products plus others. The exchangeable Sukuk itself earned over 12 different awards.

Ismail was part of the ISMA REPO subcommittee and later served as an ISMA Asia Regional Committee member.

Currently, Ismail is advising the International Islamic Financial Market as an independent advisor and recently set up AIMS, an Islamic advisory services company with three other managing partners to serve the financial market covering banks, corporates, Takaful and high-net-worth individuals.

Jessica Robinson is a global expert in environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainability, advising financial institutions, institutional investors, think tanks, governments, regulators and companies on a broad range of issues relating to green finance, ESG, sustainable and responsible investment, as well as gender, climate and carbon finance.

In previous roles among others, Jessica was the head of Asia for the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, following a long stint as chief executive and board director of the Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia, one of Asia’s leading think tanks working to promote sustainable finance and responsible investment across the region.

Jessica has an extensive background in professional services and business consulting, focusing on financial services, environmental finance and sustainability industries. She frequently contributes articles, authors reports and speaks at conferences on issues including green financing, financial market developments and climate finance policy, among others.

Jessica holds a Master of Science degree in applied environmental economics from the University of London, a Master of Science degree in politics from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Manchester, UK.

Dr John A. Sandwick is a recognized pioneer in Islamic finance. He created the first application of the Modern Portfolio Theory in the context of global portfolio allocations with Shariah certification. He is also noted for organizing innovative domestic and international Sukuk (Islamic bonds), the world’s first global Sukuk fund, a Sukuk participation certificate and the first-ever mid-market Sukuk facility in Saudi Arabia. Dr John served as a visiting professor of finance at Al Yamamah University in Riyadh, and a former instructor in the Graduate School of Finance at University Paris-Dauphine. He frequently taught Master Classes on Islamic finance for groups including central banks, pension funds, family offices and treasuries.

Dr John’s most recent publications on Islamic finance include a popular article in the Journal of Asset Management. He has a Master’s degree in development banking from American University in Washington DC, and a doctorate in business administration from Grenoble Ecole de Management in France. He previously worked at the private banking units of Deutsche Bank (Suisse), Credit Suisse and Encore Management (in association with UBS). He is currently a corporate finance and asset management consultant for Saudi families and businesses.

Khalid Al Kayed, CEO of Bank Nizwa, is a financial industry veteran with over 30 years under his belt. Khalid was the Chief Finance Officer of the bank before taking on his current role. As the CEO, he is responsible for spearheading the bank’s overall business growth and strategies.

Khalid holds a Master’s in International Accounting and Finance from Liverpool University. He is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis (CSCA) from Institute of Management Accountants as well as a Certified Financial Manager (CFM) alumni of Columbia Business School Associate. He also holds the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (ACMA) and Certified Global Managerial Accountant (CGMA) designations.

Prior to joining Bank Nizwa, Khalid held various posts in a host of well-respected financial institutions including Deputy CEO and Chief Financial Officer at Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank, Chief Financial Officer at Standard Chartered Bank Jordan and Financial Controller at the offshore banking unit of Jordan National Bank Cyprus.

Khalid Howladar is the chairman of MRHB DeFi, the world’s first ethical and faith-based decentralized finance platform. In addition, Khalid is an active innovation angel, advisor and board member for a diverse mix of fintech, crypto, edtech and Islamic economy start-ups through his firm Acreditus Partners. Lastly, he is the senior managing director and head of credit and Sukuk for RJ Fleming & Co, the boutique merchant banking advisory of the Fleming family.

With a rare confluence of financial, tech, social and faith-driven perspectives, Khalid is a recognized authority in his fields and has addressed investors worldwide and audiences at the World Bank, IMF, European Central Bank and Institute of International Finance.

Khalid gained industry prominence from his 15 years at Moody’s Investors Service in London and Dubai culminating as both the global head of Islamic finance and the head of the GCC banking team.

Khalid’s most prominent start-up role was as angel and later chairman of Small Pharma, a pioneering psychedelic UK biotech that successfully made the transition from start-up to a public 2021 listing on the TSXV Canada during his board leadership.

Khurram Wahed is a seasoned advisor, investment banker and corporate financer with over 22 years of green and conventional energy, healthcare, infrastructure and sustainability experience. Throughout his career, Khurram has been involved in or led advisory and financing in several transactions in the Middle East, Africa, Turkiye, Europe and Asia in sectors ranging from oil and gas, power and water, healthcare and life science, infrastructure, real estate and mobility/transportation.

Currently, Khurram is a partner and chief portfolio officer of Safe Harbour Capital Ventures, an opportunistic growth fund focused on real estate and the green business, based out of Canada, and he is also a partner at Alpha Cruz Advisory in the UAE.

Khurram is a keen propagator of responsible investment, a regular contributor as a speaker at various events and a writer for various websites on responsible investment, economic warfare/geopolitical strategies.

Khurram has an executive Master in Finance with Distinction (Top 10%) degree from HEC, Paris and also has an MBA with a specialization in finance and marketing from ICFAI Business School, India. He is also a Master of Philosophy candidate, and his research topic is titled ‘From Shareholders’ Capitalism to Stakeholders’ Capitalism, transition of Private Capital into ESG-based Investments/Responsible Investments’.

Lo’ai Bataineh is a seasoned and successful investment banker with over three decades of experience in commercial banking, investment banking, asset management and wealth management. He has experience in establishing, implementing and successfully managing full-service investment banking and asset management businesses. Lo’ai is dynamic and innovative with an ability to capture new market opportunities across multiple sectors and asset classes. Driven to exceed the expectations of all stakeholders, he has extensive experience in matters relating to mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and divestment, among others.

Lo’ai has served as an advisor to several regulatory and government committees in Oman. He is an active presenter in business forums, conferences and panel discussions and he contributes regular articles to business magazines and newspapers in both Arabic and English. He holds Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in money and banking.

Dr Mohamed Damak is a senior director of financial services at S&P Global Ratings. He covers financial institutions in the Middle East and Africa. Dr Mohamed is also the global head of Islamic finance at S&P Global Ratings, leading a global team of Islamic finance analysts.

Before rejoining S&P Global Ratings, Dr Mohamed worked as a principal credit risk officer for the African Development Bank in Tunis. From 2006 to 2010, he worked for S&P Global Ratings covering conventional and Islamic financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Dr Mohamed holds a PhD in finance and a Master’s degree in money, banking and finance from University of Paris 2, Pantheon Assas and a Master’s degree in financial institutions management from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Tunis.

Mohammed Paracha is a banking and finance lawyer based in Dubai where he is Head of Middle East, as well as Head of the Islamic Finance practice for the Middle East and Africa. Mohammed has been active in the Middle East for over 20 years, having worked in the London and Bahrain offices before moving to Dubai in 2011. He became Head of Middle East practice in January 2021. In 2025, Mohammed graduated as a Shariah scholar, reflecting his deep knowledge of Islamic financial products and law and an ability to connect modern finance with Islamic legal principles. His practice focuses on all types of Islamic finance covering a wide range of asset types, investment classes and industrial sectors. With a background in asset and project finance, Mohammed advises on Shariah compliant asset finance, trade finance, real estate finance and project financings. He also advises on the structuring of Islamically acceptable investment funds and has advised on the establishment of new Islamic financial institutions in various countries. Mohammed has strong relationships with many of the internationally renowned Shariah scholars and is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars on Islamic finance topics. Mohammed’s clients include multi-lateral development banks (IsDB, International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector and the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit) commercial banks (BNP Paribas, HSBC, SCB, Bank ABC and SMBC) and regional banks (Dubai Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD and Mashreqbank). Mohammed was the Project Lead on the Islamic Codification Project for Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre. A further highlight of Mohammed’s career includes being appointed to the Bank of England’s Committee on Islamic Finance which then paved the way for London to become a key global hub in the industry. Mohammed is recommended as a leader in his field by Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, Acritas and IFLR.

Nabil A Issa is a partner in the Corporate, Finance and Investments Group of King & Spalding, working from the Dubai and affiliated Riyadh offices. Nabil’s experience includes work in the areas of Shariah compliant funds, joint ventures, foreign investment, private equity, privatizations, venture capital, healthcare, education, food and beverage and real estate industry transactions. He is particularly known for his development of innovative Shariah compliant CMA funds and investment structures for real estate and private equity investments in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Nabil is regularly cited by independent legal directories and client-based surveys. Chambers Global 2020 highly ranks Nabil for his corporate and investment funds work (Band 1) in the Middle East and recognizes him as an expert in Saudi corporate (Band 1 as a lawyer based outside of Saudi Arabia) and capital market matters. Nabil is listed as a ‘Leading Individual’ for his corporate work in the Middle East region by Legal 500 EMEA 2021.

Following graduation from the University of Pennsylvania, Nabil was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to UAE University to study the effects of membership in the World Trade Organization on the financial laws of the UAE.

Sharafudheen Razi is the senior environmental, social and governance (ESG) analyst and the head of ESG analysis and data driver at Global Sustainable Market Holdings Corporation. Previously, he worked at S&P Global Ratings as a sustainability analyst.

Sharafudheen is an enthusiast in management consulting, sustainability reporting, ESG, corporate social responsibility and ESG controversy analysis. He has key expertise in ESG policy and framework creation, rating of ESG controversies, ESG indexing and ESG risk analysis. He is certified in ITIL Sustainability in Digital and IT, and GRI-certified on Sustainability Reporting Standards.

Paula Tavangar is a serial entrepreneur and renowned leader within the fintech, blockchain and quantitative finance space. Recently, Paula joined forces with Swissborg Ventures, where she will occupy a senior level role utilizing her expertise in blockchain technologies and venture capital to lead the investment process and promote deal sourcing.

Paula’s previous experience is mainly sourced from a variety of thriving companies she has either improved and/or co-founded. In 2018, Paula co-founded Genesis Capital LATAM, where she was directly responsible for developing a high-frequency algorithmic trading arbitrage strategy that was crucial to the firm’s success. She also co-founded Islamic fintech start-up Wethaq, which serves industry standardization by issuing Sukuk on a distributed ledger.

Paula holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in international finance and a Master of Science diploma in financial engineering, focusing on automated trading systems.

Raphael Fofana is a sovereign underwriter at The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit where he is spending his fifth year working on complex structured finance transactions mainly in the African region. Before joining the IsDB Group, he used to work in capital markets in France for several large international institutions. Raphael, who is a CFA charterholder, also holds two Master’s degrees in international corporate finance and public affairs from the prestigious French political school Sciences Po. Paris.

Salam Slim is a director in Oracle’s Financial Services Global Business Unit focusing on digital core banking transformation programs. In this position, he is responsible for product marketing of the Oracle Universal Core Banking & Digital banking solutions. He has over 18 years of experience working with leading global financial services companies in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asian markets and has first-hand knowledge of banking industry practices, regulations and market dynamics. Previously, he worked for Path Solutions and Temenos in various software implementation, product management and presales roles.

Salam holds a Bachelor’s degree in banking/finance from the American University of Beirut.

Sayf Shuqair is a senior associate in the Corporate, Finance and Investments Group of King & Spalding, based in the Dubai office. Sayf mainly advises regional and global clients on various asset management and investment structuring matters. He advises clients on the structuring, formation and governance of various types of public and private, listed and unlisted investment funds, including private equity, venture capital, real estate, equity and money market investment funds and also generally advises clients on innovative corporate and investment structures in the GCC region, with a particular focus on Saudi Arabia. In addition, Sayf continues to advise global and regional asset managers and placement agents on securities laws and the corporate and regulatory aspects of structuring and establishing regulated asset management and advisory businesses in the region. Prior to joining King & Spalding, Sayf was a member of a UK international law firm, based in Riyadh.

Vineeta Tan is Managing Editor and Director of REDmoney Group, one of the world’s longest-running Islamic finance media houses. Vineeta oversees REDmoney Group’s stable of products including Islamic Finance news, IFN Fintech and Islamic Sustainable Finance & Investment. With over a decade of experience in the journalism and publishing industry, Vineeta specializes in ethical and Islamic finance as well as fintech reporting and analysis covering regions including the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe. As managing editor of IFN, Vineeta leads the editorial direction and business development of IFN and its sister publications in addition to authoring reports, producing podcasts and conducting video interviews. She has interviewed senior industry players, key stakeholders and senior dignitaries including the finance/economic ministers of the Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Vineeta is a regular on the international conference circuit as both a moderator and speaker. She has an MBA and is trained in Journalism and Sociology. Vineeta also holds the Islamic Finance Qualification awarded by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investments, UK.

Dr Vladimir Malenko is the managing director of FairFin OU, an Islamic finance consultancy that specializes in Sukuk and Islamic microfinance. Prior to setting up FairFin, Vladimir worked as an Islamic finance consultant at Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, where he developed several innovative Shariah compliant instruments, including microfinance Tawarruq-based shares, Sukuk Salam for grain and the Islamic stock market index. Dr Vladimir currently writes about Islamic private equity and venture capital for Islamic Finance news. He published ‘The Dubai IPO Guide’ and ‘Russia: the next investment destination’. He holds three advanced degrees: MBA and JD (from the US), and MD (from Russia). He studied private equity at the Singapore Management University and Amsterdam Institute of Finance.