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).

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.

Dr Dalal Aassouli is an assistant professor of Islamic and sustainable finance at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar.

Dr Dalal was previously a visiting academic at the Durham Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance, Durham University Business School. Prior to that, she worked at the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM) in Malaysia where she assisted with the establishment of the IILM’s Sukuk program. Before that, she held several corporate finance positions in Europe where she had exposure to the African, European and Latin American markets.

Dr Dalal serves on several industry working groups and non-profit global forums such as the CIBAFI Sustainability Working Group, Qatar Financial Center Islamic Finance Taskforce and the Global Impact Fintech Forum. She is also an invited speaker in international conferences and events and provides her consultancy expertise to various organizations on issues related to sustainable and Islamic finance.

Dr Dalal holds a Master’s degree from NEOMA Business School and Paris Dauphine University and a PhD from ENS de Lyon in France.
Dr Dalal’s areas of research interest include Islamic finance in general and its implications for liquidity management, corporate finance, ethical finance, development finance, green finance, food security, sustainable development and SRI.

Husain Abdulwahed Alkhaja is the GCC regional director and director of DDCAP.

Husain is a vastly experienced banker who has been working within the Islamic financial marketplace for the past 30 years for various highly regarded regional and international financial institutions. Most recently, he held senior executive positions within MFAI (Jersey), a wholly-owned subsidiary of DMI Group. This followed his tenure as COO of CMA-licensed investment company Gulf Investors Asset Management Company.

Having started his career in banking in Bahrain, Husain was appointed the regional director and head of GCC and Islamic banking at Societe Generale where he was based in Dubai. Prior to returning to Bahrain as CEO of Investment Dar Bank, Husain was the general manager of ADNIF, the Islamic subsidiary of National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

Ijlal Ahmed Alvi has wide-ranging experience in the financial services industry with regional and international financial institutions spanning over three decades.

As CEO of the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) for the last 18 years, Ijlal has been devoted to the goal of bringing about unification and harmonization in the Islamic finance industry globally and has overseen the development and publication of universal Shariah compliant financial documentation and product confirmation standards as well as related guidance notes.

In addition to his responsibilities as CEO, secretary to the board and spokesperson of IIFM, Ijlal also manages IIFM’s comprehensive standards development process and leads the project-specific market consultation exercise, global working groups and legal documentation drafting process and is actively involved in the IIFM Shariah Board’s guidance and approval process.

Ijlal has also been part of a number of international steering committees, task forces and working groups of various multilateral development organizations focused on the advancement of the Islamic finance industry globally. He is a regular speaker at international conferences and also contributes articles in various international and Islamic finance publications.

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 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’s classes on Islamic finance, including in Kuala Lumpur, Almaty and Dubai, among others, 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.

Dr John 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.

Khurram is a seasoned advisor, investment banker and corporate financer with over 22 years of Green & conventional energy, Healthcare, Infrastructure and sustainability experience. Throughout his career, Khurram has been involved in or led advisory & financing in several transactions in Middle East, Africa, Turkey, Europe and Asia in sectors ranging from Oil & Gas, Power & Water, Health care & Life science, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Mobility/transportation.

Currently, Khurram is a Partner & Chief Portfolio Officer of Safe Harbour Capital Ventures, an opportunistic growth fund, focused on Real Estate & Green business, based out of Canada and is also a partner at Alpha Cruz Advisory, UAE. He has also worked as a Managing Director-Corporate Finance for a boutique Investment Bank, based in Dubai, and lead their Green, Healthcare and Infrastructure advisory business for the firm. He has also served as Executive Director- International Banking at First Abu Dhabi(FAB) and has worked with other international banks like Barclays, Emirates NBD etc.

Some of his key transaction in the past 5years are sell side M&A for a coal mine in asia, electricity privatisation programme of GCC country, structured National Oil Co acquisition transaction in Europe, many PPP/renewables power transactions, govt. healthcare financing programme etc.
He is a keen propagator of Responsible Investment and is a regular contributor as a speaker at various events & writer for various websites on Responsible Investment, Economic Warfare/Geo-political strategies.

Khurram has an ex. Master in Finance with Distinction (Top 10%) from HEC, Paris and also has an MBA with specialisation in Finance & Marketing from ICFAI Business School, India. He is also a Mphil candidate, and his research topic is “From Shareholders’ Capitalism to Stakeholders’ Capitalism, transition of Private Capital into ESG based Investments/Responsible Investments”.

Kumail Ali Moosa has over nine years of experience in investment banking, marketing and valuing global investment products including mutual funds, bonds, life insurance products, REITS and local and GCC equities. Prior to Sohar International, Kumail worked at Ubhar Capital as a fund manager, in Standard Chartered Bank’s wealth management division and the US equity market division of Vision Investment Services. He is currently working as a real estate investment manager and assisted in the launch of one of Oman’s first Shariah compliant real estate funds. Kumail has a Bachelor’s degree from Anglia Ruskin University in business administration, specializing in marketing. In addition, Kumail has held the CFA charter since 2019.

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.

Luma Saqqaf is a recognized sustainable finance consultant in the MENA region and is called upon by corporates, financial institutions, funds and asset managers to advise on aspects of sustainable value creation, sustainable and ESG strategy and its integration into their business. She also counsels regulators and financial markets in the MENA region on sustainable finance regulations and the development of the capital markets in the MENA region.

Luma has been at the forefront of finance, Islamic finance, sustainability and entrepreneurship in the MENA region and Europe for three decades. A former partner and global head of Islamic finance at Magic Circle law firm Linklaters, she has more than 20 years of experience in legal practice, including practicing at the two Magic Circle law firms, Allen & Overy and Linklaters, where she was a finance partner and global head of the Islamic Finance Group. She led teams across Europe, the Middle East and Asia on groundbreaking transactions covering finance and capital markets including Shariah compliant Sukuk (bonds), loans, securitization and structured finance, derivatives and fund transactions.

Luma is now CEO of Ajyal Sustainability Consulting and is also a regular speaker at conferences and contributor to articles on the topics of sustainable finance in the MENA region.

Luma is also the founder of investment group Ajyal Group and ethical luxury womenswear brand BYLUMA and has advised and mentored several social enterprises in the MENA region. She holds a Master of Law degree from the University of Bristol in the UK, and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Jordan, and has attended the Harvard executive business education program (YPO Harvard Business Leadership Program 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019).

Maali Q Khader is a highly experienced, effective and trusted lawyer. Today, she is a luminary in the corporate governance, sustainability, legal training and advice sectors.

Maali holds a number of concurrent roles, chief of which is CEO of the influential Middle East Institute of Directors, delivering advanced corporate governance advisory and training to a number of prestigious organizations.

Since 2012, as a founder and board member of the Jordan Institute of Directors, Maali has driven excellence across a number of leading organizations, including Arab Bank, Siniora Food, Kasih, PADICO Group and Medgulf.

Maali is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration, an accredited mediator from RICS, a member of the CIPE MENA Advisory Council and a member of the Responsible Business Roundtable established by the OECD. Her natural leadership qualities, entrepreneurship and legal expertise have driven a stellar career, encompassing corporate governance and training and acting as founder and CEO to a number of influential, successful ventures.

Magdy Eissa took on the role of global business development when he joined IdealRatings in 2010 and he has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, working closely with global investment firms, research houses and financial institutions. Prior to IdealRatings, Magdy’s latest role was as the regional manager for a group of Euromoney institutional investor companies, responsible for the Middle East and Africa where he spent several years growing the business in the region and enhancing the products offered to include macroeconomic indicators, company information and Islamic finance data. Magdy holds a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Egypt along with postgraduate qualifications in information technology from the UK.

Martina Macpherson is the head of ESG product management within the Financial Information Business Unit at SIX, the exchange group that operates the Swiss and Spanish stock exchanges. She has over 20 years of sustainable finance experience in industry and academia, and is an award-winning ESG influencer, researcher, incubator and entrepreneur.

Martina has an MBA in finance and business from the London School of Business and Finance in the UK, and a Master of Arts degree in law and human sciences from the University of Frankfurt in Germany.

Martina is an academic lecturer, writer and public speaker in sustainable investing and has co-authored a range of ESG and fintech books, including ‘The AI Book’ (Wiley, 2020), among others. She sits on the board of the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance, the industry’s leading body for the ESG data, ratings and index industry.

For her work in sustainable finance and leadership, Martina was awarded the title of ‘Top 50 Woman in Finance’ by the World Finance Forum in 2022. For SIX, she has won two ESG-related Strategy (by Finance Magnates) and Initiatives (A Team Insight) Awards in 2022.

Mike Tirman is a partner in Ice Miller’s Real Estate Group and advises and represents clients in all areas of real estate law, including acquisitions and dispositions, financing (including various forms of Shariah compliant financing), ground leasing, development, land use and zoning, entity structuring and joint ventures.

Some of Mike’s representative transactions include, among others, r
epresenting a buyer in a US$195 million Shariah compliant acquisition and CMBS financing of a portfolio of 30 industrial properties, representing a landlord in a US$104 million refinance of a portfolio of four industrial properties in New Jersey encumbered by ground leases and representing a REIT in a US$30 million acquisition of a parking garage and execution of a reverse 1031 exchange.

Mike is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Indiana.

Oliver von Wolff holds a wealth of experience as a seasoned Venture Capitalist and Venture Builder, bringing his expertise in architecture and the establishment of both regulated and unregulated investment products.

Oliver is currently the Founder & CEO of Helion Capital, a Dubai DIFC licensed investment company specializing in fintech-blockchain ventures, Oliver has held significant roles in the industry. He was previously the Co-Founder & Managing Director of Crypto Oasis, the Managing Director for CV Labs and CVVC Switzerland, and an early-stage venture capital investor and blockchain ecosystem builder based in Dubai.

Additionally, he served as the Group CFO & Equity Partner for a global crypto asset management and blockchain-focused venture capital group. Oliver also held the position of Managing Director in a joint venture with a stock-listed equity company on the Xetra Frankfurt.

With over 15 years of management experience, Oliver has played crucial roles as CFO and Co-Founder in various start-ups and management buyouts. He has a proven track record in transforming companies across different industries and has established strong connections in Dubai and the GCC region since 1999.

Oliver’s educational background includes an MBA in international management, degrees in economics and business, and studies at New York University focused on international corporate finance.

With his extensive global experience, Oliver has a deep understanding of diverse markets and industries, particularly in Europe and the Middle East.

Omar Shaikh is the founder and CEO of COCOA, a global Islamic compliant digital wealth manager building the future of ethical and Shariah digital financial services. The company is the first to fully incorporate institutional-quality asset management with a focus on delivering affordable, accessible and high-quality products for investors. He previously was part of the investment team at Schroders NewFinance, a multibillion dollar alternative asset manager covering a range of strategies. Omar has also lived and worked in the Middle East, with COCOA’s head office located in the City of London with supporting operations in the Nordics.

Talha Ahmed Khan is a profound investment banker and trainer with more than 12 years of experience in various regions. Currently, he is the head of the Global Investment Unit and the country manager of Oman of Pak Oman Investment Company, an investment banking/development finance institution joint venture between the Sultanate of Oman and the government of Pakistan. He has in-depth knowledge and experience of project finance, syndications, debt capital markets, merger and acquisition structures and transactions revolving around various sectors including renewable energy, technology, telcos, pharmaceuticals, etc, in Islamic and conventional modes. Academically, he has a Master of Science degree from UCL with a distinction in investment management, and certifications such as ACA (ICAEW), FCCA and the CFAESG Investment Certificate, as well as an MBA from IBA. He is an associate chartered banker from the Chartered Institute of Bankers Scotland.