Farrukh Sabzwari
Commissioner, Specialized Companies Division, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP)
In partnership with
STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN
17th December 2019, Mövenpick Hotel Karachi, Pakistan
In partnership with
STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN
Date: 17th December 2019
Venue: Mövenpick Hotel Karachi, Pakistan
Attendees: 120
Speakers: 40 Speakers
About The Forum
Favorable demographics and strong political will have supported Pakistan in becoming one of the most promising Islamic financial markets in the world.
Home to the second-largest Muslim population globally, the Pakistani government is committed to advancing its Shariah finance industry with effective regulations and measures, and has had considerable success building its industry from banking, funds, Sukuk and Takaful.
Shariah banking institutions have been registering steady expansion: as at the end of June 2018, Islamic banking assets were recorded at PKR2.48 trillion (US$18.54 billion), up 21.57% from PKR2.04 trillion (US$15.25 billion) as at the end of June 2017. Islamic banking deposits also realized an increase from PKR1.72 trillion (US$12.86 billion) as at the end of June 2017 to PKR2.03 trillion (US$15.18 billion) a year later. In terms of financing facilities, the diminishing Musharakah has been a favorite among providers and clients (33.7%) as at the end of June 2018, followed by Musharakah (20%).
The South Asian nation has also made its mark in the Sukuk landscape: under its Sukuk regulations, the sovereign has tapped the international market several times, most recently in the form of a US$1 billion facility issued in April 2019 which received overwhelming demand. The positive Sukuk momentum is also gaining ground in the corporate space.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) continue to support the industry and have dedicated themselves to building an enabling environment for the industry. et, the Islamic Republic still has room to grow and to realize its full potential. It is against this backdrop that IFN returns to Pakistan with its acclaimed IFN Pakistan Forum series which provides local regulators and market players as well as interested stakeholders an impartial and invaluable platform to identify critical issues and objectively discuss potential solutions.
Forum Floor Plan
Forum Agenda
Our Events offer participants a holistic view of latest industry trends in a succinct one-day program format. Our agendas are compiled after in-depth research is undertaken through research reports and interviews, in house content and discussions with market participants. For each event an advisory board comprising the industry’s leading practitioners and regulators is assembled to offer advice on content, speakers, flow and format. The agenda is circulated to the advisory board for final comments before our team initiates the speaker invitation process.
09:00
Recitation from Holy Quran
09:10
Welcome Remarks and Introduction
09:20
Keynote address
Ghulam Abbasi, Director, Islamic Banking Department, State Bank of Pakistan
09:30
Keynote address
Farrukh Sabzwari, Commissioner, Specialized Companies Division, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP)
09: 40
Financial Inclusion through Islamic Finance
- Economic empowerment through financial inclusion:
- Innovative approaches for scaling up access to financial services
- Driving financial inclusion through microTakaful:
- Exploiting potential in life and General Takaful
- Islamic Mutual Funds and market efficiency
- Regulatory initiatives to promote financial inclusion
- Q & A
Yavar Moini, Financial Sector Expert, World Bank Group
Panelists:Azeem Pirani, Deputy CEO, Pak-Qatar Takaful
Mian Allah Nawaz, Head – Window Takaful Operations, Adamjee Insurance Company
Mohammad Raza, Group Head – Customer Support, Meezan Bank
Muhammad Faisal Shaikh, Head of Islamic Banking, Faysal Bank
Dr Muhammad Imran, Group Head – Islamic Banking, Bank Alfalah
Shoaib Malick, Cluster Head, North Collections and Recovery, United Bank
11:00
Presentation: The Development of Islamic Housing Finance
Muhammad Omair Farooqi, CFO and GH Operations, Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company
Download Presentation Slides
11:10
Coffee & Networking
11:30
Technological Developments — Opportunities and Challenges for Islamic Finance
- Leveraging digital tools to upscale business efficiencies
- Fintech — exploiting potential for enhancing outreach
- Cryptocurrencies from a Shariah standpoint
- Q & A
Sohail Zubairi, Senior Advisor, Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC)
Panelists:Ali Imran Khan, Head of Digital Banking and PMO, Meezan Bank
Dr Irum Saba, Program Director/Assistant Professor, Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi
Umair Ismail, Head of Operations, Takaful Pakistan
12:10
Presentation: FinTegration — How Banks and FinTechs Can Collaborate to Deliver New Customer Experiences
Raheel Iqbal, Managing Partner, Codebase Technologies
12:20
Presentation: Official Launch and Key Insights from the ‘7th Annual State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2019/20’, Produced by DinarStandard and Supported by Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC)
Sohail Zubairi, Senior Advisor, Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC)
12:30
Infrastructure Financing — Potential for Islamic finance
- What would make infrastructure deals more attractive?
- Where are the biggest opportunities within the infrastructure space?
- Renewables — how are they reshaping the energy mix and where are the opportunities??
- Bank financing — what does the future hold for project and infrastructure finance for the private and public sector?
- Q & A
Yavar Moini, Financial Sector Expert, World Bank Group
Panelists:Ahmed Ali Siddiqui, Group Head – Shariah Compliance, Meezan Bank
Abdullah Ghaffar, Group Head – Corporate and Investment Banking, Al Baraka Bank (Pakistan)
Haris Munawar, Head of Investment Banking, BankIslami Pakistan
Tayyaba Rasheed, EVP – Head of Investment Banking Group, Faysal Bank
13:10
Closing Remarks and End of Forum
13:15
Lunch & Prayer Break
14:30 – 16:30
IFN Pakistan Dialogue
(A closed-door session with regulators and senior industry leaders)
FORUM PHOTOS
Keynote Speakers
Ghulam Abbasi
Director, Islamic Banking Department, State Bank of Pakistan
Forum Speakers
Abdullah Ghaffar
Group Head – Corporate and Investment Banking, Al Baraka Bank (Pakistan)
Ahmed Ali Siddiqui
Group Head – Shariah Compliance, Meezan Bank
Ali Imran Khan
Head of Digital Banking and PMO, Meezan Bank
Azeem Pirani
Deputy CEO, Pak-Qatar Takaful
Fouad Farrukh
Group Chief Aitemaad Islamic Banking, National Bank of Pakistan
Haris Munawar
Head of Investment Banking, BankIslami Pakistan
Dr Irum Saba
Program Director/Assistant Professor, Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi
Mian Allah Nawaz
Head – Window Takaful Operations, Adamjee Insurance Company
Mohammad Raza
Group Head – Customer Support, Meezan Bank
Muhammad Faisal Shaikh
Head of Islamic Banking, Faysal Bank
Dr Muhammad Imran
Group Head – Islamic Banking, Bank Alfalah
Muhammad Omair Farooqi
CFO and GH Operations, Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company
Raheel Iqbal
Managing Partner, Codebase Technologies
Rizwan Hussain
Managing Director and CEO, Takaful Pakistan
Sohail Zubairi
Senior Advisor, Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC)
Tayyaba Rasheed
EVP – Head of Investment Banking Group, Faysal Bank
Shoaib Malick
Cluster Head, North Collections and Recovery, United Bank
Umair Ismail
Head of Operations, Takaful Pakistan
Yavar Moini
Financial Sector Expert, World Bank Group
Advisory Board
Forum Sponsors
LEAD PARTNERS
Faysal Bank
Brief history
Faysal Bank was incorporated in 1994 with the sole aim of helping people and businesses grow financially. Fully equipped with the skills and professionalism, we are not just a bank, but an integral partner in our customer’s journey toward economic and financial excellence.
We emerged in the banking industry with the competent backing of highly qualified leadership and professional excellence of our parent company, Ithmaar Bank — a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank that provides retail, commercial, treasury, financial and other banking services.
Faysal Islamic Banking
Faysal Bank launched its first dedicated Islamic branch in August 2009. Within 10 years, Faysal Islamic Banking grew to be the largest Islamic branch network of a conventional bank in Pakistan, having 250-plus dedicated Islamic banking branches among a network of 450-plus branches.
Our Islamic banking practices are well researched, under State Bank of Pakistan regulations and Shariah principles.
Habib Bank
HBL, Pakistan’s largest bank, was the first commercial bank to be established in Pakistan in 1947. Over the years, HBL has grown its branch network to over 1,600 branches and over 2,100 ATMs globally, serving 14 million customers and clients.
HBL Islamic Banking is one of the leading players in the sector, with over 540 branch outlets nationwide. By providing a wide range of Shariah compliant investment and financing solutions to its diverse clientele, HBL Islamic Banking plans to expand itself to a full-service Islamic bank and become the most preferred for customers. All the Islamic products offered by HBL are approved by the bank’s Shariah board, which comprises renowned Shariah scholars of Pakistan.
HBL Islamic Banking is committed to introducing innovative products and initiatives for its valued customers, with a vision to be the preferred choice for the banking fold to fulfill all their banking needs.
Meezan Bank
Meezan Bank, Pakistan’s first and largest dedicated Islamic bank, is a publicly listed company with a paid-up capital of PKR10 billion (US$64.22 million). It is one of the fastest-growing financial institutions in the banking sector of the country. With its vision of establishing ‘Islamic banking as banking of first choice…’, the bank commenced operations in 2002, after being issued the first-ever Islamic commercial banking license by the State Bank of Pakistan.
VIS Credit Rating Company (formerly JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company) has reaffirmed the bank’s long-term entity rating of ‘AA+’ and short-term rating of ‘A1+’ with a stable outlook. The rating indicates the sound performance indicators of the bank. Meezan Bank is the only fully-fledged Islamic bank with a ‘AA+’ credit rating in the Islamic banking industry in Pakistan.
The bank provides a comprehensive range of Islamic banking products and services through a retail banking network of over 820 branches in more than 240 cities across Pakistan.
Meezan Bank has also been awarded the industry’s most prestigious recognition — ‘The Best Bank for 2020 Award’ — by Pakistan Banking Awards, the most prestigious awards in the country’s banking sector. Two years ago, Meezan Bank had won this award for the first time. This award aims to holistically assess a bank on all aspects and is awarded to the bank that has demonstrated:
- The most significant contribution to national development, and
- The most effective management of its resources including employees, clients, franchise, community and finances.
Meezan Bank has one of the highest returns on equity in the banking industry for the past three years, averaging over 30%. The increase in the bank’s stock’s total return price has been 241% since 2015 with a compounded annual growth Rate of 27.9%. Over the same period, its stock also outperformed the benchmark index of the PSX 100 Index as well as the KMI 30 Index, demonstrating the strength of the bank and the confidence of its investors as well as the stock market in general.
Meezan Bank has also been ranked as the strongest bank in Pakistan by Balance Sheet Evaluation and the 36th-strongest among 500 banks in the Asia Pacific region in The Asian Banker’s 2020 rankings, another solid reflection of its performance. Meezan Bank is, Alhamdulillah, a strong entity that provides excellent returns to shareholders and is indeed an investment of choice for them.
UBL Ameen
Backed by UBL’s over 50 years’ heritage of providing world-class financial services, UBL Ameen offers a full range of Shariah compliant Islamic banking products and services through its dedicated branches in major cities across Pakistan. Islamic banking is defined as a banking system governed by the principles laid down by Islamic Shariah. Interest-free banking is a narrow concept denoting a number of banking instruments or operations which avoid interest. Islamic banking, the more general term, is based not only to avoid interest-based transactions prohibited in Islamic Shariah but also to avoid unethical and anti-social practices. In a practical sense, Islamic banking is the transformation of conventional moneylending into transactions based on tangible assets and real services. The model of the Islamic banking system leads toward the achievement of a system which helps attain economic prosperity. UBL Ameen has 100 branches and 163 windows all over Pakistan.
MULTILATERAL STRATEGIC PARTNERS
The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD)
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:
- Financing private sector investment
- Mobilizing capital in the international financial markets, and
- Providing advisory services to business and governments.
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: [email protected]
Website: www.icd-ps.org
The Islamic Corporation for The Insurance Of Investment And Export Credit (ICIEC)
Established 26 years ago in 1994 as a multilateral institution and a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group, the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) was tasked to promote cross-border trade and foreign direct investments in its member countries.
The ICIEC’s mission is to make trade and investment between member countries and the world more secure through the Shariah compliant risk mitigation tool. Its vision is to be recognized as the preferred enabler of trade and investment for sustainable economic development in member countries.
The ICIEC is the only multilateral export credit and investment insurance corporation in the world that provides Shariah-compliant insurance and reinsurance solutions.
Today, the ICIEC supports trade and investment flows in 47 member countries spanning across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Its target clients are corporates (both exporters and investors), banks and financial institutions as well as export credit agencies and insurers.
International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation
The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) is a member of the IDB Group. It was established with the purpose of advancing trade among OIC member countries, which would ultimately contribute to the overarching goal of improving the socioeconomic conditions of the people across the world. The ITFC commenced operations in January 2008 and has since consolidated all trade finance businesses that used to be handled by various windows within the IDB Group. Earning an ‘A1’ rating from Moody’s Investors Service reflects the ITFC’s efficiency in service delivery by responding swiftly to customer needs in a market-driven business environment.
Since 2008, the ITFC has provided more than US$40.2 billion of trade financing to OIC member countries, making it the leading provider of trade solutions for the needs of OIC member countries. With a mission of being a catalyst for trade development among OIC member countries and beyond, the ITFC helps entities in member countries gain better access to trade finance and provides them with the necessary trade-related capacity-building tools, which would enable them to successfully compete in the global market.
Contact us at:
Twitter: @ITFCCORP
Facebook: @ITFCCORP
Linkedin: International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC)
Tel: +966 12 646 8337
Fax: +966 12 637 1064
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.itfc-idb.org/en
PARTNERS
Adamjee Takaful
Adamjee Insurance Company (AICL) is one of the largest general insurance companies in Pakistan, incorporated as a public limited company on the 28th September 1960 and is listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange. AICL has a unique advantage of having regional presence in the UAE and maintains its standing through an unwavering commitment to its corporate philosophy. AICL’s competitive advantage is achieved by a combination of having the largest paid-up capital and reserves, and a well-diversified business portfolio.
A truly dynamic business setting
AICL aims to deliver innovative customer solutions, owing to its wide-ranging line of products. Its employees are dedicated to performing their best for its valued customers, trained with all the skills necessary for a truly outstanding customer service. The company’s focus on strengthening and expanding its global presence is reflected in its tapping the growth potential available in the UAE market. AICL in collaboration with Hollard International, a South African company, has life assurance operations under a separate entity namely, Adamjee Life Assurance Company.
Delivering value to customers
Adamjee Insurance is broadly involved in underwriting the following classes of business:
- Fire and Property
- Marine Aviation and Transport
- Motor
- Accident & Health
- Miscellaneous Insurance
A wide range of Shariah compliant Takaful products are also offered through AICL’s top-of-the-line window Takaful operations, serving customers from all walks of life, on a much larger scale.
IdealRatings
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:
- Equities – A web-based platform covering over 40,000 stocks, where fund managers can screen equities using different, custom-built ESG/SRI/Responsible Investments and Shariah rulebooks or guidelines. This solution caters to different purification calculation methodologies with a comprehensive set of reports for fund managers to manage their portfolio.
- REITs – Global coverage of all listed REITs that could be screened in accordance with different standard Shariah rulebooks or guidelines.
- Indexes – Co-branded and jointly marketed by FTSE-Russell Indexes and a separate series with Thomson Reuters for the global markets, designed for fund management and investment benchmarking. In addition, IdealRatings is able to provide custom-built indexes for the fund management industry.
- Sukuk – A unique solution which includes the global Sukuk and a pioneering Sukuk-screening solution that enables fund managers to customize their Sukuk selection in accordance to their Shariah rulebook, guidelines or investment preference, and
- Brokerage – The solution provides broking houses the ability to screen global equity markets, a technical analysis of the markets and equities, buy/sell/hold recommendations and purification amounts.
Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company
Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company (PMRC) was set up as a mortgage liquidity facility by the government of Pakistan, the State Bank of Pakistan and the World Bank to address the long-term funding constraint in the banking sector which was hindering the growth of the primary mortgage market. PMRC will serve as a secure source of long-term funding at attractive rates and at the same time ensuring sound lending habits among the primary mortgage lenders (PMLs). Its thrust is three-pronged: help reduce maturity mismatch risk for PMLs, increase the availability of fixed rate mortgages and increase the maturity structure of mortgage loans; this in turn would not only help improve the affordability of mortgages but also increase the number of qualifying borrowers. With these initiatives, PMRC envisions an expansion of the primary mortgage market, which will consequently lead to the ultimate goal: a more widespread home ownership.
PMRC will play a key role in providing funding to both conventional and Islamic PMLs and it will endeavor to encourage and collaborate with PMLs for the growth of housing finance in Pakistan. As the company’s principal source of funding will be from the local bond market, another important objective of the company is to pioneer the development of the local bond and Sukuk markets.
LANYARD SPONSOR
Codebase Technologies
Codebase Technologies builds modern digital banks, developing application programming interface-driven technologies to deliver new customer experiences. Supporting institutions with cloud-agnostic digital-ready solutions, it operates as a research and development think tank that enables any business to pursue their ambitions for a seamlessly integrated, lifestyle-enhancing digital financial experience at a fraction of the time and cost.
Its highly robust and scalable open architecture framework and flagship platform ensemble, Digibanc™, the most comprehensive one-stop shop ‘bank in a box’, gives Codebase Technologies the key to unlock the true potential of the new-era digital financial ecosystem.
With solutions encompassing customer onboarding, middleware, payments, asset management and channel deployments, Codebase Technologies provides the expertise that allows your business to focus on what’s important — the customer.
Codebase Technologies operates across ASEAN, the GCC and Australia, providing proprietary technology products and advisory services to institutions looking to challenge the next digital frontier.
Last Visit to Pakistan
The Islamic banking industry in Pakistan has progressed considerably since its introduction to the South Asian nation, with its share reaching almost 12% of the overall banking industry in terms of its asset size. The branch network of Islamic banking is continuously expanding throughout the country at a rapid pace, and the strong demand for Shariah compliant banking products is reflective of the State Bank of Pakistan(SBP)’s goal of having a 20% market share by 2020.
The SBP and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan have played key roles in driving the growth of Islamic finance in the country by creating a facilitative environment. As a result, both the regulators’ initiatives over the years have led to the stability and resilience of the Islamic finance industry, making it a worthy consideration to the conventional finance and banking activities among investors and banking consumers.
With its population slowly but surely becoming aware of the competitive depth of Islamic finance, Pakistan remains a vital market in the eyes of investors in the growing industry.
For any inquiries contact us
Our team will be glad to answer any questions you may have about this event.