Abdul Haseeb Basit – Co-Founder and Principal, Elipses
Ashar Nazim – Managing Director, Finocracy
Ashley Freeman – CEO and Partner, Gateway
Asim Khan – CEO, Khalij Islamic
Bik Bhuptani – Director, Greenridge
Charles Haresnape – CEO, Gatehouse Bank
David Korslund – Senior Economist, Global Alliance for Banking on Values
Fara Mohammad – Consultant – Director of Islamic Finance, Foot Anstey
Farmida Bi – Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright
Harris Irfan – Chairman, UK Islamic FinTech Panel
Khalid Howladar – Managing Director and Founder, Acreditus
Michael Rainey – Partner, King & Spalding
Mohammad Farrukh Raza – Managing Director, IFAAS
Natalie Schoon – Principal Consultant, Formabb
Paul McVeity – Partner, DLA Piper
Philip Churchill – CEO, 90 North
Sam Broadhead – CEO, Rosette Merchant Bank
Sean Kidney – CEO, Climate Bonds Initiative
Sheikh Bilal Khan – Partner, Dome Advisory
Stella Cox – Managing Director, DDGI
Stephen Openshaw – CEO and Managing Director, Eiger Trading Advisors
Tallat Hussain – Counsel, White & Case
Wayne Evans – Senior Advisor International Strategy, TheCityUK
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Following on from the success of 2017, IFN Europe Forum once again returns to London – this time for a full week of activities in conjunction with leading European regulators, global standard-setters, world leaders and UK and European Islamic finance practitioners.
Working closely with the UK authorities and hosted in tandem with the UK government’s annual Global Islamic Financial Investment Group, the event will comprise a full one-day event covering all the latest developments and key topics in Europe’s Islamic finance landscape; along with a series of additional events, breakout sessions and focus groups throughout the following week to bring together leading practitioners and drill down into the nuts and bolts of doing business in Europe. Across an array of sectors from real estate and fintech to human capital, education and regulation, the Islamic Finance Week will shine a spotlight on the latest opportunities in the region and how to take advantage of them.
European markets have continued to demonstrate a strong commitment to Islamic finance with an emphasis on growing the Islamic investment industry. In addition to real estate investment funds, Europe is also a vibrant market for alternative investment funds, private equity, retail, hedge funds and SRI investing. While the UK has made strides forwards with its supportive regulatory environment, attractive Sukuk listing location and booming real estate market, other countries are also making their mark. Luxembourg continues to be a key platform for Shariah compliant funds while also pioneering the green finance movement, while France is making leaps and bounds in the Islamic fintech arena and Germany continues its headway into the retail banking space. And of course, the exclusive announcement from the UK government at IFN Europe Forum 2017 regarding the reissuance in 2019 of its GBP200 million (US$264.1 million) Sukuk refocuses attention on the European capital markets, and how they can leverage sovereign support to kick-start corporate issuance.
IFN London: Islamic Finance Week 2018 is expected to gather participants from across Europe, Asia and the Middle East and will encompass everything related to the continent’s growing Islamic finance industry, attracting a truly global audience with a focus on central issues and latest developments.
| Main Event | Breakout sessions |
In the face of increasing sophistication, resources and skills in the hands of criminals, the concern about cyber threats is now very high among directors and regulators. Often ORM units feel they should make a contribution to this important field but haven't identified how they can best do so. This course shows the way by defining the special role they can play and the techniques to use.
The constantly growing types of cyber attack damage a firm in different ways. Each type of attack requires very different types of response. Although cyber defence technology is a specialist IT area, there is essential and important work for the Operational Risk Manager to do. This is especially with helping non-IT departments to play their part in risk control, and to enable directors and their corporate, business, financial and administrative units to know how best to respond to each of the different types of attack in order to minimise the financial and reputational damage to the firm.
Operational Risk Management also must provide risk assessments for inclusion in the Capital Adequacy assessment for the Directors’ needs as well as regulatory requirements in connection with Capital Adequacy and Pillar 2.
| 09:30 – 09:40 | Welcome Remarks: Lord Mayor Charles Bowman | ||||
| 09:40 – 10:20 | Mega Trends: Global and Regional Influencers for Islamic Finance and Investment We examine and discuss key issues and themes influencing global Islamic finance and investment including political risk, the performance of the UK and European Islamic banking sector in the coming year, regulatory and supervisory frameworks, green finance and the ascendancy of fintech – what will offer opportunity and what will disrupt? What is the latest assessment of Brexit and what does the panel expect to be the implications and opportunities for Islamic finance and investment?
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| 10:20 – 10:50 | Real Estate Finance and Investment in the UK We discuss the current environment in the UK and Western Europe for real estate investment and explore the continuing role played by Islamic finance. What are the latest trends, structures, themes and opportunities? We also assess the role technology plays and predict where disruption will be seen. Does tokenization in property and real estate finance offer an opportunity?
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| 10:50 – 11:05 | Keynote Address John Glen – Economic Secretary to the Treasury, HM Treasury |
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| 11:05 – 11:30 | Coffee and Networking | ||||
| 11:30 – 12:00 | Growth and Development of Islamic Capital Markets: Highlights and Opportunities We discuss significant developments in domestic and overseas capital markets, including home purchase plan-backed securitization programs in the UK and the Saudi Arabian syndicated loan program. We also discuss the opportunities for listings and important issues such as the Shariah compliance of tradable debt instruments, ratings and the development and deepening of domestic Islamic secondary markets.
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| 12:00 – 12:35 | Liquidity Issues and Supervision of Islamic Financial Institutions in Western Europe We identify operational issues and challenges faced by Islamic financial institutions in the UK and Western Europe, where limited access to domestic, high-quality Shariah compliant assets make adherence to Basel III liquidity rules a challenge. What other supervisory and regulatory issues do Islamic financial institutions face and what are the solutions? What role does the Bank of England Shariah compliant liquidity facility play and what of structures such as commodity Murabahah?
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| 12:35 – 12:50 | Presentation: What is Value-Based Intermediation (VBI) and how does it fit with Islamic Banking and Finance? David Korslund – Senior Economist, Global Alliance for Banking on Values |
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| 12:50 – 14:00 | Luncheon | ||||
| 14:00 – 14:20 | Hard Issues: The Islamic Asset Management Industry Through a short, concise interview, we step outside the comfort zone and ask the tough questions the industry wants to hear.
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| 14:20 – 14:40 | Gold – All that Glitters Gold has come to prominence of late, either as an underlying asset or an asset class in itself. We take a closer look at recent financial products structured on or around gold and ask if the upward trend is set to continue.
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| 14:40 – 14:50 | IFN Fintech Platform Launch | ||||
| 14:50 – 15:20 | Fintech and Islamic Finance We assess the latest developments in fintech and analyze likely industry shifts, regulation and developments in product, distribution and delivery channels. We also discuss the role of fintech and tokenization in today's banking and capital-raising environments. What are the latest approaches to incorporating coin offerings and cryptocurrencies into developed regulatory frameworks?
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| 15:20 – 15:30 | Keynote Address Abdulla Al Awar – CEO, Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre |
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| 15:30 – 16:05 | Stewardship and Responsible Investing: Opportunities for Ethical and Islamic Finance and Investment We examine responsible, ethical investment and green finance in the UK and Europe, and identify the prospects for Islamic finance and investment to thrive in this active sector. Do green bonds and Sukuk offer viable long-term investments and how can the industry address the relative scarcity of credible climate-related and low-carbon investment opportunities?
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| 16:05 – 16:50 | Talking Islamic Asset Management What is the real proposition for the Islamic asset management industry? Is it a thematic investment strategy or a viable, self-supporting industry? How big is the market and how large can it potentially become? Through an experienced panel, we discuss Shariah compliant asset management in the UK, Western Europe and the GCC. What’s next for real estate investment funds, REITs and private equity? Do Waqf-like structures provide an opportunity for the UK asset management industry? What role do products such as ETFs and Sukuk funds play in a diversified portfolio?
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| 16:50 | End of Forum |
IN ASSOCIATION WITH |
PARTNER |
EXCLUSIVE LEAD REAL ESTATE PARTNER |
PARTNER |
| 09:00 – 09:15 | Welcome Remarks: Abradat Kamalpour – Partner, Ashurst | ||||
| 09:15 – 10:00 | Panel: What’s Happening in The Global Real Estate Market? We discuss what themes and trends are emerging in 2018 and into 2019 and identify active sectors, markets and buyers.
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| 10:00 – 10:30 | Presentation: Brexit and the Real Estate Market – Possible Scenarios Neil Blake – Global Head of Forecasting and Analytics, EMEA Chief Economist, CBRE |
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| 10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee | ||||
| 11:00 – 11:30 | Panel: Latest structures and Asset Classes for Shariah Compliant Real Estate Investment What are new and interesting asset classes for the Shariah compliant real estate investor? Does agri real estate investment present an opportunity, and are there others? What structures are being successfully employed?
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| 11:30 – 12:00 | Recent Technological Innovations Driving Property and Real Estate Finance We discuss the latest ideas in PropTech and ask what is the next big disruptor in the real estate market.
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| 12:00 – 12:05 | Closing Remarks | ||||
| 12:05 – 12:30 | Refreshment |
EXCLUSIVE LEAD FINTECH PARTNER |
STRATEGIC PARTNER |
PARTNERS |
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| 14:00 – 14:05 | Welcome Remarks Abradat Kamalpour – Partner, Ashurst |
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| 14:05 – 14:20 | Keynote Address: Tayyaba N Ahsan – Head of Strategic Alliances, Finocracy | ||||
| 14:20 – 14:50 | Finding the Right Formula: What makes a conducive Islamic fintech ecosystem? Islamic fintech market practitioners share their experience and discuss:
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| 14:50 – 15:05 | Special Launch | ||||
| 15:05 – 15:20 | Fireside Chat
Rachid Ouaich – Co-Founder, Investors and Partnerships, ConexCap |
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| 15:20 – 15:40 | IFN Fintech Platform Launch | ||||
| 15:40 – 16:10 | Pitch Playground Round 1 Promising Islamic fintech start-ups pitch their ideas
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| 16:10 – 16:40 | Blockchain: Separating hype from reality Islamic finance institutions and blockchain specialists share real use case studies and discusses the opportunities as well as potential challenges for blockchain in Islamic finance
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| 16:40 – 17:01 | Pitch Playground Round 2 Five promising Islamic fintech start-ups pitch their ideas.
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| Apply to Pitch | |||
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| Back to Main Event |
