Global Leaders in Islamic Finance Industry Milestones and Reflections

by Alim, Emmy Abdul

• ISBN13: 9781118465240
• ISBN10: 1118465245
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2014-02-10
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Interviews with the professionals driving the rapid global growth of Islamic finance

Though the modern Islamic finance system has existed for more than forty years, its size and influence in the banking industry has expanded massively in just the last decade. This book looks at Islamic finance from the perspective of the experts shaping the industry, including some of the founders of the first Islamic banks—Haj Saeed Lootah, His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Al Faisal Al Saud, and Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel—as well as other professionals who have greatly influenced the industry. Editor Emmy Alim offers rare insight on Islamic finance with these insightful interviews focused on the development, rise, and future trajectory of Islamic finance.

• Features rare insider perspective on the rise of Islamic finance with interviews from the top names in the industry in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the United States
• An ideal resource for bankers and finance professionals working in traditional finance as well as Islamic finance
• Written by Emmy Alim, Editor for Thomson Reuters Islamic Finance Gateway, a multi-platform forum for experts and professionals in the Islamic finance industry

Author Biography

Emmy Abdul Alim is Editor for Thomson Reuters' Islamic Finance Gateway. Away from Thomson Reuters, she has been writing independently about Islamic finance since 2010. She has an MBA, Finance, from the University of Aberdeen; a BA (Hons) in Arabic and Islamic studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; and a BA in English and European studies from the National University of Singapore. Before making the switch to editing and writing about business and Islamic finance, Emmy worked professionally in the performing arts, primarily in her native Singapore. Since then she has lived and worked in the United Kingdom, Egypt, the Netherlands, and Malaysia.

Table of Contents

The book will feature experts representing the different fields that must come together to make Shari’ah-compliant banking and finance work. We will:
1. outline the professional history of each expert – based on research and interviews
2. highlight key points of their careers, the points that ‘put them on the map’, so to speak – based on research and interviews
3. gain their personal insights on the development and growth of the industry – based on interviews

Selection of experts is a difficult task as this book is a compilation of leaders of Islamic banking and finance. It is not meant as a history of Islamic banking and finance although the industry’s history can be gleaned from a reading of these leaders’ work and contributions.

Because this one book is limited to a maximum of 15 living experts, selection is extremely difficult. As this is the first book documenting the luminaries of the industry I propose a lineup of industry leaders who have had at least a decade of work, and who meet the following criteria:

1. Those who planted the seeds for Islamic banking and finance to take shape - Those whose work and contributions are considered in the main to be catalysts, basis of, and enablers for industry development and growth
2. First movers and trailblazers within the industry either on the global stage or in individual jurisdictions
3. Those whose individual work or work done within/for institutions, have crossed borders, and have impacted other jurisdictions
4. High-profile status achieved through a proven track record in the industry; we will consider those with at least a decade of experience and contribution

?? I am still researching and compiling suitable candidates for inclusion in the book. There are more names than this one book can take on. I envision a Plan A and Plan B list could be finalised by the end of March 2012. Some may not be willing to be included in the book and/or others may not be accessible at all. If there are enough people who decline to be interviewed then I may consider a separate part of the book based purely on research.

1 The Bankers/Leaders of Institutions offering Islamic financial services
 1. Ahmad El Najjar (Egypt)  - Mit Ghamr 1963 experiment
2. Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel (KSA) – founder and President of Dallah Al Baraka Group, and the founder of the Al Baraka Banking Group
3. Yahia Abdul Rahman (Egypt/USA) – La Riba American Finance House
4. Guidance Residential (USA) – Is there one person we could credit?
5. Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Madani (KSA), 1st and current President of the IDB 1975 – present
6. Abdul Halim Ismail (Malaysia) – MD of Bank Islam, Msia’s 1st Islamic Bank 1983 - 1994. He is currently Deputy Chairman of BNM’s Shari’ah Advisory Council
7. Badlisyah Abdul Ghani (Malaysia), CEO CIMB Islamic
8. Richard Thomas (UK), CEO Gatehouse Bank

2 The Assets, Funds and Wealth Managers
 tbc
3 The Shari’ah scholars
 
1. Taqi Usmani (India)
2. Muhammad Daud Bakar (Malaysia)
3. Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo (USA)
4. Nizam Yaquby (Bahrain)
5. Mohamed Ali Elgari (KSA)
6. Ahmed Bazie Al-Yasseen (Kuwait), A key founding member of KFH and current Chairman of KFH Shari’ah Supervisory Board
7. Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah (Syria)
8. Muhammad Akram Laldin (Malaysia)
4 The Policymakers/Regulators/Standards Bodies
 1. Zeti Akhtar Aziz (Malaysia), Governor Bank Negara Malaysia
2. Bahrain Monetary Agency representative (tbc)
3. Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim (Sudan), Former Sec-Gen AAOIFI, IFSB Sec-Gen March 2003 – April 2011
4. Simon Archer (UK), Consultant to AAOIFI and IFSB
5. Mahmoud Abu Shamma, current CEO IILM (till Feb 2014), Global Head of HSBC Amanah 2003-2010
6. Mohamad Nedal Alchaar (Syria), Former Sec-Gen AAOIFI 2003-2011. Currently serving as Syria’s Minister of Economy and Trade

5 The Academics/Heads of Educational Institutions
 1. Muhammad Anas Zarqa (Syria), Islamic economics, pushed for Istisna’
2. David Vicary (UK/Malaysia), President, INCEIF
3. Muhammad Umer Chapra, Islamic economics
4. Abbas Mirakhor (Iran), Islamic economics
5. Rodney Wilson (UK)
6. Mohammed Nejatullah Siddiqi (India), Islamic economics

[Aside:
Baqir Al Sadr, died 1980 (Iraq), wrote Al-bank al-la Ribawi fi al-Islam (Usury-free banking in Islam) in 1970 distinguishing between a client depositing money with a bank and the bank advancing funds to a client, both of which are covered by mudarabah.

Sami Homoud, died (Jordan), wrote in the early 1970s on the issue of asymmetric risk, supposed introducer of murabahah in Islamic finance]

6 Lawyers
 1. (?) Jawad Ali, King & Spalding
2. (?) Farmida Bi, Norton Rose
3. Someone from Baker & McKenzie
7 The Takaful and Re-Takaful experts
 1. Islamic Insurance Company Sudan, 1st Takaful company in the world est 1979 – Is there one person we could credit for this?
2. Dawood Taylor (UK/KSA), Senior Regional Executive-Takaful, Middle East with Prudential since 2008. Previously GM of Bank Aljazira Takaful Ta’awuni. Conceived and developed the initial Wakalah based Takaful Ta’awuni that is not the Islamic contract model of choice for most new Takaful operators.
3. Mohd Tarmizi Ahmad Nordin (Malaysia), Former CEO Etiqa Takaful and Mayban Takaful since 2001. Former Chairman of Malaysian Takaful Assoc and the Global Takaful Group

8 Others 1. Rushdi Siddiqui, Reuters. Launched DJ Islamic Index in 1999

The book will represent as fair a geographical distribution as possible, although some countries are much bigger centres of Islamic Finance than others and will, hence, be more heavily represented.