IIBF SUMMIT

Richard is Relationship Director at UKIFS and also Director of Financial & Professional Services at the parent company TheCityUK.

Before joining TheCityUK, Richard worked in the funds platform space where he was Institutional Sales Director at Cofunds. Prior to this Richard worked in the Private Banking Sector heading up the UK branch of Allfunds Bank part of Banco Banif the private arm of Santander. He has also worked as Head of Relationship Services at JPMorgan Fundhub. Between 1979-1987 Richard worked as a Private Client Stockbroker, before leaving with the crash of 1987 and embarking on a career as an Independent Financial Advisor for the subsequent eight years, before returning to the securities industry as a Senior Manager at Pershing.

As part of Richards’s career roles, he has lived in New York, Hong Kong and The Lebanon.

Mohammad Tariq has a long and successful career in the financial sector working in the fields of Capital Markets, Asset Management, Treasury, M&A and development banking etc. over the past 38 years. This has resulted in increasing levels of responsibility over time including management roles.

Mohammad Tariq has recently returned to London after 9 years at the Jeddah based Islamic Development Bank., a “AAA” rated multilateral development bank of 56 countries, where he served as the Treasurer, which included responsibility for managing Investments, and latterly as a Senior Adviser to the President, IDB Group.

Abdulkhaliq is a banking and finance lawyer at the international law firm, Ashurst. He specialises in advising on shariah compliant structuring and products. Prior to joining Ashurst, he was legal adviser and shariah compliance officer at Bank of London and The Middle East for four years. Abdulkhaliq has a law degree and masters in law from the University of London (specialising in Islamic law). He has also studied classical and contemporary Islamic jurisprudence from leading scholars with a focus on economics and financial transactions.

Faisal Wahid is the Head of Marketing & Product Development at Tamweel PJSC, the largest provider of real estate finance in the UAE. Mr Wahid is responsible for developing and providing strategic direction on Marketing, PR, and Product Development. He is also responsible for Tamweel’s product profitability and the management of the Company’s Islamic Financing Assets in excess of AED 10 Billion. Mr Wahid joined Tamweel in March 2004 and was part of the founding member team which launched the Company in 2004.

Mr Wahid has over 15 years of experience in the banking and financial services industry across different banks in the Middle East region such as ABN Amro and Emirates NBD, encompassing both Conventional and Islamic Banking. Prior to Tamweel, Mr Wahid was working with ABN Amro Dubai, managing multiple portfolios (Personal Loans, Credit Cards and Investments). He was part of the core team that launched the ABN Amro Consumer Banking Division in 2000. He also served as a member of the Regional Credit Risk Inspection team based in ABN Amro Singapore..

Mr Wahid holds a Masters in Business Administration and a Bachelors in Accountancy.

Furqan Ahmad has been senior founding member at three Islamic Financial Institutions in USA and GCC, in the last 11 years. He has been responsible for Islamic Banking Wealth Management and Retail Product Development,Management, Marketing, Sales and Distribution.

Mr. Ahmad has increased portfolio sizes of Islamic banking businesses while spearheading sales operational improvements to drive productivity and reduce costs. He has set up Islamic Banking Profit Management System and led LICO Committees. At Mashreq Al Islami in Dubai he was responsible for a variety of Islamic Assets, Liabilities and Investment products in coordination with relevant departments across the Bank. He has built Islamic product suites right from scratch and grown financing portfolios successfully. Furqan Ahmad helped launch Islamic Home Finance product based on Musharika at Guidance Residential, USA which achieved historic milestone of USD 1 billion within 3 years and survived the US financial crisis.

Before 2001, Mr. Ahmad had led high value IT and financial software projects in USA, including budgeting application for US Treasury. Mr. Ahmad is Islamic Banking subject matter expert, trainer and frequent conference speaker in USA, Turkey, UAE, KSA and Qatar. He has led Islamic Finance training workshops internationally. Mr. Ahmad has developed excellent training programs for Banks. He is authorized Edcomm Bankers Academy and Euro Money Islamic Banking Trainer.

Furqan Ahmad has written and published many articles in a variety of Islamic Banking magazines internationally. Mr. Ahmad regularly participates in Shariah Board meetings and has been in contact with Islamic Finance scholars since his childhood, being the progeny of famous pioneer of modern Islamic Banking, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmad of Islamic University Islamabad and State Bank of Pakistan.

Samira Mensah is an Associate Director in Standard & Poor's Financial Services Ratings group, covering Central Eastern European, Middle East and Africa region. Prior to joining the bank team, Samira covered European and offshore money markets funds and bond funds, including Islamic funds. She also covers insurance companies in the Middle East and is also involved in rating Exchanges and Clearing Houses. Samira has published articles on the Islamic fund industry and the sukuk market.

She has in-depth knowledge of capital markets with a focus on credit and market risk analysis. Prior to joining Standard & Poor's in 2008, Samira worked for the Montreal Exchange as a risk manager. In 1998, she worked for two years as a consultant for Bank of Africa-Benin before joining the asset management division of Groupama in Paris. Samira started her career in the treasury department at the Paris-based stockbrokerage firm Fideuram Wargny.

Samira studied law at Lyon II University and Financial Management at Paris Sorbonne University and holds the Islamic Finance Qualification.

Dr Aleksandar Devic is the Head of Fund Management at QIB (UK). He has been managing the Global Sukuk Plus Fund since inception and overseeing management of two equity funds: Islamic Financial Institutions (IFI) Fund and Qatar Opportunities Fund, also since inception. The Sukuk Fund was launched in March 2009, with USD 30m of seed capital and has reached USD 192m in AUM. The IFI Fund was set up in September 2010 with USD 700K of seed capital and its AUM is now at USD 30m. Qatar Opportunities Fund has been launched recently. All the aforesaid Funds have been launched off QIB (UK)’s EFH Funds SCA SICAV-SIF platform, which is domiciled in Luxembourg. Aleksandar joined QIB (UK) from Lehman Brothers where he held the post of Director in the highly respected European Securitised Products Research Team. Aleksandar has a degree in Economics, a PhD in Management Studies (Corporate Finance) from the University of Cambridge and holds the Islamic Finance Qualification.

James Smith has worked with Ernst & Young for 25 years, specialising in insurance. Originally from the UK, he has also worked in Australia and several countries in Asia, currently being based in Hong Kong. A financial auditor by profession, he also advises on insurance regulation and compliance.

James' experience includes audit and due diligence review of insurance operations, including acquisition due diligence, pre-privatisation investigation and financial and operational review at the behest of governments and international lending organisations. In insurance regulation, he consults on the implementation of regulatory requirements, regulatory reporting and the impact of proposed transactions such as changes in control and new ventures. He has given public presentations on a range of insurance regulatory topics.

Professor Mahmood Faruqui is senior advisor to the Bank of London and the Middle East (BLME) and a former Vice Chairman of IIBI. He is a Fulbright Fellow with Master of Comparative Laws and a London based senior lawyer with over 30 years involvement in Islamic finance advising on policy, governance and Shari’ah aspects of product structuring and documentation. He previously worked as board member and advisor to Habib Bank and Habib Bank AG Zurich as well as the Dar Maal Al-Islami group and some of the group’s Islamic banks and several professional firms including Clifford Chance and Thompson Reuters. He is a frequent speaker at international conferences on issues related to Islamic finance.

Mr Jaffer is a Partner and the Head of International Business Development for “white label” bancassurance and investment services within the FWU Group. Mr Jaffer successfully originated, negotiated and won several major bank distribution deals in the GCC region, Pakistan and Malaysia.

From June 1998 until June 1999 he was Senior Vice President within the International Mutual Funds Group of Scudder, Stevens and Clark Ltd. From January 1989 until May 1998 Mr Jaffer was Vice President with Citibank London. He was with the Financial Institutions Group until 1996 and later joined Citibank’s Alternative Investment Strategies (AIS) Group. He was also a member of Citi’s Hedge Funds “Policy and Strategy Committee”.

Mr Jaffer was an audit partner with the Price Waterhouse practice in Africa from July 1984 until September 1988. Mr Jaffer is a UK qualified certified accountant (FCCA).

Mr Jaffer is currently a Regional Advisory Council member (EMEA) of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), was a council member of AIMA for the period 2001 to September 2008 and past chairman for the period 1997 to 2000.

Amol Prabhu is a Director in the Investment Banking and Capital Markets legal team at Barclays Capital. Amol joined Barclays Capital, London in 2004, worked in Barclays Capital, Dubai in 2007 and prior to this worked at Linklaters and Allen & Overy in London and Hong Kong. Amol has over 12 years' experience of managing a variety of capital markets and Islamic Finance transactions for a wide range of borrowers including sovereigns/quasi-sovereigns, financial institutions and corporates, with an emphasis on Emerging Markets, particularly the Middle East and Africa.

Recently, Amol has worked on several Shari'a compliant capital markets issues for the Republics of Indonesia and Malaysia, PCFC (Dubai Ports), Dubai World/Nakheel, JAFZA, DEWA, Aldar and International Investment Group.

Amol is as an external consultant on the Advisory Committee to NASDAQ Dubai and a member of the ICMA-Islamic Finance Documentation Committee.

Amol graduated from the University of Cambridge with first class honours specialising in international finance law.

Imran Pasha holds over 11 years’ experience of the financial services sector. Prior to joining IBB, he held management positions with Merrill Lynch and HSBC. At IBB Imran has held various positions progressing from Branch Manager to Area Manager and presently Head of Retail. In this role Imran holds responsibility for Bank’s the retail channels and managing deposits on the balance sheet.

Imam has significant expertise, acting for investors, corporates, banks and government departments on a range of transactions with a focus on real estate as well as specialising in Islamic Finance. He is adept at winning prestigious new clients such as ABC International Bank, Islamic Bank of Britain and ultra high net worth Middle Eastern investors. Work highlights include acting for a shariah compliant investment fund on the acquisition of a £14m student accommodation block and acting for a Saudi Sheikh on the acquisition, financing and development of a £30m London hotel.

Bilal Mahmood is currently the Assistant General Manager – Business Development for Abu Dhabi National Takaful Co. PSC, the first Takaful Company to be established in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and is responsible for providing strategic direction to all business development initiatives since 2005.

He started his insurance career in 2001 with EFU Life Assurance Limited, the largest private sector life insurance company in Pakistan, where he served in various technical and management positions till 2005.

Having worked in both conventional & takaful insurance, he has been instrumental in successful implementation of bancassurance/bancatakaful operations both in Pakistan and the UAE. He brings with him a wealth of experience in product development, strategic planning, operational excellence, producer & account management and marketing. He holds MBA degrees in Banking & Finance and Marketing from Greenwich University.

Simon Archer MA PhD FCA FRSA is Visiting Professor at the ICMA Centre. Previously, he was Professor of Financial Management at the University of Surrey, UK, having been Midland Bank Professor of Financial Sector Accounting at the University of Wales, Bangor. He has been a visiting professor at various universities and business schools, including Bordeaux, Metz, ESCP-EAP and HEC in France, Frankfurt and Koblenz in Germany, and IIUM in Malaysia. After studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen in London and then moved to Price Waterhouse in Paris, where he became Partner in charge of Management Consultancy Services in France and Scandinavia. His academic career thus began after substantial experience as a practitioner, mainly in management consulting.

Professor Archer’s main research interests are in the fields of International Accounting, Accounting Theory and Accounting for Banks, including the financial reporting, capital adequacy, risk management and corporate governance of financial institutions. His recent work has been particularly concerned with Islamic financial institutions. He is co-author of the International Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards Guide published by CCH and co-editor of the Miller European Accounting Guide, published by Aspen, in addition to being co-editor (and chapter author) of Islamic Finance: Innovation and Growth, published by Euromoney Books and of Islamic Finance: the Regulatory Challenge published by John Wiley.and Takaful (Islamic Insurance): Concepts and Regulatory Issues to be published by John Wiley. He is also the author of a considerable number of academic papers on accounting theory, international accounting and accounting, finance and governance issues in financial institutions, including those in Islamic finance. He supervises PhD research students in these areas, and has been an invited speaker at numerous conferences and seminars.

Adam Ismail Ebrahim was educated at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where he received his B.Soc.Sc (Hons) degree. He then completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting and was admitted as a Chartered Accountant and Auditor in South Africa. Adam has also completed the CFA Institute’s Chartered Financial Analyst Programme. Adam worked for Deloitte & Touche in South Africa and in London and has also held positions as analyst, portfolio manager, director, and partner of a prominent asset management organisation before he founded Oasis. He is registered as a Portfolio Manager with the Financial Services Board (South Africa), and currently serves as a member of the South African Minister of Finance’s Collective Investment Scheme Advisory Committee.

Adam is a CFA Charterholder with twenty years of experience in the financial services industry and five years of experience within the Auditing profession. He is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Oasis Group Holdings (Pty) Ltd and is the CEO and CIO of Oasis Asset Management Ltd, and Oasis Crescent Capital (Pty) Ltd. These two wholly owned investment management companies are regulated as Asset Managers in South Africa.

Adam also serves as a Director of Oasis Global Management Company (Ireland) Ltd, an authorized Fund Administrator within the Republic of Ireland; and he is a Director of both the Oasis Global Investment Fund (Ireland) plc, and the Crescent Global Investment Fund (Ireland) plc. These collective investment schemes are listed on the Irish Stock Exchange. He also serves as the CEO of Oasis Crescent Management Company Ltd, a regulated South African Collective Investment Scheme administrator. In 2006, Adam Ebrahim was appointed as CEO of Oasis Crescent Capital (DIFC) Ltd

Trevor Norman joined Volaw Trust Company in 1988 and was appointed a director in 1989. He is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, having qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1983. He gained an Honours Degree in Business Studies in 1980, and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the International Tax Planning Association and the Institute of Directors.

Trevor is responsible for the management and administration of Volaw's corporate clients, including special purpose vehicles and collective investment funds. Trevor is an acknowledged industry specialist in Islamic finance work where he has worked on a wide variety of Shariah-compliant transactions, including several real estate funds, various specialist Shariah screened equity funds and the award-winning Caravan I securitization Sukuk. Trevor's specialist knowledge has led to him being invited to write several definitive articles on Islamic finance, including one on Islamic Investment Funds for the book "Islamic Asset Management"; and another on Trusts and Shariah Law for the book "Islamic Retail Banking and Finance". He is a regular speaker at International Conferences, particularly those dealing with Islamic Finance.

At 34 was appointed as an Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad on 28 February 2006. He joined Commerce International Merchant Bankers Berhad (CIMB) in 2002 and was attached to the Corporate Finance Division, prior to his appointment as the Group Head of CIMB Islamic. He is responsible for all Islamic banking and finance business of the CIMB Group. He sits on various group management committees of the CIMB Group. Under his leadership, CIMB Islamic has since its launch in June 2003 received numerous accolades awarded by local and international financial fraternities. “The Best Islamic Bank in Asia 2006” awarded by Euromoney and the “Global Islamic Investment Bank of The Year 2006” from the Banker is the latest testimony to CIMB Islamic’s expertise and excellence in Islamic finance and underlines its dominance in this field. Prior to CIMB Group, he was attached with an offshore banking subsidiary of a premier Malaysia Islamic financial group in Structured Finance, Capital Market and Syndications.

As a thoroughbred Islamic Banker, he has been involved in more than USD10 billion Islamic financial deals locally and globally. Amongst his notable accomplishments is the creation and introduction of the world’s first sukuk al ijarah, the world’s first istisna’ sukuk, and the world’s first musyarakah ABS and RMBS. Badlisyah was named by Euromoney as one of the “Global Top 20 Pioneers in Islamic Finance” for his prominent contribution to the development of the Islamic financial sector in Malaysia and globally.