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Keynote Address
Malik Al Mahrooqi, Advisor, Office of the Executive President, Central Bank of Oman
Ensuring an Effective, Innovative and Equitable Transition to Low Carbon: Policy, Regulation and Innovation
What does a successful strategic roadmap for advancing transition look like? Are current policies and actions sufficiently aligned with climate risk? Are the various climate taxonomies conflicting or complementary, and how do we offer a clear and consistent message? Are tax and operational cost incentives for companies and issuers sufficient, and are current regulatory frameworks encouraging product and market innovation? Finally, how do we effectively position and market Islamic sustainable finance and investment, and what would represent meaningful goals for the sector? Moderator: Vineeta Tan, Managing Editor and Director, Islamic Finance news Panelists: Lim Beng Guan, Executive Director, reNIKOLA Group of Companies Mushtaq Kapasi, Managing Director, Chief Representative Asia-Pacific, International Capital Market Association Nor Masliza Sulaiman, Deputy CEO, CIMB Investment Bank…
Keynote Address
Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah — Minister of Finance II, Malaysia
Gaining Access to Islamic investors
Can conventional Fintech players access the pool of Shariah-compliant capital raisers and investors through their existing platforms? Moderator: Abdul H Basit – CFO, Innovate Finance Panelist: Angus McLean – Partner, Intellectual Property, Simmons & Simmons Junaid Wahedna – CEO, Wahed Invest Maisa Shunnar – Head of Strategy Implementation & Transformation, Bahrain Islamic Bank
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 Moderator: 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
Funds, Infrastructure, Islamic Capital Markets and Responsible Finance Initiatives in Oman
Assessing the Omani Rial Sovereign Sukuk program and asking what it means for the Sultanate’s domestic capital market. How was the Oman’s first REIT received by the market? What do innovative equity-linked investment products such as Exchange Traded Funds offer local investors and what are the pros and cons of these and other passive investment tools? What can technology, particularly tools such as Blockchain, offer capital market innovation in Oman? What role can pandemic and disaster recovery bonds play and how can Islamic finance solutions feature? How can Sustainable Development Goal 3 – promoting health and wellbeing – be made an achievable priority and what do SDG bonds, and potentially SDG Sukuk, offer? Lastly, we examine the Sultanate’s infrastructure requirements…
Funding Opportunities and Growth: GCC Islamic Corporate Finance and Capital Markets
What do GCC credit markets look like in the coming 12 months, what are the options for potential corporate, sovereign and supranational issuers? How influential are oil prices on regional Islamic capital markets? What are investors demanding in terms of pricing, tenor, rating, structure, as well as other factors such as ESG? What do the major GCC centres offer as listing destinations for Sukuk issuance, as well as other products such as investment trusts and ETFs? How can Shariah compliant instruments, including Sukuk, be further applied to the funding of alternative asset classes in the region? How is technology such as blockchain shaping and influencing Islamic corporate finance and capital markets, considering notable recent innovations by GCC Islamic banks? Finally,…
Building Momentum: Successfully Positioning Islamic ESG and Sustainable Finance and Investment in the UK
How do policymakers balance the fulfillment of energy demands with the achievement of the principal goals of COP26? Why is a united regulatory response to climate risk so important for the financial services industry, and how do we evaluate initiatives that encourage investors to channel capital and resources into sustainable economic activity, climate transition and social responsibility? How do we address the implications of various taxonomies, frameworks and standards, and identify what can now be labeled green investments? How can potential green bond and Sukuk issuers effectively connect issuances to internal sustainability frameworks, and what is the likelihood of a UK sovereign green Sukuk? With ESG and sustainability continuing to grow in Islamic capital markets issuance, when will we see…
Keynote Address
Lord Johnson, Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade
Harnessing the Growing Influence of Shariah Compliant Private Capital
How is private capital influencing regional financial markets? How is private credit transforming GCC corporate financing, and what approach should regulators take? What are opportunities for private equity investment and how can this market be effectively navigated? What are opportunities for early-stage Shariah compliant venture capital, and can the success of global venture funds be emulated regionally? How have regional Islamic REITs and property funds performed and what is the likely evolution of these vehicles? Finally, with many infrastructure funds being Shariah compliant, how can this powerful source of capital be harnessed for GCC infrastructure development? Moderator: Dr Scott Levy, CEO, Yasaar Capital Panelists: Anita Wieja-Caruba, Associate Director, Policy and Legal, Dubai Financial Services Authority Dr John Sandwick, General Manager, Safa Investment Services…
Keynote Address
Dr Syed Sohail Hussain Naqvi — Vice Chancellor, Lahore University of Management Sciences