Day one – Monday 20 July, 2009
08:30 Registration and coffee
09:00 The current market for Islamic Finance
- The changing landscape for Islamic finance
- The regulatory framework for Islamic finance
- The implications of the 2009 budget for the sukuk market
- Being aware of the unwanted implications from changes in tax laws
Rodney Wilson
Professor, Centre for Middle East and Islamic Studies, University of
Durham
10:30 Morning break
11:00 Risks in documenting shari’ah compliant transactions under English law
- Understanding shari’ah principles and reflecting such principles in the contract
- Ensuring substance of transaction reflected in form of contract to avoid reputational risk arising from non-compliance with shari’ah principles
- Ensuring investors are not disadvantaged by documenting a shari’ah compliant transaction under English law (e.g. tax disadvantages)
- Types of security granted to financial institutions involved in shari’ah compliant transactions
- Governing law of contract, are shari’ah principles relevant?
Michael Rainey
Partner, King and Spalding LLP
12:30 Lunch
13:30 Mismatching as a liquidity risk
- Dealing with unused assets
- Investing in shari’ah compliant products
- Making a return in line with shari’ah law
Dr Adnan Aziz,
Head of Business Development, BMB Islamic
15:00 Afternoon break
15:30 Treasury risk management
- Tools for effective treasury management
- The need for liquidity buffers, the use of commodity murabhas
- Funding liquidity from a Shari’ah compliant basis
Ahmad Choudry
Dynamic Strategies Structurer, Royal Bank of Scotland
17:00 End of day one
Day two – Tuesday 21 July, 2009
08:30 Registration and breakfast
09:00 Dealing with the risk of default in Islamic trades
- Delay in payment Vs. Bankruptcy
- Delay payment charges – what is acceptable and what is considered to be an income to the bank
- Murabaha Vs. Wakala
- Mitigating risks through effective due diligence
Shaher Abbas
Director, Shari’ah compliance and product development, Islamic Finance Advisory
and Assurance Services (IFAAS)
10:30 Morning break
11:00 Economics of Shari’ah risk
- Shari’ah risk definition
- Estimated and actual losses
- Shari’ah risk in product development
- Shari’ah risk in product use
- Mitigating shari’ah risk
- Modelling from a statistical perspective
Dr Nickan Firoozye
Director Shari’ah Structuring, Amsar Partners
12:30 Lunch
13:30 The risk framework; FSA and Shari’ah compliance
- Operational issues
- Implementation of a product and ongoing deals
- Engineering products with a double layer of compliance
Samer Hijazi,
Director, KPMG
15:00 Afternoon break
15:30 Swap products in the Islamic market
- Total return swaps from an investment perspective
- Currency risk management for Islamic institutions or investors
- Profit rate risk management
- Theory of the development of exchange traded instruments for the Islamic market
