Tutor Biographies

Rodney Wilson

Professor Rodney Wilson is Director of Durham University’s Islamic Finance Programme. He has served as consultant to the Islamic Financial Services Board with respect to its Shariah Governance Guidelines. His previous consultancy experience included work for the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah and the Ministry of Economy and Planning in Riyadh. His books have been published by Edinburgh and Columbia University Presses and Brill. From January until June 2009 he was a Visiting Professor at the Qatar Foundation’s Faculty of Islamic Studies in Doha. He has recently completed a paper for the Kuwait Programme of the London School of Economics on Islamic Finance in the GCC.

Michael Rainey

Mike Rainey is a partner in the Middle East & Islamic Finance Practice Group of King & Spalding and is resident in the London office.
Mr. Rainey has significant experience in advising Middle Eastern banks, sponsors, borrowers and public bodies in connection with their lending and investment activities in Europe and the Middle East on both a conventional and Shari’ah-compliant basis.
Mr. Rainey has represented numerous clients in connection with financing asset and share acquisitions both in the UK and across Europe, including assisting with structuring transactions at an early stage, advising on financing facilities (both Shari’ah-compliant and conventional) and assisting with restructuring transactions post completion.

Shaher Abbas

Shaher Abbas is the director of Shariah compliance & product development at IFAAS. Shaher is an AAOIFI accredited Shariah Advisor and Auditor. Currently being a candidate for a PhD in Islamic Finance at Durham University, he has a Masters degree in Islamic Finance from Loughborough University and has an extensive hands-on experience in Islamic banking. His expertise in Shariah Compliance, Audit and Product Development is recognised industry wide. He has successfully developed and launched several new products in the UK. He has been accredited to lecture on the IFQ syllabus for Islamic Finance and has also lectured at a variety of conferences. In his roles as Shariah Compliance Officer & Shariah Auditor, he has also earned an exceptional level of appreciation and credibility with many of the leading Shariah scholars in the field.

Dr Nickan Firoozye

Dr Firoozye has over 14 years of experience in modelling, risk management, asset allocation, trade analysis, structuring, marketing and strategy in firms including Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs and buyside including Citadel, and Sanford Bernstein-Alliance Capital and most recently at Amsar Partners. Dr Firoozye has specialized in quantitative and technical aspects of trades and deals, advising sovereign and corporate issuers, institutional investors about trades, investment strategy and structuring. Dr Firoozye has worked on shariah-compliant versions of his structured products, advised on shariah-compliant solutions and co-manages Global Islamic Finance & Sukuk the largest LinkedIn Islamic Finance group, together with his blog Islamic Finance Resources.

Mohammed Lawal

Mohammed Lawal is a vice-president in the Deutsche Bank MENA Structuring team, primarily specialising in structured products and Islamic derivatives. He was previously a member of Deutsche Bank’s commodities structuring team in London, and has industry experience totalling more than 5 years. Mohammed Lawal is a holder of a MEng Degree in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London.