UKIFC Senior Advisor Talks to CNBC Africa about Financial Inclusion
According to the World Bank around 2 billion people do not use formal financial services and more than 50% of adults in the world’s poorest households are unbanked. A number of factors significantly affect financial inclusion and through working with policymakers, regulators and development agencies across the globe over several years we at the UKIFC are acutely aware of these.
Financial inclusion typically relates to transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance products and services that facilitate day-to-day living, helping families and businesses plan for everything from long-term goals to unexpected emergencies. As account holders, people are more likely to use other financial services, such as credit and insurance, to start and expand businesses, invest in education or health, manage risk, and weather financial shocks, which can improve the overall quality of their lives.
UKIFC Senior Advisor, and financial inclusion expert, Modupe Ladipo joined CNBC Africa to discuss financial inclusion in Africa.
Please click on the link to watch the full interview - Keeping track of Nigeria’s financial inclusion strides
'How Ethical is Islamic Finance' Thematic Workshop set for February 2018
Following the success of the October 2016 event on Shari’a Governance, the Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC) and the International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) in association with K&L Gates are delighted to provide details of our next Thematic Workshop on 21st February 2018, which will focus on the topic of the relationship between Islamic finance and ethical finance. The workshop, sponsored by DDCAP, the Bahrain EDB and Gatehouse Bank, will convene at 09:30am at K&L Gates One New Change London EC4M 9AF.
The trend of positioning Islamic finance within the broader umbrella of ethical finance has gained momentum in recent years. Following Shari’a principles, it is argued Islamic finance is seen to be intrinsically interwoven with ethical finance values and strategies.
However, this view is not shared across the whole of the financial services industry. Critics of Islamic finance would challenge the notion of Islamic finance being ethical by questioning the creation of synthetic products to overcome textual restrictions with the result that the economic outcome and risk sharing profile is identical or very similar to that of conventional banks.
This conference will review and reflect on a number of key areas to explore the question of “How Ethical is Islamic Finance?”
Speakers include:
- Lord Sheikh, Co-Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Islamic Finance
- Ajmal Bhatty, Board Member UKIFC and CEO, Qatar General Insurance and ReInsurance Co
- Dr Akram Laldin, Executive Director, ISRA
- Alastair King, Chairman, Naisbitt King Asset Management and Alderman of Queenhithe Ward, City of London
- Dr. Ashraf bin Md. Hashim, Senior Researcher / CEO, ISRA Consultancy
- Barry Cosgrave, Islamic Finance Partner, K&L Gates
- Charles Haresnape, CEO, Gatehouse Bank
- Professor Dr. Engku Rabiah Adawiah, International Islamic University Malaysia Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance
- Graham Burnside, Chairman, UKIFC
- Harris Irfan, CEO, Cordoba Capital
- Jonathan Lawrence, Islamic Finance Partner, K&L Gates
- Justin Sykes, Managing Director, Innovest Advisory
- En. Kamarul Ariffin Bin Mohd Jamil, Group CEO, Affin Bank Malaysia
- Martina Macpherson, Partner, Sustineri
- Professor Mehmet Asutay, Director, Durham Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance
- Professor Mohamed Iqbal Asaria CBE, Visiting Lecturer, Cass Business School
- Mushtak Parker, Editor, Economist & Independent Non-Executive Director, CIMB Principal Islamic Asset Management (Ireland) Ltd
- Nyra Mahmood, Managing Director, Simply Sharia Human Capital
- Omar Shaikh, Advisory Board Member, UK Islamic Finance Council
- Peter Lovell MBE, Chief Executive Officer, Financing Sharia Enterprise
- Petr Klimes, Group Marketing Director & Head of Digital, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
- Shaykh Essam Ishaq, Shariah Scholar
- Shaykh Ruzwan Mohammed, Co-Founder Solas Foundation and Educational Director, iSyllabus Islamic Studies Program
- Sheikh Badr Al-Hasan, Partner, Dome Advisory and Chairman, InsureHalal.com
- Shelina Janmohamed, Vice President, Ogilvy Noor
- Simon Walker, Head of Retail Sales, Al Rayan Bank
- Stella Cox, Managing Director, DDCAP
- Stuart Hutton, Chief Investment Officer, Simply Ethical
- Tarek El Diwany, Director, Kreatoc Zest
The event will cover several key themes including:
- The Shari’a Scholar Debate - Is Islamic finance following the spirit of the law or just the letter?
- Is Islamic Finance an ethical alternative - what social impact has it made in the past 20 years?
- With $40trn in SRI funds under management, is the Islamic Finance sector branded optimally?
- By focusing on the banking model, has Islamic Finance restricted its ability to provide more ethical and socially responsible solutions?
- Malaysia and UK innovation case studies – value-based intermediation and interfaith shared values framework
To view detailed agenda of the themes for the day click here.
Click here to view highlights from our 2016 event “Is the Current Model of Shari’ah Governance Fit for Purpose?
THIS EVENT IS NOW OVERSUBSCRIBED. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO OUR WAITING LIST PLEASE EMAIL EVENTSLO@KLGATES.COM.
Sponsored by: 
UKIFC facilitates inaugural APPG meeting
The UKIFC facilitated the inaugural All-Party Parliamentary Group on Islamic finance meeting on Monday 20th November.
The meeting was hosted and chaired by Lord Sheikh, Baron of Cornhill and co-chaired by Baroness Uddin. The meeting was dutifully attended by key stakeholders from the Islamic finance sector, including practitioners, experts, academics, financial institutions, law firms and Shariah scholars. Amongst others were representatives from the UK Department for International Development (DfID).
The meeting raised a number of discussion points, and it was fascinating to hear from tenured industry leaders about the challenges that they face. Lord Sheikh was keen to capture the issues and proposed solutions, then raise them with the appropriate government departments to see how the issues can be best addressed.
UKIFC's Ethical Finance Round Table explores the role financial institutions can play in meeting UN SDG's
The 14th Edinburgh Ethical Finance Round Table took place on Monday 13th November 2017 for the first time in the offices of Baillie Gifford, who will be hosting the series for the next 2 years. The topic for the meeting was the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the role the financial sector can play in making them a reality.
The first presentation was given by Fran van Dijk, one of the founding partners of One Stone Advisors, who are leading consultants in the field of sustainability, operating principally in the UK, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Fran reported that the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have increasingly become a focus area for their clients in recent times, both seeking to map their own strategy against the SDGs and, in some cases, going beyond that to seek to link and adapt their strategies to make a positive contribution to meeting the goals.
A major challenge in achieving the SDGs by their target date of 2030 will be finance, much of which will have to come from the private sector. However that will bring many opportunities too both in generating revenue from change (estimated at a possible $12 trillion) and in creating jobs (estimated at a possible 380 million). Fran then gave a number of examples of businesses which together or in partnership were actively contributing to progress – these included Triodos Bank, BNP Paribas, which was developing the "Solactive" index, and the World Benchmarking Alliance lead by Aviva, which was seeking to develop a comprehensive SDG benchmark over the next 3 years.
The second presentation was given by Lee Qian of Baillie Gifford, introducing their "Positive Change Fund" in which he played a leading role. The strategy of the Fund is to invest solely in companies making a positive contribution to social or environmental challenge, while continuing to deliver attractive returns. The Fund had only recently been launched and currently stood at a level of £12 million but it was hoped in time this could reach a value of up to $10 billion.
The view underlying the investment strategy was that companies in this category will prosper in the long-term, so this is very much a "patient capital" approach. The management of the Fund operates by way of intensive internal analysis, focusing on the intention, business practices and product impact of the companies in question. The SDGs form a useful framework for measuring the last of these aspects and also provide a means of communicating and reporting on the impact achieved to investors.
The discussion was then opened to the floor.
One question which was raised was whether there was a danger of the SDGs becoming merely a "box ticking" exercise or whether they were actually stimulating new investment. In response, Fran van Dijk agreed that it was essential that the impact of investment should be closely assessed against the SDGs – in her view the forthcoming Aviva benchmark should help in this.
It was noted that as yet the UK was one of the countries which had not yet formulated its policy in relation to SDGs and it appeared that the government was seeking contributors to put together chapters on each of the individual Goals. It was suggested therefore that it might be a suitable project for the EFRT to collaborate on one of the chapters in question.
There was some comment that for certain sectors the SDGs may appear to be framed in too general and high level way. Nevertheless the view of the presenters was that they could still form a very useful starting point for any company's strategy.
The Purpose of Wealth - Community Awareness Day in Glasgow
The Islamic Finance Council UK is pleased to bring to you this community awareness day, supported by Al Rayan Bank, National Zakat Foundation and Islamic Relief, on the critically important theme of 'wealth'.
The events will focus on two topics:
- Understanding Islamic mortgages; and
- How to calculate zakat
The events will feature stalls, interactive workshops and presentations by Al Rayan Bank, National Zakat Foundation, Islamic Relief as well as discussions and short lectures by leading scholars. The event is free, open to all and light refreshments will be available.
TO REGISTER FOR THE EDINBURGH EVENT, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
For more information, please contact: info@ukifc.com
IIBI to Hold Public Lecture on Sukuk and Dana Gas at Dentons in London
The Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance (IIBI) are to hold a public lecture by legal experts and academics at Dentons, in London.
The theme of the lecture is Sukuk, focussing on developments in the UK and in Global Markets and looking ahead to what the future holds, whilst exploring Dana Gas as a case study, in mitigating Shari'ah compliance risk.
The lecture will be introduced by Richard de Belder, Partner and Head of Islamic Finance at Dentons, and Advisory Board Member at UKIFC.
Click here to register for the event.
UKIFC features in The Global Business Magazine
The UKIFC features prominently in the most recent edition of The Global Business Magazine following a successful Global Ethical Finance Forum 2017 in Edinburgh.
Please click here to read the article.
For more information on the Global Business Magazine & News please click here.
The 2nd Global Ethical Finance Forum a huge success!
Day One: Reflecting on the aftermath of the global financial crisis and highlighting the need of establishing a sustainable financial system, Keith Brown MSP, Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Jobs & Fair Work, Scottish Government, said, “In the ten years following the global financial crisis there has been something of a re-alignment in attitudes among bankers and investment managers and among customers and shareholders. [...] Interest in establishing an alternative, sustainable, responsible and ethical financial system continues to grow as does interest in developing a more long-term and responsible form of economic development.”
Credit: Ian Jacobs
Pic shows:
Speaking on behalf of the UKIFC and explaining how Scotland poses as a fitting backdrop to host the narrative due to its strong heritage in ethical finance, Omar Shaikh, Advisory Board Member said, “Globally the city is a leading financial hub and within this, Edinburgh is a key location for asset management and banking. With Scotland’s proud heritage in prudent finance through the mutual life companies, origins of the savings bank movement, I believe that Scotland presents a natural place to convene and host this international dialogue which is pertinent now more than ever.”
Stressing on the massive opportunity that lies for mainstreaming ethical finance, Lord Sheikh, The Baron Sheikh of Cornhill and Patron of the UKIFC, said, “A fundamental part of the UK’s economic success strength stems from bilateral trade. This will be more important than ever before as we embark on a new era for our country post-Brexit. In particular, I believe that we must now seek greater economic and trade ties with our friends from across the globe and forge new trading agreements. In this context, the APPG believes that Islamic and ethical finance can offer a gateway to building new relationships and accessing new markets.”
Day Two: In an exemplary keynote address and what was possibly a fitting case study, Jameel Ahmad, Deputy Governor, SBP, took the audience on Pakistan’s journey to embracing financial inclusion, wherein he spoke about responsible finance and its pre-requisites and cited some informative statistics highlighting Pakistan’s global recognition in embracing financial inclusion. He further expanded on State Bank of Pakistan’s impressive strategic approach towards responsible finance, in particular strengthening the framework for microfinance consumer protection and the national financial literacy programme being rolled out. He also took into account the obstacles that may pose a hindrance in achieving the goal of effective financial inclusion.
In a powerful and fitting closing keynote address, Nigel Kershaw, Chair, The Big Issue, said, “There is a lot of talk about ethical finance and in particular ESG and social impact because it’s talked about primarily by people involved in the financial sector. I believe the democratisation of capital is extremely central to what we do. Quite often, the discussion is top-down supply and product-led and for me, it often misses one of the most important social outcomes that is quite often forgotten – that’s the opportunity for ordinary people to invest and save in creating a better place to live for themselves, their families and the community around them. It’s not about mainstreaming ethical finance, it’s all about bringing the mainstream to us.”
Following the welcome and keynote addresses was the Plenary Session on the interplay between ethics, faith and finance which witnessed leading experts deliberate on how ethics should redeem its integral role within finance, beyond being just a convenient addendum.
Click on the links below to see press releases from the forum.
UKIFC and Church of Scotland convene 3rd Shared Values Workshop at Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club
The Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC) and Church of Scotland co-hosted a private event at the Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club on 12th September 2017.
The round table was the third in a series of three workshops that forms part of a joint venture between Islamic finance and the Church of Scotland (see BBC). The round table picked up on discussions from earlier round tables held in Edinburgh and the House of Lords in London, delivering a draft Shared Values Framework.
The framework was authored and presented by Shaykh Ruzwan Mohamed, one of the UK's leading Islamic theologians to an audience of seniorrepresentatives from the faith traditions and financial services sector including the Church of England, Church of Scotland and the Quakers, international scholars and academics, and senior figures from CMS, Wintons, DDCAP, Al Rayan Bank, RBS, HSBC and RJ Fleming.
HH Sanusi II, Emir of Kano (and former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria), who has supported the initiative since inception and attended earlier round tables sent his apologies, commended the UKIFC and Church of Scotland in reaching this impasse and reiterated his support in a video message.
The presentation by Shaykh Ruzwan Mohamed was well received and appreciated by the audience who broadly agreed with its content. Contributions from Sir David Walker (former Chairman of Barclays Bank and Morgan Stanley) and other participants were taken on board and will form part of the considerations in moving on to the research and development stage of the joint venture to deliver a practical solution.
A selection of pictures from the event can be seen below:
Shari'ah Governance – what can the UK add to the debate?
Shari'ah authenticity is fast becoming a hot topic as the fall-out from the Dana Gas case, to be heard later this year (2017), continues to emerge. The issuer company is refusing to repay holders of its sukuk having received legal advice indicating that the bond, which they themselves issued, is no longer Shariah-compliant in the UAE therefore rendering it unlawful. Creditors counter that regardless of any recent changes in Islamic finance interpretations the sukuk was compliant at the time it was issued and should therefore be honoured. Maintaining the integrity of Shariah compliance is the core function of Shariah governance and the outcome of this case could considerably impact confidence in the authenticity of both the sukuk market and the Islamic finance industry as a whole.
With consumer and regulatory demands increasingly focusing on trust, transparency and accountability, corporate governance has become a critical challenge for all financial institutions. In particular, this trend has shone a light on Islamic financial institutions, where in-house boards of Islamic scholars self-regulate the institution’s Shariah compliance, raising questions around whether the current model of governance is fit for purpose. This theme was debated in London last October at the Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC) / International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) Thematic Workshop which brought together local and international experts from Malaysia, GCC, Pakistan and elsewhere to explore issues relating to Shariah governance, regulation and business ethics.
The Bank of England (BoE) shared its current views on Islamic finance and the challenges in regulating the Shariah governance process as a secular regulator. With no UK legal requirement for Islamic financial institutions to have their own Shariah board the BoE’s policy approach is to seek to create a level playing field for Islamic finance vis-à-vis conventional finance. The focus of the Financial Conduct Authority is therefore on product disclosures (i.e. ensuring that statements relating to Shariah compliance are accurate), leaving it to the consumer to determine if they are comfortable with the interpretation of Shariah presented.
At the Workshop the UKIFC and ISRA launched a pioneering report exploring the potential role for External Shariah Audit in providing an additional independent check on the work of Shariah scholars.
The report seeks to strengthen Shariah assurance by calling for external Shariah audit to be made mandatory in Islamic financial institutions across the globe. The report was compiled on the basis of 30 in-depth interviews, including input from Central Banks in Bahrain, Malaysia, Oman and Pakistan along with AAOIFI and IFSB and financial institutions and audit firms.
The report’s findings indicated that while stakeholder feedback was broadly in favour of moving to a mandatory requirement for external audit, significant challenges remained in relation to the availability and experience of potential auditors and in defining their scope of work. The question of the public disclosure of external audit reports also remains a thorny issue.
An audience poll conducted at the event yielded the following results:
- 56% thought that the current model of Shariah Governance is NOT sufficient
- 76% felt that external Shariah audit WILL strengthen Shariah Governance
- The main barriers to the growth of Islamic finance in the UK were considered to be lack of knowledge and inadequate financial resources.
The integrity of Shariah will remain at the core of Islamic finance as without this it will lose its fundamental differentiator. Thus, ensuring robust Shariah governance frameworks are established that evolve with the growth of the industry and assist all stakeholders – including scholars – remains paramount. This will require a combined and co-ordinated global effort and the City, as a leading global financial centre, remains committed to playing its part in continuously improving governance frameworks. Pioneering initiatives led by the UKIFC, such as the world’s first CPD programme for Shariah scholars on conventional finance (since adopted by regulators around the world) and the seminal work on external Shariah audit mentioned above, have emanated from London, reflecting not only its ability to add value and provide thought leadership but also its commitment to work together with global partners in developing the Islamic finance industry.
Graham Burnside
Advisory Board Member
Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC)