Over 150 bankers, financiers, academics and scholars  from around the world convened on the 2nd October 2019 for the UKIFC / ISRA London Summit. Hosted by international law firm Clifford Chance, the event explored the relationship between Islamic finance and social purpose. Islamic finance is often positioned within the broader umbrella of ethical finance and the summit provided a platform to understand the Islamic banking and investment industries, and examine the positive social outcomes that have been achieved and the future vista for Islamic finance.

For more details, please downlaod the event summary.

Attracting over 140 bankers, financiers, academics and scholars, the workshop, hosted by the Islamic finance practice of global law firm K&L Gates, took place on 21 February 2018, considered the trend of positioning Islamic finance within the broader umbrella of ethical finance. Following Shariah 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 and the Muslim community.

For more detail, please download the report.

Attracting over 100 participants and 19 local and international industry experts, the Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC) and the International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) were proud to organise a thematic workshop entitled “Is the Current Model of Shari’ah Governance Fit For Purpose”. The event, which took place on 26th October 2016 and was hosted by K&L Gates LLP, included the launch of the UKIFC/ISRA’s External Shari’ah Audit Report, provided an opportunity for leading Islamic finance experts to reflect on and respond to the increasing focus, across all financial markets, on issues of Shari’ah governance, regulation and personal ethics.

For more detail, please download the report.

This report is designed to enhance the robustness of the Shariah governance and assurance frameworks. It covers six areas: (i) Avoiding audit impairment by understanding the risk of self auditing; (ii) Effective utilisation of Shari’ah Supervisory Board (SSB) audit opinions within annual reports; (iii) The opportunity for established audit firms to undertake limited scope audits to provide enhanced external shari’ah audit assurance; (iv) Improving transparency by enhancing disclosures by shari’ah scholars; (v) Maintaining and developing competence amongst the current and future body of shari’ah scholars through Continuous Professional Development (CPD); and (vi) Addressing gaps in the audit and disbursement of mandatory purification amounts by Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs).

The report has led directly to the adoption of scholar training as a mandatory requirement by regulators globally.