THE 14TH ANNUAL WIBC CONCLUDES WITH PREDICTIONS OF FURTHER INDUSTRY GROWTH AND INNOVATION

The 14th annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) concluded recently with experts predicting Shari’ah banking would not escape the sub-prime credit squeeze. Sameer Abdi partner at Ernst & Young Bahrain and the head of the Islamic Financial Services Group said; “There have at times been suggestions that Islamic Financial institutions will not be affected by the ongoing sub-prime mortgage in the US. However, all financial institutions will be affected by the higher price of borrowings, regardless of the level of liquidity in the GCC.”

Abdi made these statements at the ‘Power Table’ debate that concluded the three- day WIBC conference in Bahrain. The Power table observed that a major challenge for Shari’ah banking institutions is to channel resources and focus on those markets and segments that have the greatest potential for exciting growth.

The concluding day opened with the Leaders & Winning Strategies session where Innovation in Islamic finance and the current challenges were discussed by Michael Chahine, Director and Global Head of Islamic Banking Distribution, Credit Suisse, Fares Mourad, Director and Global Head of Islamic Investment, Credit Suisse & Olaf Ransome, Director (Prime Services) Head of Business Development, Credit Suisse, Zurich.

The Corporate & Investment Banking Summit: Pinpointing the Next Wave of Big Deals focused on exploring key trends in the corporate & investment banking markets, the latest developments in the Islamic capital markets with a specific emphasis on the way forward for Sukuk.

The conference also focused on the Islamic Retail Banking market and analysed the product development and operational capabilities of the industry leaders with a view to capture the consumer banking growth opportunity.

During the Shari’ah & Business Open Forum, a high-profile panel of scholars and bankers tackled the challenges of ensuring greater consistency of Shari’ah interpretation, enabling an effective interface between business imperatives and the Shari’ah board, while addressing the shortage of Shari’ah scholars.

The development of the Singapore market and the attendant risk and regulation of Islamic banks was discussed by Chia Der Jiun, Executive Director (Prudential Policy) of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He described Singapore as a major international wholesale banking centre with US$880billion of banking assets in the Asian Dollar market, with a fast growing wealth management hub of about US$600billion Assets under Management to growing almost 30% over past 5 years and Islamic real estate funds of over US$1.35billion.

With 1,000 attendees from more than 35 countries gathered at the conference, speakers and delegates agreed that the immediate future of the industry is characterized by a strong growth potential especially beyond the traditional markets. While the development of Islamic banking in the GCC markets will continue to lead the way, experts at the conference also predicted significant growth for Islamic banking in Asia and even in markets in the UK, Europe, Africa and North America.
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This release was published on openPR.