IFN OnAir

Dr Aishath Muneeza, who was personally involved in structuring all the corporate Sukuk offered in the Maldives as well as the private sukuk and Islamic treasury instruments for the government of Maldives, talks to IFN's Emir Zainul about the challenges of issuing Sukuk in the Maldives, as she highlights the lack of awareness and legal constraints in the Islamic finance industry in the country...

S Zuhair Naqvi, the founder and CEO of Halal mortgage business EQRAZ, talks to IFN's Nessreen Tamano about what he would like to see more of in the Canadian Islamic finance industry in the near future, including more awareness and knowledge on Shariah products by both industry players and customers, and re-building the Muslim community's trust in the Halal home financing sector.

There is increasing pressure on banks to adopt effective climate risk management practices. Vineeta Tan speaks with Madelena Mohamed, the director of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)’s Sustainability Unit, to understand how financial institutions in Malaysia are to approach climate risks, within the context of BNM's new Climate Risk Management and Scenario Analysis policy document.  

With the upcoming COP28 to be held in a Muslim jurisdiction for the second year in a row, the spotlight is very much on the Islamic finance industry on how it can contribute to the global decarbonization efforts. ISFI speaks to Joe Clinton and Afsha Karim from Allen & Overy about some of the legal challenges Islamic financial institutions face in the green financing space.

In this episode, Vineeta Tan speaks to the co-founders of German Islamic fintech start-up INAIA, Bilgehan Akbiyik and Emre Akyel, to understand how COVID-19 has altered the fledgling Shariah finance landscape in Germany, and how digitalization is playing a vital role in tapping this market.

Shahruladeri Mohamad Adnan, CEO of CIB Capital and formerly the director of business development at the Labuan International Business and Financial Centre, shares insights on Labuan’s Islamic finance industry, particularly the Sukuk market, in this episode of IFN Podcast, with news editor Nessreen Tamano.

ISFI speaks to Rizwan Hussein, CEO and managing director of Salaam Takaful, about the challenges of offering crop Takaful coverage as well as its plans for 2023.

Opportunity knocks: the dazzling global prospects for Islamic sustainable finance and investment. Important considerations in the development of efficacious Islamic sustainable investment products. Understanding the structure and benefits of transition, sustainable and sustainability-linked investment products. Managing important sustainable investment regulatory, reporting and disclosure requirem...

Inflation, a rising interest rate environment and the implications for potential issuers of Islamic capital market products. What do these factors also mean for the outlook of the global Shariah compliant investment community? Evolving Shariah compliant fund and collective investment schemes; ETFs, Sukuk, leasing and trade finance funds. The outlook for Shariah compliant direct real estate investm...

The digitalization of Islamic financial services: what is working, what is viable and what is not? What do the answers to these questions mean for the evolution of Islamic financial services in Saudi Arabia? Does digitalization allow us to better address issues such as product authenticity and the minimization of uncertainty? Is the success of neobanks inevitable, and how will they change the mark...

Nick Heuzenroeder, CEO of Haven Wealth, talks about the Australian Islamic investment landscape and Takaful market, as well as his company’s plan to launch a Sukuk fund and an Islamic insurance product this year, in this episode of IFN Podcast with news editor Nessreen Tamano.

Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim , Member of Parliament, Singapore

With the emergence of the first Shariah compliant balanced fund in Singapore to use quant investing technology and ESG screening in Singapore, what is the potential for the development of further such collective investment products in the republic? What opportunities does MAS’s Green & Sustainability Linked Loan Grant Scheme offer corporates moving towards sustainable practices, and does Islam...

We offer a critical analysis of the applicability of Islamic financial services to two vital, burgeoning sectors in Indonesia: The Halal economy, and social finance. How large is the Halal economy both domestically and internationally? What are the opportunities for servicing, supplying, financing and managing the Halal economy? Are companies within the Halal economy exclusively using Islamic fina...

Why is a united regulatory response to climate risk so important for the financial services industry, and how do we evaluate initiatives that encourage investors to channel capital into sustainable economic activity, and guide government and quasi-government resource allocation towards climate transition and social responsibility? How do we address the implications of various taxonomies, framework...

The digitalization of Islamic financial services: what is working, what is viable, and what is not? What do the answers to these questions mean for the evolution of Islamic financial services in Indonesia? How do we evaluate key initiatives designed to modernize and digitally transform the national economy, including the Islamic financial services sector? How has regulation and promotion of Indone...

What represents innovation in the Indonesian Sukuk market: pioneering structures, sourcing underliers, and the transition from ESG to Impact? What options do hybrid or combination Sukuk offer local issuers, particularly in asset heavy industries such as oil and gas, and aviation? How do Tier-1 and Tier-2 Sukuk offer financial institutions a flexible, efficient and user-friendly way of satisfying r...

Astera Primanto Bhakti , Director General of Fiscal Balance, Ministry of Finance, the Republic of Indonesia, Secretary General of the Indonesian Association of Islamic Economists (IAEI)

Dr Mizanur Rahman , Commissioner, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC)

With the Bangladesh Sukuk market achieving several firsts in 2021, what is next for this burgeoning sector, and what effects will tax and regulatory changes have? Will we see further incentives and how can corporate issuers be encouraged to embrace Sukuk as a form of mainstream financing? How should Bangladesh further employ Shariah-based green and responsible financing solutions in response to im...

Ghulam Muhammad Abbasi , Director, Islamic Banking Department, State Bank of Pakistan

In conjunction with the State Bank of Pakistan’s Licensing and Regulatory Framework for Digital Banks, and with five digital banking licenses available in 2022, how will the development, provision and distribution of digital Islamic financial services evolve in Pakistan? How can Islamic finance in Pakistan successfully capitalise on technological innovation? What is the status of conversions of co...

How should Pakistan further employ Shariah-based green and responsible financing solutions in response to important challenges such as limiting climate change, alleviating poverty, and driving financial inclusion? What does the evolution of green Sukuk mean for potential issuers in Pakistan? How can Pakistan encourage the development of effective Islamic sustainable funds and investment products?...

We pose a series of high-level strategic questions to senior representatives of Islamic financial services industry. How can Islamic finance and investment create a genuinely competitive advantage in key areas such as retail, commercial, corporate banking and wealth management? Are there inhibitions and limitations the industry needs to acknowledge and overcome? Does Islamic finance want to become...

How has the evolution of regional equity crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending platforms created opportunities for the joint ownership of Shariah compliant assets and investment projects? How is technology increasing SMEs’ access to Shariah compliant capital, while also widening the investor base? What does the growth of digital investment management (DIM) platforms and robo-advisory mean for inve...