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Dubai - The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) held a specialized seminar on Islamic financial markets on the sidelines of its board meeting in Dubai. The seminar was hosted by Natixis Dubai Branch, whose Islamic finance platform offers expertise to all CIB business lines across EMEA, Asia and the Americas through a regulated Islamic window in DIFC, Dubai. More than 100 representatives from regulatory bodies, banks, exchanges, universities, law and advisory firms from the UAE and the region participated in the event.
Mr. Simon Eedle, Managing Director & Group Regional Head for Natixis Middle East during his speech welcomed the IIFM board of directors, speakers and delegates and congratulated IIFM on the progress made in the area of standardization and its positive contribution to the industry.
Mr. Khalid Hamad, the IIFM Chairman in his opening remarks touched on harmonization of Islamic financial contracts and product structures being crucial for the development of the industry. He said that Islamic financial institutions are now benefiting from IIFM six published standard agreements while further value addition will be achieved once IIFM several under development standard agreements are published. He also said that there is a tremendous cost saving incentive to users of IIFM standards".
In his keynote address, Mr. Abdulla Al Awar, chief executive of Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre said, "At DIEDC, we believe there is a pressing need to remove the ambiguity surrounding Shari'ah standards and we are putting efforts in initiatives that support the harmonization of standards in the Islamic finance industry."
"In order to protect the rights of various parties especially in cross border Islamic transactions, legal and regulatory framework needs to be developed in various countries along with standardization of documentation", commented Mr. Abdulrazak Elkhraijy, Executive Vice President and Head of Shariah Group at the National Commercial Bank based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in his special address.
Mr. Elkhraijy also called upon the industry to ensure better coordination among themselves, recognize the growing needs of customers in the fast changing world and develop innovative products that fulfill their needs. This obviously necessitates enhancement of skill levels of industry practitioners and Shariah scholars through specialized training and awareness sessions.
The pragmatically focused executive briefing was led by a number of experienced and respected industry practitioners who assembled from various jurisdictions to provide valuable insight into the key elements of the Sukuk market, Islamic hedging/risk mitigation, liquidity management alternatives and Islamic on-exchange products. The seminar also provided more awareness and better understanding of IIFM standard agreements and its benefits.
The chief executive of IIFM, Mr. Ijlal Alvi stressed on the need for high standards of disclosure, transparency and governance to ensure sufficient level of investor confidence that will lead to a robust and credible Islamic financial services industry.
One of the key take-away from the seminar was that the Islamic finance industry needed to support IIFM efforts in developing standardized financial contracts and product templates in the area of Islamic Capital & Money Market, Corporate Finance and Trade Finance.
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About Natixis
Natixis is the corporate, investment, insurance and financial services arm of Groupe BPCE, the 2nd-largest banking group in France with 36 million clients spread over two retail banking networks, Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Epargne.
With more than 16,000 employees, Natixis has a number of areas of expertise that are organized into three main business lines: Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB), Investment Solutions & Insurance, and Specialized Financial Services.
A global player, Natixis has its own client base of companies, financial institutions and institutional investors as well as the client base of individuals, professionals and small and medium-size businesses of Groupe BPCE's banking networks.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Laure Sadreux, Natixis, +33 1 58 19 34 17, laure.sadreux@natixis.com
Sarah Whitehead, Moorgate Communications, +44 (0) 20 7377 4991, sarah.whitehead@moorgategroup.com
About IIFM
IIFM is the international Islamic financial market's organization focused on the Islamic Capital & Money Market (ICMM) segment of the Islamic Financial Services Industry (IFSI).
It was founded in 2002 by the collective efforts of the Islamic Development Bank, Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam, Bank Indonesia, Central Bank of Bahrain, Central Bank of Sudan and the Bank Negara Malaysia (delegated to Labuan Financial Services Authority) as a neutral and non-profit organization. Besides the founding members, IIFM is also supported as member by certain regulatory and government bodies such as The National Bank of Kazakhstan, Indonesia Financial Services Authority and by a number of international and regional financial institutions and other market participants.
Given IIFM growing presence as a key standard-setting organization, IIFM Board of Directors (BoD) in its 31st board meeting held during 2014, made a strategic decision to expand IIFM scope of work as it is the only organization which develops standardized Islamic financial contracts and product templates. The BoD approved the inclusion of Corporate Finance & Trade Finance segment in addition to existing focus of Capital & Money Market standard agreements and products templates. This to further enhance the development of Islamic financial industry globally through its documentation and Islamic products unification efforts which are much needed for a robust, transparent and vibrant industry.
To date IIFM has published number of key Standard Master Agreements, including:
• IIFM Master Collateralized Murabahah Agreement & its Operational Guidance Memorandum
• Interbank Unrestricted Master Investment Wakalah Agreement & its Operational Guidance Memorandum
• ISDA/IIFM Tahawwut (Hedging) Master Agreement & Explanatory Memorandum
• Mubadalatul Arbaah (Profit Rate Swap) Standard Documentation (Single Sale Structure)
• Mubadalatul Arbaah (Profit Rate Swap) Standard Documentation (Two Sale Structure)
• Master Agreements for Treasury Placement & Structure Memorandum
IIFM is also in the process of developing several important documentation and product standards related to the Islamic financial market. It has also published global Sukuk reports (four editions) and organizes a number of industry awareness seminars and workshops.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Usman M. Naseer, IIFM Bahrain, + 973 17500161, usman.naseer@iifm.net
© Press Release 2015
