Insights to Islamic Banking and Finance from two leading professional bodies

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Sri Lanka Division and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) are jointly organising a programme on Islamic Finance and Banking on 28 March 2011.

‘Islamic finance, despite its name, is not a religious product. It is however, a growing series of financial products developed to meet the requirements of a specific group of people.’ Islamic finance has become one of the world’s fastest growing financial sectors as investors show an increasing appetite for a variety of Islamic financial instruments. The growth in Islamic finance in recent years has been driven by renewed awareness of faith based concepts and the internationalisation of the financial markets. Forbes.com in its website on 24 January 20101 quotes ‘At least $500 billion in assets around the world are managed in accordance with Sharia, or islamic law, and the sector is growing at more than 10% per year. In spirit, islamic finance seeks to promote social justice by banning exploitative practices. In reality, this boils down to a set of prohibitions--on paying interest, on gambling with derivatives and options, and on investing in firms that make pornography or pork. No one can say for sure how many of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims will demand Sharia-compliant financial products, but if even fractions do, the world’s largest banks will be happy to oblige.’ This one day programme consists of modules on what is the Sharia; introduction to islamic finance; stock market investments from a Sharia perspective; accounting for islamic finance; tax issues; regulatory framework for islamic financial institutions (IFI); legal issues and corporate governance for IFI.

Faculty for the programme consists of eminent speakers in the field and will include Dr. M A M Shukri, Director, Naleemiah Institute of Islamic Studies; Faizal Salieh, Managing Director, Amana Investments Limited; Ishrat Rauff, Managing Director/CEO, Adl Capital Limited. Reyaz Mihular, Partner – Head of Advisory Services, KPMG Ford RhodesThornton & Co.; Suresh R I Perera, Principal -Tax and Regulatory, KPMG Ford Rhodes Thornton & Co;  Yvette Fernando, Director Bank Supervision, Central Bank; Javed Mansoor, Attorney at Law.

Registration for the programme is now being accepted at the CIMA Sri Lanka Division and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. Request for further details or for registration form could be obtained via email [email protected] and at [email protected];