#118 December

Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority

ISSUE 118

ISSUE 118 INSIDE BISB’S SUCCESSFUL TRANSFORMATION HASSAN JARRAR, CEO, BAHRAIN ISLAMIC BANK

INSIDE BISB’S SUCCESSFUL TRANSFORMATION Hassan Jarrar, CEO, Bahrain Islamic Bank A CPI Financial Publication

PLUS:

16 ISLAMIC BANKING: 24 INVESTMENT: The next generation of customers

A bullish view on US real estate

35 AWARDS:

A look back at the IB&F Awards 2019

For generations, the better way to bank.

Over 40 years ago, Dubai Islamic Bank pioneered a way of banking that was truly better: Islamic banking. Since then, many generations of customers continue to enjoy world class products and services backed by the very latest in banking technology. For them as for you, this is still the better way to bank.

dib.ae

CONTENTS

ISSUE 118

REGULAR SECTIONS

EDITOR'S LETTER

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Greetings, all

W

elcome to Islamic Business & Finance.

This is the 118th issue of the longest-running Islamic finance magazine in the world. We hope you all are able to take a restful break as 2019 winds down.

We had a number of wonderful conversations on the sidelines of the WIBC 2019. The first I would like to share with you is our interview with Hassan Jarrar, the CEO of Bahrain Islamic Bank. This was a candid conversation about the bank's M&A activity and all that has led to it, and I believe you will get a lot out of reading it.

It was so great meeting you all at the event, and I look forward to meeting you individually in the coming year.

Beyond that, there is plenty to peruse. I hope you enjoy digging into another great issue.

Till next time,

22

NEWS + ANALYSIS

SUKUK

6

22 How to approach first-time

News & Analysis

OPINION

8

WIBC 2019 in review

COVER INTERVIEW

10 Inside BisB's successful transformation

ISLAMIC BANKING

William Mullally

28

Sukuk issuance

ISLAMIC INVESTMENT

24 A bullish view on US real estate

ISLAMIC TECH

28 Evolving Islamic fintech

16 The next generation of customers

Log on to www.islamicbusinessandfinance.com for news, polls, events, analysis, blogs, features, commentary and more.

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ISSUE 118 | Islamic Business & Finance

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P.O. Box 502491, Dubai Media City, UAE Tel: +971 4 391 4681 Fax: +971 4 390 9576 islamicbusinessandfinance.com

CONTENTS

ISSUE 118

FEATURES

CHAIRMAN

SALEH AL AKRABI CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

NIGEL RODRIGUES nigelr@cpifinancial.net Tel: +971 4 391 3722 EDITOR

WILLIAM MULLALLY william@cpifinancial.net Tel: +971 4 391 3718

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

SHERIF R. ELHUSSEINI sherif@cpifinancial.net Tel: +971 4 391 5419

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NEWS EDITOR

KUDAKWASHE MUZORIWA kuda.muzoriwa@cpifinancial.net Tel: +971 4 391 3729

EDITORIAL

editorial@cpifinancial.net COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR

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GROUP BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

ANDREW COVER andrew.cover@cpifinancial.net Tel: +971 4 3913717

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

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sales@cpifinancial.net CHIEF DESIGNER

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SENIOR DESIGNER

FLORANTE MAGSAKAY florante@cpifinancial.net Tel: +971 4 391 3724 SALES EXECUTIVE

PAULO SANDE paulo.sande@cpifinancial.net Tel: +971 4 365 4538 CONFERENCE PRODUCER

HITESHWAR BHAKHRI hitesh.bhakhri@cpifinancial.net TEL: +971 4 433 5322

FINANCE MANAGER

ZANEER MOHAMED zaneer.mohamed@cpifinancial.net Tel: +971 4 391 3727

EXPERT OPINION

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32 Islamic fintech needs

standardisation to thrive

ISLAMIC BUSINESS & FINANCE AWARDS 2019

37 Introduction 38 Announcing the winners

48

of the Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2019

40 The winners 48 A selection of photos from the night

ADMIN EXECUTIVE

MARILYN BIDUYA marilyn@cpifinancial.net Tel: +971 4 391 4682 enquiries@cpifinancial.net

Get the next issue of Islamic Business & Finance before it is published.

Full details at www.islamicbusinessandfinance.com ISSUE 118

©2019 CPI Financial. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form of advertising without prior permission in writing from the editor.

Dubai Technology

and Media Free

Zone Authority

HASSAN JARRAR, CEO, BAHRAIN ISLAMIC BANK

The next generatio of customers

A bullish US real estate

LINKING GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO, International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation

Dr Bello Lawal Danbatta, Secretary General, Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB)

PLUS:

20 ISLAMIC BANKING: 24 HALAL BUSINESS: 40 SUKUK: Saudi fundamentals

Adapting to the needs of SMEs

Issuance rises for fourth straight year

A CPI Financial Publication

A CPI Financial Publication

Islamic Business & Finance | ISSUE 118

PLUS:

Bahrain Islamic Bank

MENT: G: 24 INVEST view on

A CPI Financial Publication

Hassan Jarrar, CEO,

16 ISLAMIC BANKIN n

TRACING THE INDUSTRY’S POSITIVE TRAJECTORY

LINKING GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS ENG. HANI SALEM SONBOL, CEO, INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC TRADE FINANCE CORPORATION

TRANSFORMATION

INSIDE BISB’S SUCCESSFUL N TIO TRANSFORMA

TRACING THE INDUSTRY’S POSITIVE TRAJECTORY DR BELLO LAWAL DANBATTA, SECRETARY GENERAL, ISLAMIC FINANCIAL SERVICES BOARD (IFSB)

INSIDE BISB’S SUCCESSFUL

@IBFMag on Twitter for stories as they're being told

ISSUE 116

ISSUE 117

ISSUE 118

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ISSUE 116

ISSUE 117

Printed by Al Ghurair Printing & Publishing – Dubai, UAE

PUBLISHED BY CPI FINANCIAL FZ LLC REGISTERED AT DUBAI MEDIA CITY, DUBAI, UAE.

Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority

Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority

PLUS:

10 FOUNDER’S MESSAGE: A new journey

22 MALAYSIA:

How tech will transform Islamic finance’s future

38 SUKUK:

The need for sovereign guarantees

S: 35 AWARD at the A look back IB&F Awards 2019

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DIFC THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

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IF ONLY there was a place that was the key to emerging markets. Where FinTech companies, venture capital firms and accelerator programmes thrive.

IF ONLY there was a place that was internationally recognised and independently regulated.

IF ONLY there was an established leading financial centre for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Where nearly 24,000 professionals and 2,100 of the world’s top companies work and live.

There is.

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NEWS & ANALYSIS

Following the conclusion of its General Assembly Meeting, Dubai Islamic Bank announced that the assembly has approved the recommended acquisition of Noor Bank.

DIB has enjoyed another outstanding year of growth and success, and we remain determined to continue making our mark both locally, and globally. DIB is now the UAE's biggest Islamic lender with AED 230 billion of assets as of 30 September 2019 and, with the acquisition of Noor Bank, we are on track to expand our footprint in the region and beyond. Completion of this deal will provide opportunities for economic growth, ensuring that the UAE’s financial sector remains at the forefront of the Islamic economy.”

E. MOHAMMED AL SHAIBANI, Chairman of DIB

Kuwait has appointed Mariam Al-Aqeel as the new finance minister, the first woman in the Arabian Gulf region to hold the post, reported Bloomberg.

As finance minister, Al-Aqeel automatically heads the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Kuwait Investment Authority.

A refreshing move on behalf of gulf leadership promoting a woman to head a more conventionally 'male' role. It is unfortunate that she and the cabinet may be replaced in 2020 with upcoming parliamentary elections, however, I believe diversity in such a decisionmaking position will lead to greater economic growth. An alternative perspective, perhaps more risk averse, and more detail-driven. I hope to see innovative solutions entertained in an economy dependent on oil.”

ELISSA FREIHA, CEO and Founder, Womena

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www.cpifinancial.net

INTRODUCING

THE NEW WWW.CPIFINANCIAL.NET We’ve got a new look, full of features and customised solutions to meet your evolving digital needs!

Our new portal, redesigned from the ground up, offers a new cleaner look and added functionality.

We combined all our brands under the same portal to create a user-friendly browsing experience for our trusted readers and valued business partners.

In order to better serve the needs of the Middle East’s financial community, the new cpifinancial.net has added sections to supplement its in-depth financial news analysis, such as classifieds and business directory, in addition to overhauled opinion and features sections.

We hope you enjoy our new intuitive design that is easy to navigate and provides added depth.

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OPINION

WIBC 2019 in review T

he 26th World Islamic Banking Conference was held successfully at the beginning of December under the theme of ‘megatrends in Islamic banking’, and the most interesting part for me as someone who has closely covered this industry for many years was how different speakers interpreted that theme throughout the day. Some chose to talk about external macroeconomic factors, such as the next financial crisis or global recession and how we are to weather the storm, or the continual growth of the Islamic finance industry and how that growth will be maintained.

While these questions are all important, it seems that often we have these conversations as if the banking industry will remain static, when, as much as we talk about transformation, I don’t think that we’ve fully taken in how much that transformation will affect the industry, and how different it will look in the coming years.

Dr. Adnan Chilwan, Group CEO, Dubai Islamic Bank, offered some thoughts that focused on exactly this issue.

“In its 26th year, WIBC continues to bring forth industry leading thought leadership and perspectives towards the progress of the broader financial industry in a time where advancements in technology and regulations are critical for the success of all key stakeholders. I feel that traditions should not be treated as shackles. They should not restrict you from moving forward.

Rather, they should serve as a platform for the next transformation. Banking stands at a crossroads today. The leaders of financial institutions in this highly dynamic and progressive world have to make the key decision now, to remain relevant to the demands of the customers or disappear. We are competing not just with entities within the

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sector but ambitious institutions from outside the traditional boundaries. So, it’s time to continuously be a part of the customers’ life, simple as that. Banking 2.0 (or Lifestyle Banking) is the only way forward,” said Dr. Chilwan.

It is this line that I most focused on: Remain relevant to the demands of the customers or disappear. The invocation of the possibility of disappearance is not a mere instance of melodrama, it is reality. The biggest focus that Islamic banks need to have is looking into the future and seeing their place in it. The biggest megatrend will be internal to the industry.

William Mullally

Editor

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An exclusive gathering of the region’s top bankers and tech leaders to discuss the most pressing challenges of the new digital financial landscape and identify the myriad opportunities presented by the new business frontier.

Contact for:

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COVER INTERVIEW

INSIDE BISB’S

SUCCESSFUL TRANSFORMATION

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COVER INTERVIEW

HASSAN JARRAR, CEO, BAHRAIN ISLAMIC BANK, SPEAKS CANDIDLY TO ISLAMIC BUSINESS & FINANCE AT THE WORLD ISLAMIC BANKING CONFERENCE 2019 IN MANAMA, BAHRAIN, ABOUT THE BANK’S PROPOSED ACQUISITION BY THE NATIONAL BANK OF BAHRAIN AND MORE

H

A look inside the new BISB

ow long has this been in the pipeline, and what is the value proposition for BISB? I’m privileged that a bank like the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) is looking at us. It’s a testament to fact that the bank has done a decent job of transforming itself. This was a sick bank, but it was a systemically important bank for Bahrain, because it’s the oldest Islamic bank, and the brand name was phenomenal for the country. I think NBB sees good value in us in the fact that the bank is on the right path from a governance, compliance, and a risk management standpoint, as well as its human development.

Above all, it is the bank’s technology. I think we have become a technology leader in the country in a short time. The fact that we are an Islamic bank, and we lead conventional banks in technology, is a statement by itself. It’s a good proposition for them, and it’s a great proposition for me as an Islamic bank. I can use their financial strength, whereas they can, I think, leverage on my Islamic platform in areas like Saudi where you must do Islamic banking.

I would think that we can leverage our technology to help out NBB. Synergies between both banks are excellent, cultures are very close, and then you have the oldest conventional bank in the country and the oldest Islamic bank in the country merging together. It’s a good story!

People always look for cost savings when things like this happen. I would think that when something like this happens, you can expect maybe a shared service platform to be established, possibly a third party company, where both banks can maybe use some back office services and be a part of a shared-service platform. We haven’t

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decided what it will be yet. From our standpoint, it has to be Shari’ah compliant, as you can’t comingle certain things.

Overall, it’s a good proposition for both institutions, and above all the country needs it.

I think Bahrain is late to the party of mergers and acquisitions. We’re trying to catch up. I think we do need it. Bahrain has too many small banks, and so we need to strengthen these banks by maybe having big brother acquire them more.

Where are things in the process now?

We’re in very advanced stages, as you may have seen publicly. The National Bank of Bahrain has made the offer to us, and it was on the Bourse as well. What happens now is we have time to reply, so we have to submit our proposed reply to the Central Bank, they have to approve the contents of it to make sure that both offers match each other and that it complies with the Central Bank rulebook. We’re very advanced in the process and we’re awaiting the Central Bank approval and then our Board will reply to the Central Bank of Bahrain officially.

When did the process begin?

We started in July 2019. It shouldn’t take that long.

They know us, we know them. They already own 30 per cent of the bank.

It will move up to 70 per cent?

The intent is to own a minimum of 70 per cent.

I can’t say more, but I hope they own more honestly. I like this partnership, and I like this new ownership. The deal has a minimum requirement from their side. If they are not able to acquire 70 per cent, that’s it.

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COVER INTERVIEW

There are currently several potential mergers on the books involving GCC Islamic banks.

Could you speak more about your views on this for the region at large?

Today, almost every industry is feeling the brunt of technology which is taking the world by storm.

Almost every company is being disrupted by a wave of digital transformation, forcing companies to innovate faster than ever before. Banks are no exception to the rule. In order to create a differentiator amidst fierce competition and to avoid the risk of lagging behind, huge investments are being made in operating structures and processes in an effort to “go digital”.

Gaining a competitive edge is also becoming increasingly difficult. The rules of the game have completely changed, taking the playing field to an entirely new level. The market for financial solutions has now opened up to include tech companies who have joined the race in digital payment solutions, putting even more pressure on traditional banks to become more innovative in their product and service offerings to maintain resilience and market share.

To boot, in a region that is already overbanked, growing threats such as increasing geo-political pressures and volatile economies are forces we still need to reckon with, leaving the bank with little choice but to have the right endurance through efficiencies and economies of scale.

This is more challenging for smaller banks. The perfect formula is to mix the agility of the smaller banks with the scale of the bigger banks to weather the storm.

Could you speak about the bank’s digital transformation?

As we’re operating in a global economy, we see it as our responsibility as one of the oldest Islamic banks in the region to help drive the industry’s digital evolution and stay ahead of the digital race.

Our approach to technology is based on our approach to customers. It’s all about cocreating. Simply put, we involve our customers in the conversation because that’s the only way to guarantee we meet their expectations. It has been an evolving journey and we are committed to seeing it through to deliver a truly transformative experience and find the perfect balance between proactively anticipating our customers’ needs and delivering on what they actually want as opposed to what we think they need.

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We used data analytics and insights gathered from various platforms and sources. We discovered that our customers expected faster service and considered their financial transactions a hassle to do. This is how we formed our Simplification Strategy, which uses technology as a means to an end. Our relationship with technology is cast using digital innovation as a tool, instead of a crutch.

Today, when it comes to any product or service we launch at the bank, first we ask the question, does it simplify our customers’ lives? If the answer is yes, we tap into the knowledge of our departments and make use of our in-house Innovation Lab. The Lab started as a space to create a more vibrant work culture, and encourage innovative thinking, so we equipped the lab with various cutting-edge technologies including an AI robot. We continued to expand the lab by adding a line of new generation ATMs and digital banking services, which now enables our IT department to test pilot the products before they are deployed in the market.

The rules of the game have completely changed, taking the playing field to an entirely new level.

– HASSAN JARRAR, CEO, Bahrain Islamic Bank

We also launched the BisB App because we wanted to offer our retail and corporate clients a seamless and hassle-free process. Featuring a minimal design and an intuitive user-friendly interface, the bilingual App enables our customers to manage their daily transactions safely and securely online, from requesting a new card to authorizing cardless cash withdrawals anywhere, anytime. For our corporate customers we based the functionality of the App on their specific needs, embedding unparalleled customisation options providing flexibility on how the transactions are conducted, with the requisite security features.

Last March, we launched our first fully-fledged digital branch, which allows customers to perform a multitude of transactions through the self-service kiosks. For those customers less comfortable

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COVER INTERVIEW

HASSAN JARRAR

with technology, we maintained the human element by offering them the option to speak to a bank representative through a video screen. On the heels of our first digital branch, we held an exclusive, tech-driven event in ground-breaking style, entitled #BisB, to celebrate the bank’s 40th anniversary. The event will be an annual initiative.

During #BisB, we unveiled Dana, BisB’s first virtual employee. For our most recent digital milestone - mobile end-to-end account opening via face ID authentication, we announced its launch on BisB’s YouTube channel.

Could you elaborate on how did you spearhead that behind the scenes?

Before you talk technology, and before all of this fancy talk of fintech, schmintech, and techfin, you have to change the culture. Your culture has to be ready to accept drastic change. People perceive technology in a bank as putting them out of the job, so how do you as a CEO of a bank convince your people that this is a good thing? You have to start on a self-discovery journey of genuinely

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understanding what you as a bank are all about.

What do you stand for? What are you known for?

What do you want to be when you grow up? Then you have to make people genuinely understand where this technology is taking them.

One of the things I’ve had to do is head-on address individually what this effect will be on each of their jobs. What I tell them is that I wish it were as simple as flipping a switch and being digitised the next day and being fully automated.

It doesn’t happen that way. It is a long, drawn out process that takes three to five years easily if you do it right. We started with culture, and then I owned the process. I eliminated the bureaucracy between standard IT and the rest of the bank so they came straight into me, and by doing that I accelerated the process.

I added to it as well. I made sure to find out why and what we needed to digitise. I didn’t do it because it’s sexy, I did it because it’s a pain to deal with banks. I asked, what do customers hate about dealing with banks? We identified four areas. I said, stop! This is your digitisation roadmap! I want

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COVER INTERVIEW

customers to use their mobile to open an account, maintain it, update their records, apply for credit, get personal finance, mortgages, etc. I also want them to use their mobile for value added services.

For example, we are the only bank in Bahrain that is partnered with Paypal. We’re engaged with a lot of other partners that customers can use, even things that Millenials and Gen Z want, including how they eat such as Talabat. We need banking services to facilitate their lifestyle. This became our roadmap, and we eliminated a lot of the obstacles.

Sometimes it requires a hammer and a baseball bat from me, and I’ve used it, but the fantastic thing is that it was a partnership between the business and IT. IT became a strategic partner in designing the strategy of the bank. The business owned the objectives of IT as well. We eliminated silos, and all sides began to talk to each other, and the need for me to interfere more frequently has come less and less. My message also was to try things and fail, but let’s fail quickly so we can get up and try again.

Believe me, we have.

We failed, but on the other side of the coin, we invented something, and learned from that too.

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We’re the only bank in the region where you can open an account using your selfie in five minutes.

Nobody calls you, you don’t see a single piece of paper and you don’t talk to a human being. The fact that we did this and we built it in house became a template for us to learn from. The team started to get excited, reveling in their victory. There’s a lot more coming on that front, too.

How encouraged are you by the fintech landscape here in Bahrain?

I think we face stiff competition from neighbors with more money and more resources, so we have our work cut out for us. We have done a good job, but we need to do more to facilitate, when a fintech comes in, their ability to get up and running. We need to make it so seamless and effortless, and make it different from establishing a regular physical business. I think we have a fantastic team, a bunch of young, highly-educated kids—I call them kids because they’re so much younger than me! Imagine if they had the resources of our neighbors what they could do! But I really think that there is more that

HASSAN JARRAR

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COVER INTERVIEW

needs to be done to facilitate and make it idiotproof. Fintech companies need to land, show up, and get going in less than a day. Otherwise, we have a problem.

Fintechs cannot be the same as someone who wants to start up a manufacturing facility. It’s a completely different feel. I’m saying to the fintechs, like my bank, to fail, but fail quickly and learn from your failures. I think what we’ve done so far is a really good job, but I want us to do so much better.

How has BisB performed in 2019 so far? And how do you expect to finish off the year?

To counteract the impact of the global credit crunch, we’ve been limiting our exposure to risk and concentrating our efforts on growing ‘stickier’ long-term deposits, which has allowed us to maintain our market share.

To counteract the impact of the global credit crunch, we’ve been limiting our exposure to risk and concentrating our efforts on growing ‘stickier’ longterm deposits, which has allowed us to maintain our market share.

– HASSAN JARRAR, CEO, Bahrain Islamic Bank

Too many companies make the mistake of getting distracted by the competition. Instead, we remained focused inwards when we set out to form strategy for 2019. We were only too aware that banking is complicated and we wanted to facilitate our customers’ daily transactions. Accordingly, we transformed our approach to business, using innovative thinking to develop more streamlined solutions and deliver exactly what our customers deserve: simplified money management.

It’s in this manner that the bank’s simplification strategy was born, a key pillar being ‘simplification through innovation’. It involved deepening our

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relationships with our existing customers instead of merely targeting new customers.

With this in mind, we successfully rolled out various digital milestones that we had set out to achieve throughout this year. In March, we launched our first fully-fledged digital branch, complete with self-service banking stations, allowing customers to easily perform cardless cash deposits and withdrawals in record time. As I mentioned, we were the first bank in Bahrain to launch end-to-end mobile account opening via face ID authentication, enabling any new or existing customer to open a new bank account in under six minutes, eliminating the need to visit a branch.

We’ve also been targeting the youth segment. In order to simplify our communications, we took the conversation online and launched our YouTube channel which outlined our products and solutions.

Currently, faced with a cloudy international economic horizon, we remain vigilant and carefully focused on achieving our strategies.

What are your expansion plans both domestically and in international markets?

In today’s global economy, international expansion is more often than not becoming the norm more than local expansion, with growth-minded companies aiming to expand beyond their current geographic boundaries.

At BisB, we don’t believe in growth for its own sake. It can be dangerous. Before the decision is made for an international expansion strategy, the question that needs to be addressed is “why?” For the time being, we remain focused on Bahrain as the risk is not something that can be quantified.

Locally, we plan to expand into more target segments, and deliver more meaningful digital innovations to our existing customers.

What will be your areas of focus for the bank next year?

The truth is, at BisB our mindset resembles a tech giant more than a bank. Our approach to business is unlike any other bank in Bahrain, Islamic or conventional.

We still have quite a few digital transformation initiatives in the pipeline and 2020 will be an even bigger year for BisB. In the coming year, we will continue to harness the power of technology and AI as a differentiator.

Eventually, I want BisB to be known as a tech company that offers Islamic banking services.

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ISLAMIC BANKING

The next generation of customers IBRAHIM AL MHEIRI, CEO, MASHREQ AL ISLAMI SPEAKS TO ISLAMIC BUSINESS & FINANCE ABOUT THE ISLAMIC WINDOW’S PRIORITIES IN 2019

W

hat has been the main focus of Mashreq Al Islami in 2019 and why?

When our Chairman Abdul-Aziz Al Ghurair decided to offer Islamic banking services sometime back, his vision was not just another ‘me-too’ Islamic player in the Islamic banking space of the UAE. The vision was to roll out cutting-edge Islamic banking products and services, enabled with advanced technology, without compromising on any Shari’ah-compliance principles. Historically, Islamic banks have been considered lacking in providing quality services and innovative technological solutions for day to day banking needs.

Mashreq Al Islami has carved a niche for offering smart technology-led Shari’ah-compliant solutions, and we developed our entire suite of Islamic products leveraging the tech platform of our parent, which is

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already a very established name in the retail banking space in the region.

When I joined Mashreq group last year, the leadership had decided to roll out a dedicated Emirati segment to cater to and provide wholesome banking solutions for Emirati individual customers. Our focus has been to roll out a robust banking product suite for UAE Nationals this year, aiming at making Mashreq Al Islami a banking partner of choice for all their lifestyle and banking needs.

We have endeavored around manufacturing and deploying financing, deposits and credit card solutions targeted to UAE Nationals, as being the resident population of the country, their banking needs differ from the expatriate population. While this is an evolving journey, we have achieved quite a lot in 2019 to lay the grounds for successful growth in the years to come.

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ISLAMIC BANKING

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ISLAMIC BANKING

What have been the key initiatives you've put in place in 2019?

We have executed the following initiatives for Mashreq Al Islami in the year 2019, in line with our strategy, which has widened the product offering to the UAE nationals across all key banking needs: ▪ Relaunching of Nationals Loans for long tenure with competitive propositioning, abiding by the strict regulations issued by Central Bank to ensure responsible lending.

▪ Rolling out an expanded residential home financing proposition for UAE Nationals, allowing them to buy/refinance their properties in non-freehold areas/granted land. These areas form the largest chunk of UAE Nationals’ home ownership, hence opening Mashreq Al Islami’s financing options to these lands for nationals has been a key initiative endorsed by our leadership.

▪ Launching and rolling out financing to properties against rentals for residential and commercial properties. As you know rental income via residential and commercial properties is a major pool of income in the UAE especially for the National population.

▪ L aunching a high- end premium Islamic Solitaire Credit Card offering probably the best Gold privileges, 850+ airport lounges across the globe, complimentary valet parking at the Dubai International Airport, and all the top malls across Abu Dhabi and Dubai, up to 20 per cent discount on luxury fine dining, exclusive 30 per cent discounts on luxury yacht charter, unlimited complimentary visits to Fitness First, Marhaba meet & greet services, numerous lifestyle shopping benefits globally, exclusive premium offers from MasterCard, offering the best of travel inconvenience & travel medical insurance.

This product from Mashreq Al Islami is one of the strongest Islamic banking card propositions available today in the market.

What digital initiatives in particular do you have planned for the future & how else have you tailored your offerings for the next generation?

The extensive interest in more bespoke and computerised/consumer-led services has led Mashreq to reimagine our branch formats totally, which are truly the first of their kind in the UAE. The latest branch model at Mashreq is composed of digital innovation with the offerings of a traditional

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branch to allow customers all-in-one and quick interaction. This new concept offers a whole suite of functionalities including an integrated selfservice area with kiosks, ATMs, cash and cheque deposit machines, slim lines, bulk cash deposit and recycler and interactive teller machines (ITM) and video conferencing services to allow customers to reach out to the bank beyond regular banking hours.

To support customers’ needs at the new branches, Mashreq has also introduced the concept of a Universal Banker—a highly trained officer who will be available to assist customers for transactions, through digital devices.

In the words of our Head of Retail Banking Group, “Mashreq has been making strategic investments that has revolutionized our operations and transformed us into a smart, connected and agile bank that is ready for the future.”

Customers will have far greater convenience and more touchpoints. In addition, dedicated advisors will be readily available to offer support and the human element that no technology can replace. From our perspective, the digitisation of the bank’s services will fundamentally transform the business while creating a room for our staff to focus on improving the customer experience through greater efficiency, quality, and speed, as the customer expects of today.

As consumers’ habits change, we observe a remarkable shift in the expectations and banking habits of our customers. Our automated transactions today across all the branches are as high as 97 percent. Going forward, our distribution strategy will be growing the number of touch points across the UAE – by increasing the number of ATMs, ITMs, CCDMs, and cash dispensing machines and other digital touch points. As part of this strategy, we have already introduced two smart branches in Mercato and Festival City, and more such branches will be introduced in the near future.

What are the main challenges Mashreq Al Islami is facing?

The global Islamic finance industry has expanded and will continue to expand at a slower pace in 2020 due to geopolitical and economic challenges faced by core markets, according to S&P Global Ratings. Mashreq Al Islami is not immune to the regional environment. One of the main challenges is sustaining growth, as the Islamic finance industry has been growing at a double-digit growth rate for over the last decade. Due to the geopolitical and

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ISLAMIC BANKING

oil prices risk, the market is expected to remain constrained in the near future.

The overall reduction in the consumer demand for financing, the potential liquidity drain in case any regional situation takes a turn, would essentially mean rising costs of doing business, and lesser attractive pricing propositions for the consumers.

How are you overcoming those challenges?

Potential accelerators could be Shari’ah product innovation, a more inclusive approach, a clear and demarcating focus on services, digital applications to reach out to the consumers, as well as fintech disruption.

We are fortunate to have one of the most dynamic scholars associated with Mashreq Al Islami who has supported us all the way, and since they sit on most of the globally recognised banks’ boards as well, Shari’ah innovation on existing products, new products’ features and services is one way to float through.

Islamic banks lag behind when it comes to instantly launching products by twisting the existing parameters to offer clients innovative lending and deposit solutions. For conventional banks, since they are not bound by strict Shari’ah regulations, this is not a concern, and at the outset many product solutions seem incomprehensible from an Islamic way forward.

Ease and speed of transactions hold true for payment services and money transfers. We are planning to work with industry leaders to provide a seamless solution to our consumers on this.

Usage of blockchain technology is one avenue which is largely untapped and unexplored in this market, any leverage on this technology would give a great first movers advantage to the players.

Our parent entity Mashreq Group has entered into a strategic alliance with DIFC-based norbloc, the leading Know Your Customer (KYC) and client onboarding fintech regionally headquartered in DIFC. Their strategic alliance to launch the region’s first production-ready blockchain KYC data sharing consortium to support businesses and corporates in Dubai. Mashreq Al Islami would be leveraging on this infrastructure going forward.

The advent of fintechs globally, in line with Dubai’s vision for a Smart City, and Mashreq Al Islami’s innovative streak make it all relevant to explore and offer digitally smarter solutions bring the

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consumers and financial institutions together. Our state-of-the-art SnApp mobile banking solutions are providing us great lever to onboard higher number of customers.

How has Mashreq Al Islami performed in 2019?

Well, overall, the year went exceptionally well! We have spent considerable amount of time in developing the products and proposition around key banking needs of UAE National customers, alongside we have launched a state-of-the-art Premier Islamic Credit Card. We have created specific teams for products, sales, and providing services to these customers.

In terms of our commitments to the stakeholders, the business managed to hit most of its financial targets, be it the volume grown or the balance sheet growth. The financing products, deposit products, as well as the fee-based income products have maintained decent trajectory throughout the year.

We are setting up the Islamic franchise for Mashreq to take off to greater heights in the years to come, ensuring heavier participation from the UAE National customer base, for that, a core and solid platform is essential, which we are laying successfully.

Do you think the Islamic finance industry is ready for the digital future as a whole?

Well, it’s not a matter of whether the Islamic finance industry is ready for the digital future or not. The change is here and it is going to further digitise the future.

Global and regional banking players are seeing a rapid transformation in the way that business is done, which is led by emerging digital technologies.

Some of the things which were not thinkable earlier are now totally possible. If the Islamic finance industry wants to be relevant; this initiative has to be implemented by them to help improve overall profitability, and efficiency in service.

Islamic banks will have to change the core technology structure and modernise it. Heavily digital Islamic banks are expected to dominate transformation in the next decade. With the use of artificial intelligence and big data, Islamic players would be able to compete and offer the end-to-end fulfilling experience to the consumers.

At Mashreq, our leadership is playing a key role by being supportive of and encouraging fintech companies to augment their business models, which would aid eventually deploying new solutions

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and technologies in this geography. The bank is currently working with several fintechs that deliver customised solutions to existing problems. In turn, Mashreq is providing them the real-world banking cases, which helps and allows them to industrialise and gain scale.

What should the industry be focused on in 2020?

Improved governance that is applied on regulatory technology could provide us with more robust tools to attain compliance with regulations and Shari’ah requirements. It will also lessen the reputation risk related to a potential breach of Shari’ah requirements, and hence would allow more time

Today’s consumers and rise of millennial workforce are looking to have quick solutions to their financial needs, and any financial institution that takes that initiative will capture the new market as well as the customers who are willing to switch their banks.

at the hands of Shari’ah innovators to help take the industry forward.

Breaking the shackles of an Islamic finance industry that is just focused on providing Shari’ahcompliant solutions, which may be complicated and time dragging for the consumers is a priority, and there is need to move to focusing on delivering fast paced valued based services. Today’s consumers and rise of millennial workforce are looking to have quick solutions to their financial needs, and any financial institution that takes that initiative will capture the new market as well as the customers who are willing to switch their banks. The segment of the population that will remain content with merely the certified Shari’ah-compliant products will stagnate and gradually diminish.

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SUKUK

How to approach firsttime Sukuk issuance MOHAMMED KHNIFER, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, DEBT CAPITAL MARKETS AT ISLAMIC CORPORATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR (ICD) WRITES FOR ISLAMIC BUSINESS & FINANCE ABOUT THE BASIC CONSIDERATIONS THAT NEW SUKUK ISSUERS SHOULD BE AWARE OF IN APPROACHING THEIR FIRST ISLAMIC DEBT ISSUANCE

P

rospective new sovereign and corporate issuers in emerging & frontier markets often tumble into unchartered territory with debut Sukuk issuance, especially if the jurisdiction of the issuer has never issued an Islamic debt instrument before. There is no easy crash course that can summarise what these prospective issuers can expect as each jurisdiction has its own unique challenges.

Here is a summary of the most common challenges and what prospective new issuers should expect with debut issuance.

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WHAT TO EXPECT ON THE THE LEGAL FRONT If the issuance is an international one, then issuers need to consider the following counsels: • International Counsel: Advise sovereigns in relation to documentation and regulatory compliance under English laws.

• Issuer Counsel: Counsel in offshore/onshore jurisdiction.

• Delegate Counsel: Advise delegate in relation to its obligations acting on behalf of certificate holders.

REGULATION

LISTING REQUIREMENTS

On the regulation side, issuers need to be mindful of local and international regulations that regulate debt issuance. Sukuk offerings may take longer to structure and document than conventional offerings, owing to the need to establish an SPV (onshore/offshore), identification of appropriate assets, regulatory/government approvals, as well as additional structuring and approvals from Islamic scholars in the form of a fatwa.

The governing law varies depending whether the listing is in the domestic market (follows local law) or the international one (follows the English law). Certain jurisdictions (like Ireland) require listing agent to facilitate Sukuk listing on the Stock Exchange. Listing agents prepare all of the material for the submission to the stock exchange, such as application documentation, prospectus etc.

TAXATION

DOCUMENTATION

The relevant tax authority should consider providing the necessary tax waivers, such as VAT and sales tax, to the Sukuk sale agreement and purchase undertaking if applicable under the issuer’s jurisdiction. Other tax considerations, such as transfer tax/stamp duty and withholding tax, need to be considered prior the issuance.

We cannot cover everything on the documentation side of the Sukuk, but we can highlight at least three of them.

First, the prospectus. Such investor documentation is per international standards and usually conform to the laws of an internally/externally accepted jurisdiction.

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SUKUK

GLOBAL SUKUK ISSUANCE GREW STRONGLY IN H1 2019 Sukuk issuance in $ billion Sovereigns & Supranationals

Corporates

FIs

<1Yr Sukuk

Estimated Issuance for H2019 2

160 140

120 100 80 60 40 20 -

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Others

H2019 1

SOURCE: Thomson Reuters Eikon, Bloomberg, IFIS and Moody's Investors Service

Offering circular (OC)/prospectus is compiled by the underwriters and legal counsel on behalf of the Issuer. The OC is prepared for distribution. It includes issuer’s description. The OC summarizes the offering and details of the terms and conditions is prepared by the book runner's legal counsel.

On the other hand, there is the trust deed which governs the relationship between the issuer and the

GOVERNMENTS AND SHORT TERM PAPER FROVE AN INCREASE IN ISSUANCE DURING H1 2019 Sukuk issuance in H1 2019 ($ billion) Sovereigns

Corporates

FIs

< 1 Yr Sukuk

60.0 50.0

There is no easy crash course that can summarise what these prospective issuers can expect as each jurisdiction has its own unique challenges.

– MOHAMMED KHNIFER

trustee. The trustee acts on behalf of the noteholders in the relationship between issuers and noteholders.

This is typical of transactions where country of issue is separate from country of listing. Furthermore, the subscription agreement is signed between parties involved in the agreement i.e. SPV, which as acts as an issuer and the lead managers. The issuer agrees to issue and sell the notes to the underwriters. The underwriters jointly and separately agree to subscribe to the same.

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$ Billion

40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 -

H2018

H2019

GCC GCC

H2018

H2019

Asia SoutheastSoutheast Asia

H2018 Turkey

H2019

Turkey

SOURCE: Thomson Reuters Eikon

MOHAMMED KHNIFER

Mohammed Khnifer can be reached by email at mkhnifer@isdb.org and on twitter @mkhnifer.

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A bullish view on US real estate EDWARD FLEMING, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR LAND IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES FOR WALTON INTERNATIONAL, WALKS ISLAMIC BUSINESS & FINANCE THROUGH THE STATE OF THE UNITED STATES REAL ESTATE MARKET, AND THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT MILLENNIAL HOMEBUYERS ARE CREATING

EDWARD FLEMING

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H

ow did your journey bring you to Walton International?

Could you break down some of the projects you are working on with Walton?

I joined Walton in November of 2014.

Currently I’m the Executive Vice President for land in the Eastern United States. My responsibilities run from Washington DC all the way down to the tip of Florida, and any of the assets that we own or might potentially acquire, and any of the partnerships we have with builders and landowners are my and my team’s responsibility.

The Walton Group of Companies currently administers about 35,000 acres in the East Region alone, which is about 40 per cent of the total land assets that Walton co-owns in the United States with our investors.

I didn’t take the traditional path to move up into the development, asset management and homebuilding business. Most guys started out in some fashion in homebuilding and development.

I was in the U. S. Army for 25 years, and some folks may say, that doesn’t patch over to a career in the private sector, but most of my time in the military was spent managing complex construction projects, leading large organisations, participating in multinational exercises, and administering multi-million dollar budgets. Aside from the Civil & Environmental Engineering and construction background that I have, clearly, as you move up in the military, you spend a lot more time building relationships, starting partnerships, and then, as a leader, bringing folks together to bring your vision to fruition. The art of leadership is encouraging folks to see your vision and get to the end through lots of different means.

All the skills I learned in 25 years in the army come to help me here in our asset management business.

There’s a couple of development projects that have really been important not only to me but to the Walton Group of Companies as a whole. One of them is called Westphalia in the greater Washington DC area. It’s a very complex, 479-acre mixed-use project with mixed ownership and lots of equity and debt partners. It has both residential and retail, and it’s an amazing project that’s allowed me to understand not only the land development business but also the acquisition and disposition of an asset.

Clearly every project and every asset that Walton manages has its own lessons to be learned and its own challenges that come along with it, and it could be anything from coordinating with the local elected and appointed officials regarding zoning, to coordinating with the local community, who may or may not want a particular development project in their neighborhood. In addition, negotiations with consultants, contractors, and of course the ultimate disposition of the asset to a homebuilder/buyer.

Just most recently, we negotiated a sale of a 1000acre master-planned project with a large public homebuilder down in Florida, just outside of Tampa, and it has become the example of the way that we will sell a lot of our land assets in the future. With a template for an agreement now in place with this buyer, we have adjusted that for other states and counties around the country, and we expect to see considerable land dispositions in the future not only with this particular buyer but with other local, regional and national top-tier homebuilders.

What were some of the projects you tackled in that role?

What are your views on the real estate market in general in the United States at the moment? Where do you see things heading?

One of the assignments I had was down in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I was responsible for all the reconstruction of all the levees, the flood walls, the pump stations, and anything that was damaged, destroyed, or needed to be rebuilt as a result of Hurricane Katrina. That was a $14.6 billion programme, and I was fortunate to be down there for three years in a leadership role as the senior army officer responsible for that work. Although I had a great team of dedicated professionals, having billions of dollars of construction projects under my leadership was something that was a humbling, rewarding, and learning experience.

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The market is very strong. Of course, it’s hard to generalise across the country, but overall it is very strong. There are a couple reasons why we feel comfortable saying that. Clearly, low mortgage interest rates, currently and for the foreseeable future, are something that’s an indicator of a strong market. But perhaps more importantly, we see a big chunk of millennials coming into the market.

They are between the ages of 23 and 38, and they were slow to get into the homebuying market and form households after the housing led recession, but are now the largest cohort in the U.S. population

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at around 80 million. Slowly they are starting to build households, and we are bullish on the fact that they are coming into the market now; in 2018 alone, millennials accounted for 37 per cent of all homebuyers. Also, there was a lot of unmet demand from 2008 to 2017, where we were only meeting around 65 per cent of the homes that were needed around the country. If you put those things together, we feel very strongly that there is a lot of room for homes to be built around the country.

How much focus do you put on a potential recession?

We acknowledge it, and we understand it. We know that something will happen to the economy in the near future, but an expansion never dies of old age. There has to be some sort of external action that would cause some sort of downturn. We don’t expect it to be very long or very deep, and we don’t expect it to be caused by the housing market like it was in 2008.

I will also say that we have a strategic advantage.

It’s built in our business model that all the assets we own have no debt on them—they’re all equity.

When we purchase land, we purchase it on an all cash basis on a co-ownership basis with investors.

As a result, we’re in a pretty good position to be able to withstand any downturn that may come a long, combined with the fact that we’re a private company so we’re not subject to market or shareholder pressure. We have patient capital and we’re not making decisions based on quarterly calls and stock price, and this gives us a strategic advantage as a land asset manager.

How much has the real estate market changed since the housing crisis in the late 2000s?

Builders these days are shifting to what we call a land-light strategy. Back in 2008-2010 after the recession, approximately 50 per cent of the homebuilders in the United States went out of business, which doesn’t get a lot of attention and a lot of people don’t probably grasp. One of the big reasons why was they had so much land on their balance sheet, it may have had some debt on it, and unfortunately, they probably lost it to a bank through foreclosure. As a result, they have gotten very conservative to the point where they don’t want to have a lot of land on their balance sheets. This is a great opportunity for Walton, who

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is in the land, asset management and real estate business, because we love having land. For those who don’t want to carry land on their books, we can accommodate them.

Because there were so many homebuilders that went out of business, they are very conservative now in the way that they buy land. Since they don’t want it on their balance sheets, as I mentioned, we are able to feed that market. We have created an opportunity to sell homebuilders land to meet their just-in-time inventory requirements, in a similar way that they would buy lumber or other supplies that they would need to build their homes. If we can sell them 200 acres at a time, instead of them buying 1000 acres from us all at once, they can manage their homebuilding in phases and better utilise their capital for infrastructure to kick start development. Then, the land is a commodity that is delivered just in time and, because of our equity position, we don’t have an interest payment that we have to make. We can provide that resource to the homebuilder in a pretty good fashion that meets both our needs.

In reference to Walton’s plans for the next few years, are they set in stone or are they beholden to which way the wind blows in the real estate market in the Eastern region?

There are some things that won’t change. We won’t lever our land. There are some development projects that, once we get into construction, we will take out loans for development, but those are very few. Our traditional model is to buy our land with no debt.

It is a core principle of Walton’s pre-development model to buy the land with equity, and I don’t see that changing.

However, we have to understand who our buyers are, and we have to provide our buyers a way to buy land from us, as they have changed over the years.

In the early 2000s, landowners and developers would buy big chunks of land, and after the recession, they wouldn’t buy raw land, they wanted serviced lots. They were expecting someone else to bring the servicing in, the streets and the landscaping. There was a period of time when builders only wanted horizontal, finished, serviced land, or serviced lots.

Now we’re at a point where it’s a land-constrained environment. A lot of builders want to have their destiny in their own hands regarding horizontal development, but they only want it just in time.

Our strategic position as an asset manager of over

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86,000 acres in the United States allows us to accommodate this need.

Where do you see opportunities?

We see opportunities in a couple of different places.

One is looking at the geography in different parts of the country. If you look at the assets that we have, we use the phrase the ‘Southern smile’, going from Southern California, through Arizona, across into Texas, and then over into Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville in Florida and then all the way to DC. We also have land assets in Denver, Colorado and some in Oklahoma City. We don’t anticipate any changes there. If you look at domestic migration in the United States, folks are moving out of the Northern climates and high-cost states. States that have higher taxes, whether you’re talking Connecticut, New York, New Jersey or Illinois, people are moving to places with affordable housing, strong employment, lower taxes and a better climate which in most instances are Florida and Texas. When you see those migration patterns over time, it makes us comfortable that those places are going to have good opportunities. Most of those locations are also more pro-development and have a more simplified entitlement process.

Second, we’re looking to leverage the way that homebuilders are buying land. Traditionally, we would go out to research and acquire land on our own, and not necessarily have a specific exit partner in mind. We knew the strategy, but we didn’t have a particular buyer in mind. Now we’re going to homebuilders and asking them if they like a particular piece of land but don’t want it on their balance sheet, we can buy it, and enter into an agreement now that they are interested in purchasing it sometime in the next two to three years to suit their just in time inventory requirements. That in turn, may provide a bulk sale or income opportunity in the future for our co-investors. We’re looking at those two models to be able to accommodate what builders are looking for and how they are going to acquire land in the future.

We’re in a very good equity position on our land, we have very patient investors, and we appreciate the almost 96,000 investors we have across the world, split half and half between Middle East & Asia, and North America. We’re very appreciative of our investors, and we are looking to continue to provide innovative real estate opportunities and raise capital in those regions going forward.

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BILL DOHERTY, CEO, Walton Global Investments Ltd

BILL DOHERTY, CEO, Walton Global Investments Ltd, speaks to Islamic Business & Finance about why the firm achieved Shari’ah-compliance on its investment products, and the latest projects to launch What were the conversations that led to achieving Shari’ah compliance?

We’d been discussing it for quite a while, so doing business out of our Singapore office for Malaysia and Indonesia, we began discussing it seven to eight years ago, and put it into action between three and four years ago, gaining approval about three years ago. That was for our pre-development land product, which is the cornerstone of the Walton Group of companies.

We are going to be introducing another product to the marketplace in Q1 2020 which we are going to work immediately in an effort to achieve Shari’ah compliance as well, which will be a cash-flowing product, an income-type product, which will be tied to a Fortune 500 homebuilding company in the US.

Could you tell me more about that project?

We launched our first fund of this product in the United States in October, which is called the BOLD Fund, the Builder-Optioned Land Development Fund. With this, we work with national publicly-traded builders in the United States where they have land assets they are looking to acquire, and instead of them acquiring those assets, we purchase the assets ourselves.

We have an agreement in place where they will take down those assets phase by phase or by lot over a specified period of time. The first fund is tied to a Fortune 500 company who is the number one home builder in terms of volume. They will be our primary partner for this fund and for funds going forward.

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(imaginima/istockphoto)

Evolving Islamic fintech STELLA COX CBE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, DDCAP LIMITED SPEAKS TO ISLAMIC BUSINESS & FINANCE

W

hat are your views on the global Islamic finance industry?

Overall our market sentiment is very positive. The industry continues to develop its core values proposition as its global footprint expands and it is now making some extraordinary connections that will enable its participants to further elevate its global impact in years to come.

Having offices in the UK, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur, what are the distinct features of each market? And where do you see opportunities?

DDCAP Group was established over twenty years ago, but we have been cautious about our global expansion and our overseas presences have been selected strategically, driven by our clients’ requirements of us as well as by market dynamics.

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When we opened for business in the 1990s, we considered that London was the global financial centre most suited to Islamic banks and financial institutions needing to deploy wholesale liquidity and seeking eligible investment assets. Through the capability and capacity of London’s markets, we were able to deliver our clients access to diversified assets, broaden their counterparties and identify sources of reciprocal liquidity for them which, at that point, was one of the principal challenges faced by Islamic banking institutions. That capacity hasn’t changed, in fact it has grown and London remains our headquarters, but since then the industry has expanded its reach and other key centres and hubs for Islamic finance have emerged, presenting opportunity to us and offering capacity that interests us, as well as being extremely important to our clients.

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DDCAP opened in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in 2008. Following the turn of 2000, there was significant repatriation of Shari'ah compliant capital to the Middle East in response to a number of different situations. The capital inflows caused regional Islamic banks to engage and interact with their conventional neighbours much more proactively than before and DDCAP was called upon by regulatory authorities, as well as by our clients, to contribute and play a role in the origination of transactional templates and implementation of post trade procedures appropriate for local and regional market application. Subsequently clients asked us to provide further transactional services which resulted in the development of the trade execution capabilities that DDCAP is well known for.

At that time, DDCAP had already embarked upon building its automated technology for Islamic interbank and capital market requirement, which is the Platform we subsequently branded ETHOS AFP™.

The build and delivery of ETHOS AFP™ was possible due to the exceptional engagement we had with our pilot group of client banks and their esteemed Shari'ah advisors, all of whom were from the UAE. The combination of these and other, regional factors convinced us that the time was right to extend our representation into the DIFC. We made our application and received our approval. Thereafter, we established our first overseas office in Dubai and we have never regretted that decision.

At a similar point in time, we were also invited by Bank Negara Malaysia, the Malaysian central bank, to join a steering group that was formed in response to the Malaysian financial authorities granting permissions to Islamic banks from the GCC to do business locally.

It became apparent, following discussions within the interbank community, that there were certain differences in transactional preferences and procedures that needed to be considered and resolved to the satisfaction of the market, in order to ensure a consistent approach to doing business that would enable the integration of the newly authorised banks into the marketplace. It was DDCAP’s privilege to be invited into that process and, in the ensuing years, we have developed strong relationships with institutional clients in Malaysia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

We have also been impressed by the various industry leadership initiatives that have been embarked upon by the Malaysian financial regulators. Particularly relevant to DDCAP’s corporate and business culture have been the efforts of the Securities Commission to

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embed sustainable and responsible financial practice codes within Malaysia’s Shari'ah compliant capital markets and securities regulations and, since then, Bank Negara’s commitment to the development and launch of its Values Based Intermediation strategy with its Islamic banks. Quite reasonably, our own clients started to ask us to open an office in Kuala Lumpur to better support them locally. As a consequence of this, and of our market experience gained over more than a decade, we decided to make an application to open an office in Kuala Lumpur and in 2018 we received approval to do so.

How would you describe your pipeline for 2020?

We see amazing opportunities, still, in each market where we have physical presence, underpinned by DDCAP’s corporate undertaking to adopt a sustainable and responsible approach to doing business and also by our intention to evolve still further as an Islamic fintech. We demonstrated our commitment to the latter most recently with our strategic investment in IslamicMarkets.com. Although we had been very actively searching for a while, this marked our first, direct investment in a third-party fintech initiative.

IslamicMarkets is already an incredible business that works across our industry footprint and, with 250,000 users, is now the most widely used online information, financial intelligence and learning platform in the Islamic economy.

STELLA COX

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For 2020 we plan some further announcements, but we will keep our powder dry on some of those for a little longer! In terms of others, we are considering the ongoing expansion of our international network.

We are also excited that our full range of services, in particular the ever increasing capacity and functionality of ETHOS AFP™, are well placed to support our institutional clients and counterparties during what is clearly proving to be a time of significant new opportunity for them. We expect to announce other joint offerings as we did last year when, through ETHOS AFP™, DDCAP partnered with Refinitiv to provide a fully integrated treasury trading workflow for Shari’ah-compliant transactions.

Otherwise we will obviously be working very closely with IslamicMarkets and proactively seeking to make further, technology focused investments within the wider halal economy.

What would you say is the biggest challenge hampering the growth of Islamic finance as a segment of the financial services industry?

I have been heard to say that we are hampered by our own impatience and frustrations, as we strive to build a robust and sizeable global financial industry sector.

We sometimes forget that, as an industry segment, contemporary Islamic finance is still less than fifty years old. Often we talk about the negative impact of the lack of consensus in our approach to our industry standard setting. Many of our market practitioners and observers believe that this continues to impede our business efficiency and restricts our ability to be consistent in originating and documenting transactional templates, establishing operational procedures and achieving uniform Shari’ah validation which, in turn, has a detrimental effect on market confidence and our ability to innovate and scale.

We still have our issues to address and remedy, we certainly can’t be complacent, and we will still experience exceptional situations but, in my view, the progress that we have made in recent years has been significant and we are most times in agreement about what is and isn’t permissible and about how we aspire to transact.

What are your projections on the Islamic finance industry next year?

The global financial services industry is moving at an incredible pace and we need to ensure that our leadership is attuned to the nature and, particularly, to the significance of the changes that are pervading

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through global financial practice. There is no turning back and we are experiencing an ongoing call to make changes to the construction of the global financial industry architecture, to its legislation and, increasingly, to its regulation. Financing and investment preferences are being revised, we are reconsidering how we set targets for financial return, how we evaluate and manage risk and how we capture data. Product and asset origination is now driven so firmly by market demand, by consumers as well as institutions, that the market is obliged to listen.

The global call for the financial system to evolve and contribute fully to supporting a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous world for all is causing a new breed of financial institutions to emerge, its leaders having realigned perspectives and its businesses developing and offering technologies that challenge and sometimes disrupt traditional practice and perspective. Islamic finance is well placed to play a role at the forefront of these changes but as an industry sector, we need to be proactive, not reactive, and we need to be nimble and flexible in adapting to them. In common within the faith-based drivers of Shari’ah-compliant finance, responsible finance is about doing the right thing, even when it’s not the easiest thing to do, and the time to do that is now.

DDCAP has been evolving our own approach to ensure our ongoing commitment to sustainable and responsible practices through the product and services offered by our Group companies for some years. It is now apparent that our aspiration to connect the Islamic financial market responsibly is shared with a great number of our stakeholders, amongst them our shareholders, clients and counterparties.

Although we are still working through how we, in Islamic finance, can collaborate with practitioners from other SRI subsets to establish a common approach to business that upholds our shared values, we have succeeded already in originating transactional templates that demonstrate that, as an industry, we have moved beyond theory into practice.

Islamic banks are signatories now to the recently launched Principles for Responsible Banking and other firms from the Shari’ah-compliant financial market, DDCAP amongst them, are signatories to Principles for Responsible Investment. Our capital markets are supporting green issues that have started to move beyond sovereign and quasi sovereign issuance to the corporate market. Our industry architecture organisations are developing

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ISLAMIC FINTECH

CASSIM DOCRAT, DDCAP (DOFC) Limited, accepts the Awards for Best Fintech Company from Islamic Business & Finance

responsible standards aligned with global best practice and identifying impact focused benchmarks that will enable institutions and firms from the Islamic financial sector to contribute fully to the global financial initiative to create that fairer, more equitable world.

What are you most excited about and which would you say are the most promising markets?

DDCAP is very excited about the relevance of certain of the industry’s core thematics to our own offerings and capabilities. We have discussed already the potential that the Islamic financial community has to offer in terms of prioritising a responsible and sustainable approach to financial sector business for broader global impact and, outside of markets activity, this is incredibly apparent within Islamic fintech. In ETHOS AFP™, DDCAP created an enabling platform with global reach but we are intrigued and also inspired by a number of the disrupters and by our industry’s increasingly deep reserve of entrepreneurial technologists! I’m privileged to sit on the UK Islamic Fintech Panel, a private sector initiative endorsed by our government,

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whose efforts in 2019 have already brought several rounds of strategic funding to exciting young, British businesses.

My DDCAP colleagues and I are enthused by the new and fresh perspectives being brought to the Islamic financial industry and its practices and I have already touched on some of those developments in both private and public sector, as well those relevant to the formation of our architecture. We see momentum and demand for Shari’ah-compliant financial practice growing rapidly in Central Asia and Africa but the demands across numerous of our emerging markets simply cannot be satisfied by traditional banking services in isolation and new technologies will be an essential element of ensuring full access to them and providing an evolved financial offering to consumers. Having moved our industry beyond its initial emergence, through its early years and into a financial subset whose capability is both recognised and respected by its global peers, it is clear that many of our market professionals envisage a realignment, for best effect, of what has been achieved during the past forty years so that we are well placed now to open new industry frontiers and extend our footprint in preparation for the next fifty years.

ISSUE 118 | Islamic Business & Finance

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EXPERT OPINION

Islamic fintech needs standardisation to thrive DR SHEIKH SELIM, PROGRAMME DIRECTOR â&#x20AC;&#x201C; ECONOMICS, & MONEY BANKING FINANCE, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM DUBAI WRITES FOR ISLAMIC BUSINESS & FINANCE ABOUT THE KEY TRENDS, PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES FACING THE ISLAMIC FINANCE INDUSTRY

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Islamic Business & Finance | ISSUE 118

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EXPERT OPINION

W

ith a total worth of $2.19 trillion in 20182019, recent growth of around 6.9 per cent, and notable advances in innovating and developing financial products in the past decade, the Islamic financial industry has attracted investors, researchers, governments and other stakeholders to participate, contribute and engage in the analysis of its prospects and challenges.

There have been a number of recent developments in light of key challenges in the two major markets of the Islamic financial industry, namely, the Islamic banking market, and the Sukuk market, which also offer interesting new prospects and potential ways forward for the industry.

THE ISLAMIC BANKING MARKET

CHRISTINE LAGARDE, ex-managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and current President of the European Central Bank, walks with NOR SHAMSIAH MOHD YUNUS, governor of Bank Negara Malaysia.

Major players will have to come together to push harder towards Islamic finance standardisation.

The IFSI Stability Report 2019 reconfirms the continued predominance of Islamic banks’ share in the global Islamic Finance industry, amounting to 71.7 per cent share in 2019, with $1571.3 billion total value of banking assets. The main contributors of this share are banks in Saudi Arabia (20.2 per cent), Iran (32.1 per cent), Malaysia (10.8 per cent) and the UAE (9.8 per cent). However, globally, this sector registered only 0.9 per cent growth in total assets during 20182019 (following a 4.1 per cent growth in assets and a 7.5 per cent growth in liabilities during 2017-2018), which is less than what was forecast in the S&P global rating Islamic Finance Outlook (IFO) 2019.

Low economic growth in GCC economies, mainly due to slow growth in oil prices, has resulted in reduced opportunities for the banking system overall, which has in turn led to sluggish lending growth in the GCC banking sector during 2013-2017. Islamic banks in this region, however, showed faster growth than conventional banks during the same period, which is often attributed to rapid modernisation, strategic initiatives, enhanced quality control and the strong financial performances of Kuwaiti, Qatari and UAEbased Islamic banks. The IFO 2019 expects further expansion in Islamic banks in the GCC region and an average financing growth of up to five per cent in the next two years, supported by strategic initiatives such as the Dubai Expo 2020, the Saudi Vision 2030, the Qatar World Cup 2020, and the Kuwait 2035 Vision. Growth in Islamic financing through banks in this region is expected to contribute to an unweighted and steady average economic growth of 2.5 per cent in the next few years, which is significantly lower than what the region delivered back in 2012, but a recovery from even lower economic growth during the past few years.

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The predicted risks of Islamic banking operations in the GCC, as identified and commonly agreed

by IFO 2019 and the World Bank and Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), are higher cost of risk and lower profitability. The IFO 2019 expects that standardisation of Shari’ah compliance may contribute to an improvement in the clarity of investment risk vis a vis risk management, which will eventually reduce the cost of risk for Islamic banks. According to IFSB reports, growth in Shari’ah-compliant financing by Islamic banks across the globe was only 3.3 per cent during 20172018, compared to the previous year where this growth was a mammoth 19 per cent. Clarifying risks for investors and creating extra scope for innovation in the Islamic banking operations are therefore an essential step that the industry should consider.

In addition, introduction and diffusion of fintech across all stakeholders in the Islamic banking industry is also expected to reduce transaction costs and risks. This should include adopting and applying state of the art technology to ensure ease and speed of transactions (e.g. money transfers), improved traceability and security of transactions (e.g. blockchain to help reduce exposure to risks related to identity theft), enhanced accessibility of Islamic financial services (e.g. crowdfunding for affordable housing, mobile banking for remote areas), and clearer and more robust compliance with regulations and Shari’ah requirements (e.g. regtech to minimise the reputation risk related to potential breach of Shari’ah requirements).

While the fintech solution sounds attractive to a young, educated and tech savvy generation of bankers and banking stakeholders, the implementation of fintech is far from simple. The combination of adequate supervision and a strongly enforced regulatory framework of banking and finance remains the single most important prerequisite for the successful implementation and diffusion of fintech in the Islamic banking industry. The recent growth of fintech companies across the world is an excellent value chain development, with a healthy share (70 per cent) of these firms offering cutting edge solutions in the provision of financial services.

The main concentration of Islamic fintech firms has been in Asia, Europe and the MENA region, with 46 per cent firms covering the Asian market, and around 24 per cent operating in each of the other two regions.

ISSUE 118 | Islamic Business & Finance

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EXPERT OPINION

THE SUKUK MARKET According to the IFSI Stability Report 2019, in contrast to the Islamic banking sector, the Islamic capital market demonstrated high growth (around 25 per cent) despite only a 27 per cent share in total Islamic financial services. The majority of this share is comprised of the Sukuk market, with total Sukuk outstanding amounting to $530.4 billion in 2018-2019, followed by a growth of 5.5 per cent over the amount in 2017.

Islamic financial assets are mainly concentrated in the GCC (42.3 per cent) and in Asia (28.2 per cent), with large proportions of sovereign Sukuk issued by two major contributors, Saudi Arabia (31.9 per cent) and Malaysia (32.8 per cent). Other countries which played a vital role in the recent growth of the Sukuk market are UAE, Indonesia and Bahrain. According to the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) report, there has been sustained growth in Sukuk issuance from sovereign issuers (45 per cent of the total issuance), while growth in corporate and financial institutions issuance (27.5 per cent and 7.7 per cent of the total issuance, respectively) also remained stable.

Following two major drops in global issuance of Sukuk in 2014 and 2015, the global Sukuk market observed a sharp increase in international Sukuk issuance in 2016 and 2017, registering 29 per cent and 32 per cent, growth. However, the growth in issuance suffered a huge drop to 5.5 per cent in 2018.

An almost identical trend is visible in the issuance of domestic Sukuk. IIFM reports argue that the drop in 2018 is largely due to the loss of reputation associated with the Shari’ah noncompliance surrounding the infamous Dana Gas Sukuk legal battle. A major development following the incident is a standardised mechanism for Shari’ah compliant foreign currency hedging, developed jointly by IIFM and ISDA, which facilitates the issuer to issue Sukuk in other jurisdictions without exposing the Sukuk holders to foreign exchange and rate of return mismatch risks.

The new issuance includes environmentally friendly Green Sukuk, socially responsible Sukuk, and Sukuk related to blockchains. Moreover, investors in the Sukuk market are regaining hope due to the reissuance of $500 million worth of short term Sukuk

by International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM). The recent release of the global industry standard for buying and selling Islamic traderelated risk to support the growth of Islamic trade finance business has also been a welcome change.

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Islamic Business & Finance | ISSUE 118

The S&P IFO 2019 suggests that the process of standardisation of Shari’ah compliance across the Islamic financial markets is still slow, and despite significant efforts made by standard-setting bodies, some market participants still consider the process to be an unrealistic one and instead argue in favour of harmonisation that would allow for some flexibility for implementation. This debate is live, and addressing it requires a separate and perhaps more comprehensive discussion.

Issues related to standardisation and adoption of fintech in the Sukuk market, therefore, remain a challenge. For the Sukuk market, successful adoption and diffusion of fintech (e.g.

Regtech) is only possible after a reasonable level of standardisation has been accomplished, ensuring that the newly adopted technology can work in sync with strong recovery and resolution regimes, agreed and enforced networks of risk sharing and risk management, and access to a resource base (e.g. expertise and human capital) conducive to cost effective management and development of innovation and technology, based on the core principles of Shari’ah compliance.

DR SHEIKH SELIM, Programme Director – Economics, & Money Banking Finance, University of Birmingham

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Islamic Business & Finance IslamicAwards Business & Finance 2019 Awards 2019

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Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2019

T

hank you all so much for coming to the Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2019. We at Islamic Business & Finance are proud to have had the opportunity to recognise the many accomplishments of the Islamic finance community since our awards programme began more than a dozen years ago.

In that time, the Islamic economy has continued to evolve, outpacing the growth of conventional and broadening product and service offerings in order to create a landscape that not only is attractive to those who choose Islamic finance for religious reasons, but those who choose it for both ethical and pure value reasons as well.

In 2019, we are entering a new phase not only in Islamic finance, but in banking as a whole. As fintech innovation transforms finance, both conventional and Islamic banks are having to adjust faster than ever before to a rapidly shifting landscape in order to not only stay ahead of the competition, but to remain relevant to an evolving customer base as well.

It’s hard to say what the financial landscape will look like

in a few decades time. While it’s hard to paint the whole industry with a broad brush, there are cases such as the one discussed in our cover story when Islamic banks are the ones leading the way and teaching their conventional counterparts how to strategically implement new technologies.

As has always been the case, Islamic finance is ahead of the curve in many ways, and that sets it up well for the future. Shari’ah-compliance has always been about ethical concerns first and foremost, and as finance globally, and large firms such as Black Rock get more and more focused on sustainability, Islamic finance will be a helpful partner on that journey.

Congratulations again on all of your accomplishments, and we can’t wait to see what you are able to pull off in 2020!

William Mullally

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Announcing the winners of the Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2019 The awards were bestowed at a gala dinner at the Ritz-Carlton DIFC in Dubai, honouring the pioneers of the Islamic finance industry and broader Islamic economy

T

he winners of the 14th annual Islamic Business & Finance Awards were announced at a gala dinner held at the Ritz-Carlton DIFC, Dubai on Wednesday 23 October 2019, attended by more than 150 of the top Islamic bankers in the region, as well as leaders from across the Islamic finance landscape.

Islamic Business & Finance, the authoritative voice of the global Islamic finance industry and the broader Islamic economy, has a worldwide circulation that spans every continent.

Celebrating its 14th anniversary in 2019, Islamic Business & Finance is the oldest continuously published magazine covering the Islamic finance sector. It is published by CPI Financial—based in Dubai since 1999—offering a comprehensive portfolio of market-leading periodicals, products and services tailormade for the banking and financial sector.

As part of its mission, CPI Financial has, since its inception, held the Islamic Business & Finance Awards in order to award the pioneers of the Islamic banking and broader financial sector. As the Islamic finance industry continues to grow and innovate, its awards programme, supported by the DIFC, will continue to recognise the pioneers in the Islamic finance landscape and laud their many achievements that are integral to the industry’s continued growth.

In 2019, Islamic Business & Finance identified 24 award categories that provide global recognition to exceptional financial institutions across the wide spectrum of banking and finance. Institutions nominated themselves in all

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December 2019

relevant categories as deemed appropriate. The Islamic Business & Finance judging panel identified a shortlist of three institutions for most categories, with four for categories with an outstanding number of nominations.

Individual awards were decided exclusively by the judging panel.

“The Islamic finance industry continues to grow worldwide, but more importantly, it continues to innovate.

With the issuance of both green and blockchain-based Sukuk in 2019, It is clear that the Islamic economy will continue to embrace the inevitable technological future that is already transforming banking and finance, as well as recognise the ethical framework on which it is based that can be a beacon for the entire world as the broader financial community finally moves towards sustainable investment and ensuring a positive social and environmental impact,” said William Mullally, Editor, Islamic Business & Finance on the occasion.

“Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Islamic Business & Finance Awards. The winning institutions, as well as those shortlisted, lead the way for the Islamic finance community while navigating a tricky financial landscape, and we at CPI Financial are proud to once again honour their myriad achievements. We look forward to seeing what these leading institutions accomplish in the coming year and beyond, and to welcoming their top representatives to the 15th annual Awards ceremony in 2020,” said Nigel Rodrigues, CEO, CPI Financial.

Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2019

The full list of Islamic Business & Finance winners: Best Training Institute

Best Asset Manager

BAHRAIN INSTITUTE OF BANKING AND FINANCE

SEDCO CAPITAL

Best Ratings Agency

Best REIT Manager

S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

EMIRATES REIT

Best Takaful Operator

Best Sukuk Arranger

SALAMA – ISLAMIC ARAB INSURANCE CO.

DUBAI ISLAMIC BANK

Best Fintech Company

Best SME Bank

DDCAP GROUP

RAKBANK ISLAMIC BANKING

Best Digital Banking Proposition

Best Islamic Wealth Management Proposition

EMIRATES ISLAMIC

LOMBARD ODIER

Best Advisory Service

Best Premium Banking Institution

GREENSTONE EQUITY PARTNERS

NOOR BANK

Best Human Capital Development Initiative

Best Home Finance Institution

DUBAI ISLAMIC BANK

AJMAN BANK

Best Sustainability Initiative

Best Islamic Window

AL BARAKA BANK SYRIA

NATIONAL BANK OF FUJAIRAH

Best Retail Bank

Best Islamic Banking Implementation

EMIRATES ISLAMIC

INFOSYS FINACLE AND AAFAQ ISLAMIC FINANCE

Best Corporate Bank

Best Islamic Bank

THE NATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK

DUBAI ISLAMIC BANK

Best Investment Fund

Outstanding Contribution to Islamic Finance

ALBILAD CAPITAL

DR. ADNAN CHILWAN Group CEO, Dubai Islamic Bank

Best Investment Product FIRST ABU DHABI BANK Best Investment Bank

Islamic Banker of the Year MAZIN AL-NAHEDH Group CEO, Kuwait Finance House – Kuwait

GFH FINANCIAL GROUP Best Investor Relations DUBAI ISLAMIC BANK

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Best Training Institute

Best Takaful Operator

FINALISTS: Global Islamic Financial Services Firm, International Shari'ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance

FINALISTS: Noor Takaful, PT Asuransi Takaful Keluarga – Indonesia

Best Ratings Agency

Best Digital Banking Proposition

FINALISTS: Fitch Ratings, RAM Ratings

FINALISTS: Bahrain Islamic Bank, Emirates Islamic, Ithmaar Bank

– B AHRAIN INSTITUTE OF BANKING AND FINANCE

– S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

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December 2019

– S ALAMA – ISLAMIC ARAB INSURANCE CO.

– EMIRATES ISLAMIC

Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2019

Best Advisory Service

Best Islamic Window

FINALISTS: Amanie Advisors, PwC

FINALISTS: CIMB Islamic, First Abu Dhabi Bank

Best Human Capital Development Initiative

Best Retail Bank

FINALISTS: Emirates Islamic, Noor Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank

FINALISTS: Ajman Bank, Noor Bank

– GREENSTONE EQUITY PARTNERS

– DUBAI ISLAMIC BANK

– NATIONAL BANK OF FUJAIRAH

– EMIRATES ISLAMIC

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Best Corporate Bank

Best Investment Product

FINALISTS: Noor Bank, The Saudi British Bank (SABB)

FINALISTS: Lombard Odier, SEDCO Capital

Best Investment Fund

Best Investment Bank

FINALISTS: Emirates NBD Asset Management, SEDCO Capital

FINALISTS: Emirates Investment Bank, NBK Capital

– THE NATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK

– ALBILAD CAPITAL

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December 2019

– FIRST ABU DHABI BANK

– GFH FINANCIAL GROUP

Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2019

Best Investor Relations

Best REIT Manager

FINALISTS: First Abu Dhabi Bank, Principal Islamic Asset Management

FINALISTS: ENBD REIT, Riyadh Capital (Riyadh REIT)

Best Asset Manager

Best Sukuk Arranger

FINALISTS: Albilad Capital, Emirates NBD Asset Management, First Abu Dhabi Bank

FINALISTS: CIMB Islamic, NBK Capital

– DUBAI ISLAMIC BANK

– SEDCO CAPITAL

– EMIRATES REIT

– DUBAI ISLAMIC BANK

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Best SME Bank

Best Premium Banking Institution

FINALISTS: Emirates Islamic, The Saudi British Bank (SABB)

FINALISTS: CIMB Islamic, Emirates Islamic

Best Islamic Wealth Management Proposition

Best Home Finance Institution

FINALISTS: GFH Financial Group, Noor Bank

FINALISTS: Emirates Islamic, Noor Bank

– RAKBANK ISLAMIC BANKING

– LOMBARD ODIER

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December 2019

– NOOR BANK

– AJMAN BANK

Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2019

Best Sustainability Initiative – AL BARAKA BANK SYRIA

Outstanding Contribution to Islamic Finance

–D R. ADNAN CHILWAN, GROUP CEO, DUBAI ISLAMIC BANK

FINALISTS: Dubai Islamic Bank, Islamic Development Bank

Best Islamic Banking Implementation – I NFOSYS FINACLE AND AAFAQ ISLAMIC FINANCE

Islamic Banker of the Year

– MAZIN AL NADEH, GROUP CEO, KUWAIT FINANCE OUSE – KUWAIT

FINALISTS: DDCAP Group, Maveric Systems

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Best Fintech Company – DDCAP GROUP

“DDCAP Group™ is truly honoured to have been recognised as Best Fintech Company at the Islamic Business and Finance Awards 2019. To receive this prestigious award is a privilege.

“At DDCAP we are continually focused on investing in the development of ETHOS AFP™, our proprietary award-winning Sharia’a compliant financial technology.

Additionally, we are now investing directly in early stage fintech for the Islamic marketplace and following our recent strategic investment in IslamicMarkets Limited, we look forward to making further announcements in 2020.”

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December 2019

- Stella Cox CBE, Managing Director, DDCAP Limited

Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2019

Best Islamic Bank – DUBAI ISLAMIC BANK

“We are deeply honored and delighted to have once again been recognized for our efforts in unlocking the potential of Islamic Finance and making it a global phenomenon.

These esteemed accolades not only showcase our determination in achieving unparalleled market growth by constantly innovating and challenging the status quo, they also reflect our hard-work and commitment in being market leaders when it comes to product offerings, customer service and long-term sustainability.

“I’m also incredibly honored and humbled to have been bestowed with the Outstanding Contribution to Islamic Finance Industry award. This is something I hold very close to my heart, and I will remain committed in my personal journey towards establishing a new, modern and a more inclusive face of Islamic finance in the region and beyond.”

- Dr. Adnan Chilwan, Group Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Islamic Bank

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December 2019

Islamic Business & Finance Awards 2019

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Photo Credit: Florante Magsakay/CPI Financial

Thank you and see you next year!

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December 2019

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