London, August 10, 2009 – The International Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) in collaboration with Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance London (IIBI) and Thomson Reuters conducted a one-day conference in London on the 10th of August 2009.

The theme of the conference was Managing Shariah Risks through Shariah Governance. Participants included regulators from Germany, France, Italy and London, local Shari’ah Scholars and officers, representatives of banks from Europe legal practitioners, accountants, academicians and post graduate students in Islamic finance.

In total there were 120 participants. There were two key note addresses. The first through video-conferencing was delivered by Ahmad Hizzad, Director of Islamic Banking and Takaful Department, Central Bank of Malaysia. The second key note Address was conducted by Professor Rifaat Abdel Ahmad Karim the Secretary General of the Islamic Financial Services Board.

The one-day conference was broken up into five sessions and one panel discussion. Each session was concluded with a question and answer slot. The first session was presented by Rushdi Siddiqui Esq, the Global Head of Islamic Finance, Thomas Reuters. The topic of his presentation was ‘Shariah Risk in Product Development, Processes and Operations, Islamic Equity Indices and their use in Islamic Fund Management’. The second session’s speaker was Mohamed Virani the Vice President of Societe Generale. His talk was on ‘Shariah Risk in Product Development, Processes and Operations Islamic Structured Products’. The third session was handled by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Akram Laldin, the Executive Director of ISRA who discussed ‘Shariah Governance from Scholars’ Perspective’.

The fourth session which began after lunch was presented by Madzlan Mohamad Hussain, the Senior Project Manager of IFSB. He presented on ‘Regulatory Approach to Shariah Governance System’. The last session’s speaker was Dr. Humayon Dar, CEO of BMB Islamic, who spoke on ‘Implementing Shariah Governance – awaiting Challenges’. The day ended with a panel discussion on the ‘Road Ahead for Shariah Governance, Regulation and Islamic Capital Markets’.

• Keynote Address 1 : Dato’ Muhammad bin Ibrahim, Assistant Governor, Central Bank of Malaysia (delivered by Ahmad Hizzad, Director of Islamic Banking and Takaful Department)
• Keynote Address 2 : Prof. Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim, Secretary-General, Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB)
• Session 1 : Shari’ah Risk In Product Development, Processes and Operations : Islamic Equity Indices and their use in Islamic Fund Management– Rushdi Siddiqui Esq, Global Head of Islamic Finance, Thomson Reuters
• Session 2 : Shari’ah Risk In Product Development, Processes and Operations : Islamic Structured Product– Mohamed Virani, Vice President – Islamic Structuring, Societe Generale
• Session 3 : Shari’ah Governance from Scholars’ Perspective– Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Akram Laldin, Executive Director, ISRA
• Session 4 : Regulatory Approach to Shari’ah Governance System– Madzlan Mohamad Hussain, Senior Project Manager, IFSB
• Session 5 : Implementing Shari’ah Governance – awaiting challenges– Dr. Humayon Dar, CEO, BMB Islamic