DDCAP MD, Stella Cox was delighted to participate in the recently concluded Deloitte Executive Workshop on Corporate Sukuk in Europe organised in partnership with The CISI at the Swift UK Office, Corn Exchange, London. The Workshop was aimed at launching the Deloitte’s Islamic Finance Thought Leadership Report 2015 and brought together senior practitioners in the Industry to initiate innovative discussions on the prospects for a corporate Sukuk market in Europe.
The keynote address was delivered by Gary Campkin, Director, International Strategy, TheCityUK, who spoke on the recent launch of TheCityUK’s Islamic Finance report, The UK: Leading Western Centre for Islamic Finance, which summarises global trends in Islamic finance with a particular focus on the development of the UK market. The report also reinforces London’s pre-eminence as the leading Western centre for Islamic finance and was sponsored by the DDCAP Group.
Dr. Hatim El Tahir, Director, Islamic Finance Group, Deloitte & Touche (M.E.) launched the Deloitte Sukuk Report with the major findings centred on four major areas in Islamic finance namely;
a) The attempt by various governments in several European jurisdictions to provide a level playing field for Islamic finance practice as well as changing regulatory frameworks to accommodate Islamic Finance financial instruments.
b) The widening gaps between human capital development and the needs of the Industry.
c) Forward thinking and need for innovative financial instruments necessary for the real economy development.
d) The role and opportunity of market making in deepening the Islamic finance capital market.
Ms. Cox, also commenting in her capacity of Chair of TheCityUK Islamic Finance Market Advisory Group, spoke on the recent developments in the Islamic debt capital market in the UK and Europe at large and the various ways by which the UK government has been involved in deepening the Industry as a whole. She elaborated on the various Sukuk issuances and the opportunities that abound not only for supranationals; multinationals but also corporates going forward.
She also reflected on how issuances subsequent to the inaugural UK sovereign Sukuk, one involving UK Export Finance, had demonstrated the relevance of Sharia’a compliant capital markets product to the real economy and that there is also a growing awareness of social impact. In respect of the latter she cited the inaugural and sophomore Sukuk issues by the International Finance Facility for Immunisation Company (“IFFIm”) , implemented through the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, a public-private partnership which has 9 sovereign donors, including the UK and various other European governments working alongside the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and the World Bank.
Islamic finance senior practitioners at the event included Shabir Randeree CBE, Chairman DCD Group; Daud Vicary Adbullah, President and CEO, INCEIF; George LittleJohn, Senior Advisor CISI; Dr. Zamir Iqbal, Head of World Bank Global Centre for Islamic Finance, Peter Casey, Advisor IFSB, Sheikh Esam Ishaq, Sharia Advisor and Scholar, Harris Irfan, MD, EIIB , Sohail Jafar, CEO, FWU Group, Neil Miller, Global Head of Islamic finance at Linklaters, Emeritus Professor, Rodney Wilson and Professor Simon Archer ICMA Centre, Henley Business School.
DDCAP along with the FWU Group and the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), supported the workshop with Deloitte’s strategic research partners, INCEIF of Malaysia, and HBS University of Reading (UK). This initiative is demonstrative of the various ways by which DDCAP actively seeks and continues to collaborate with respected Industry partners and stakeholders, supporting their work in order to raise awareness of opportunities in the UK and European Islamic capital market and thereby supplementing the development of the industry as a whole.
