Euromoney Legal Training

Course overview

'Islamic Banking and Finance' is designed to take you through the legal, regulatory and risk management issues of Islamic Finance. The course will take a closer look at how the legal and regulatory issues of Islamic finance are addressed in non-Muslim countries.

• Are special laws necessary to govern Islamic banking and finance in non-Muslim countries?
• What are the challenges in applying existing regulations to Islamic banks in non-Muslim countries?
• Are Muslim communities in largely non-Muslim countries better served by dedicated Islamic banks or conventional banks offering Islamic financial services?

Summary of course content

• Sources of Islamic law and their application to finance
• Islamic finance and banking products
• The latest regulatory developments and challenges facing Islamic banks and products
• Shari'ah standards and systems for shari'ah governance
• The implications of the new Basel Committee recommendations for Islamic banks
• The Islamic Financial Services Board guidelines on risk management

Methodology

Case studies from past experience will be given along with interactive exercises.

Who should attend this training course?

• Legal advisers
• Islamic finance professionals
• International bankers and financiers
• Lawyers in private practice
• Asset and fund managers
• Venture capitalists
• Investment advisers and managers
• Compliance officers
• Leasing professionals
• Corporate treasurers

Supporting publication

Day 1

Sources of Islamic law and their application to finance

• The Koran and Sunnah
• Ijma or the consensus of opinions
• Qiyas or analogical deductions
• Istihsan or equity in Islamic law
• Maslahah Mursalab or considerations of public interest
• Assurance by Shari'ah scholars
• Conventional and Islamic economic doctrine Islamic financial principles
• The prohibition of riba
• Implications of non-interest based finance
• Concepts of risk and uncertainty with ambiguity, gharar
• Participatory finance and risk and reward sharing
• Merits of trading activity in Islam
• Relating funding to tangibles through asset based financing

Scope of the Islamic finance industry requiring regulation

• Deposit taking by Islamic banks and Islamic banking units of conventional banks
• Islamic trade financing through murabahah
• Islamic leasing (ijara) and hire purchase (ijara wa iqtina)
• Islamic project finance through istisna
• Islamic mortgages (manzil)
• Islamic takaful insurance

Day 2

Islamic securities or sukuk

• Sukuk bills
• Sukuk bonds
• Sukuk notes
• Sukuk characteristics, choices and experiences

Islamic equity investments and fund management

• Principles and practices of Islamic equity investment
• Musharakah and mudarabah vs. equity investment
• Shareholder remuneration
• Islamic fund management
• Screening criteria for equity funds
• Lessons from the ethical investment industry

Case studies: managed funds in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia

Comparative legal experiences

• Pre-requisites for Islamic finance to prosper
• The compatibility of Shari¡¦ah with common and civil law
• Bahrain and Malaysia as the most proactive states
• Kuwait and Jordan¡¦s supportive banking laws
• The legal enclave approach of DIFC and the Qatar Financial Centre
• The universal application of Islamic banking law in Iran
• Pakistan's Islamic finance experience
• Financial dispute resolution in Saudi Arabia
• Limited role of Islamic finance in Egypt
• Islamic finance in Indonesia
• The United Kingdom Finance Act legislative changes

Day 3

Regulatory challenges

• Distinct liability and asset structures of Islamic banks
• Liquidity management issues
• Regulation of dedicated Islamic banks and windows
• Responsibilities for Shari¡¦ah compliance
• Implications for Islamic banks of the changes to capital adequacy and liquidity requirements by the
  Basel Committee
• Islamic Financial Services Board guiding principles for risk management: interpretation and evaluation

Credit defaults

• Late settlement of obligations due to genuine financial difficulties 
• Repayments risks
• Unscrupulous defaulters
• Payments safeguards
• Collateral
• Case study examples of credit control
• Al Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation
• Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank

Exercise: compiling a regulatory checklist and simulations involving role-play by participants as regulators, managers and Islamic financial clients

• Rodney Wilson

  Professor Rodney Wilson is Director of Postgraduate Studies at Durham University's School of Government and International Affairs. He currently chairs the academic committee of the Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance in London and is acting as consultant to the Islamic Financial Services Board with respect to its Shari'ah Governance Guidelines. His previous consultancy experience included work for the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah and the Ministry of Economy and Planning in Riyadh.
  
  Rodney has written numerous books and articles on Islamic finance for leading international publishers as well as professional guides. He also teaches masters level courses on Islamic economics and finance and supervises PhD students working on Islamic finance. He has been a Course Director for Euromoney Legal Training in London, Bahrain, Kuwait, Bangkok and Singapore, and taught courses for the Kuwait Investment Authority, the Commercial Bank of Kuwait, the Arab Banking Corporation, Citibank and HSBC.

Interested in holding this course in-house? Please fill out your details and a member of our team will be in touch with more information.