The Global Ethical Finance Forum is an initiative of Middle East Global Advisors and the UKIFC, two leading institutions spearheading the agenda of sustainable and inclusive economy and of building connections with the broader ethical finance industry. The forum was a response to the growing interest in collaboration and convergence between stakeholders across the entire ethical finance universe only a mere few years after the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-9 demonstrated the need to reconsider the role of ethics in finance.

At its inaugural edition in September 2015, the vision ascribed to GEFF is to become a catalyst for a new, all-encompassing form of inclusive finance that connects key stakeholders from the various ethical finance sectors and facilitates previously untapped opportunities for convergence & collaboration.

GEFF 2017 endeavours to play a critical role in enabling stakeholders from the traditional responsible and Islamic finance sectors to forge and nurture new relationships aimed at building cooperation across sectors and geographies.

The theme for GEFF 2017 is “Ethical Finance: Merging Profit & Purpose”, reflecting the spirit of convergence and collaboration across the responsible finance universe, as well as a call for a more inclusive financial sector, that inspired the inaugural forum back in September 2015.

For more information on attending the event please click here.

The Global Islamic Economy Summit (GIES) is the GCC region’s premier forum on the Islamic economy. It brings together world-class experts in critical industry sectors that span geographic regions and cultural boundaries to directly address the greatest challenges and opportunities in the Islamic economy.

At this year’s event UKIFC Advisory Board Member Omar Shaikh will be providing a media briefing on the UKIFC and ISRA’s latest report which focuses on the very topical issue of external Shariah audit. Details for the briefing are as follows:

4pm – 4.30pm, Murjaan ‘press conference’ – External Shariah Audit Report: Pre-Launch Media Briefing

If you would like to attend the briefing or discuss the report with the IFC team in Dubai (between 8^th – 13^th October) please contact chris@ukifc.com

For more information on attending the event please visit http://www.giesummit.com/

The Global Islamic Economy Summit (GIES) is the GCC region’s premier forum on the Islamic economy. It brings together world-class experts in critical industry sectors that span geographic regions and cultural boundaries to directly address the greatest challenges and opportunities in the Islamic economy.

At this year’s event UKIFC Advisory Board Member Omar Shaikh will be providing a media briefing on the UKIFC and ISRA’s latest report which focuses on the very topical issue of external Shariah audit. Details for the briefing are as follows:

4pm – 4.30pm, Murjaan ‘press conference’ – External Shariah Audit Report: Pre-Launch Media Briefing

If you would like to attend the briefing or discuss the report with the IFC team in Dubai (between 8^th – 13^th October) please contact chris@ukifc.com

For more information on attending the event please visit http://www.giesummit.com/

The Global Digital Banking Conference brings together the best international and domestic speakers to examine the latest insights and case studies in digital innovation across the entire retail banking landscape.

Key themes include:

• Customer acquisition and retention across multiple customer segments
• Tools to understand your customer needs and using digital to enhance customer experience
• Key insights into achieving the MFI relationship
• The latest in credit and lending
• New payment trends and impacts on the market
• Digitisation of channels and achieving the omni-channel experience
• The future of retail banking in the digital world.

UKIFC Advisory Board Member Omar Shaikh will be participating in the “New developments in Islamic Banking cross border” panel session which takes place at 12:10 – 12:50. The session will discuss

• A comparison of key markets
• How to differentiate in Islamic banking when innovating
• Analysing the growing significance of Islamic Finance
• Identifying areas of opportunity in technology

If you would like to meet with the IFC team in Dubai (between 8th – 13th October) please contact chris@ukifc.com

For more information on attending the event please visit http://www.globaldigitalbankinguae.com/

The Islamic Finance Council and Church of Scotland are co-hosting a private event in the House of Lords on Monday 24^th October.

Hosted by Lord Sheikh, the round table is the second in a series of 3 workshops that forms part of a joint venture between Islamic finance and the Church of Scotland (see BBC). This particular round table will be looking at the current ethical finance market and will pick up from the earlier round table held in Edinburgh. The event will be attended by around 30 senior representatives from the faith traditions and financial services sector including a number of peers / MPs, the CofE / CofS, international Shariah scholars, HRH Sanusi II and senior figures from Standard Life Investments, Arabesque, RBS, Charity Bank and RJ Fleming.

For further information on the shared values project please contact chris@ukifc.com

The Islamic Finance Council UK (IFC) and the International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) are delighted to announce details of their forthcoming Thematic Workshop taking place in London on Wednesday 26th October 2016. The event, entitled Is the Current Model of Shari’ah Governance Fit for Purpose?, will include the launch of the seminal External Shariah Audit Report.

Leading international scholars will partake in a live audience debate exploring current Shari’ah governance model including a review of the role of scholars, impairment, gaps and weaknesses in current structures. Perspectives from world leading scholars, including Sheikh Prof. Dr. Mohamed Ali Elgari (Saudi Arabia), Prof. Dr. Mohamad Akram Laldin (Malaysia) and Dr. Bashir Aliyu Umar (Nigeria) and Sheikh Haytham Tamim (UK), will be shared.

The seminal External Shariah Audit Report will be launched at the event. The report, underpinned by the insights shared by 30 exclusive in-depth interviews with regulators, auditors and financial institutions in Bahrain, Oman, Malaysia and Pakistan, reviews the development of international regulations and early implementation challenges for external shariah audit.

A regulators session, chaired by Stella Cox, with representatives from the Bank of England and State Bank of Pakistan, will explore challenges in regulating Shari’ah scholars.

The final session will be on individual ethics and reflecting on the public dismay towards bankers’ bonuses, rate fixing and miss-selling scandals in conventional banking markets will ask: are Islamic banks immune to such? and is it all about the fatwa? to what extent should Islamic bankers be individually and personally responsible? Views will be shared by a number of finance professionals including Sultan Choudhury (CEO, Al Rayan Bank Plc), Mohamad Noranuar Bin Sajari (Bank Nizwa) and Umer Suleman (HSBC).

The thematic workshop has attracted a world-class line-up of speakers whom will gather in London to share their views on key challenges facing the Islamic finance industry. The event, hosted by K&L Gates, is free of charge to attend subject to available spaces. Register now to secure your place at what promises to be a very interesting and engaging event.

Click HERE for further information and to register.