IFN OnAir

With significant growth being seen in new and alternative funding activities, Malaysia has an opportunity to create a competitive advantage. What does enhanced access for new Shariah compliant P2P and ECF operators and solutions mean for the digital finance marketplace, and what opportunities are available to retail investors? What sectors are prime beneficiaries for such investment and how do we ensure new sources of financing flow to the vital SME sector? What is on offer from private equity and venture capital, and how effective will new regulatory guidelines designed to increase access to private capital prove to be? Finally, what does the development and evolution of digital assets such as digital currencies, tokens and new forms of crowdfunding mean for the Islamic financial services sector in Southeast Asia?

Moderator:

Shabnam Mokhtar, Managing Director, SHAPE Knowledge Services

Panelists:

Elain Lockman, CEO and Co-Founder, Ata Plus
Hakan Ozyon, CEO, Hejaz Financial Services
Dr Wong Huei Ching, Executive Director, Digital Strategy and Innovation, Securities Commission Malaysia

Does Malaysia still enjoy a competitive advantage in the facilitation of ethically and socially responsible investment management? What strategic steps should be taken to grow Shariah compliant assets under management domestically? How do we assess the growing influence and potential offered by Waqf-featured funds such as REITs and ETFs? What is the continuing role of technology in the development of Shariah compliant investment management solutions, and is the sector successfully democratizing access for retail investors? How do systematic tilts in portfolio allocation from Shariah screening affect how ESG integration is approached, and how significant are initiatives such as the S&P ESG Shariah Indices? Lastly, how do fund and asset managers ensure effective liquidity risk management processes, and do managers require clarity on Shariah governance guidelines?

Moderator:

Vineeta Tan, Managing Editor and Director, Islamic Finance news

Panelists:

Ahmad Fuad Alhabshi, Executive Director, Halogen Capital
Dr Aishath Muneeza, Member, Board Shariah Committee, CIMB Islamic Bank
Amit Pathak, Director, Head of ESG Index Products for Asia Pacific, S&P Dow Jones Indices
Kaleon Leong, CEO, Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia

How does Malaysia fully leverage on its reputation as an international center for innovative Shariah compliant transactions and structured finance products? What is the potential for Islamic syndicated finance — distribution and the development of regional secondary markets? Do additional Tier 1 Sukuk still offer Islamic financial institutions the most flexible and efficient way of satisfying regulatory capital requirements? How do we ensure issuances continue to feature Islamic tranches, and that Islamic finance is a mainstream way of funding large projects? How do we capitalize on the rising significance of the Islamic pre-IPO, IPO, ECM and corporate finance markets? Finally, what is the continued importance of Waqf and Tawarruq within Islamic financial market structures, and how influential are alternatives such as Wakalah?

Moderator:

Elias Moubarak, Partner, Trowers & Hamlins

Panelists:

Basheer Ahmad, Listing Authority, Markets, Dubai Financial Services Authority
Dr Mohamad Zabidi Ahmad, Regional Chief Representative, DDCAP Group
Mohd Ekmal Mohd Zazi, Regional Head, Wholesale Banking, CIMB Islamic Bank
Mushtaq Kapasi, Managing Director, Chief Representative, Asia Pacific, International Capital Market Association

How will the design, development and distribution of digital Islamic financial services continue to evolve in the near term? How significant is continued transformation among the traditional providers of Islamic financial products? How important are financial regulators in creating an environment for the enhancement of the financial services sector’s digital infrastructure? How is the development of systems and software for Islamic financial institutions driving scale, integrity and efficiency? What are regional, scalable opportunities for digital Islamic financial offerings? How is technology helping provide banking products for underserved and untapped segments such as the young, SMEs and B2B markets? Is a banking model based on simpler, customer-centric services a reality?

Moderator:

Saujatya Guin, Country Director, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, Temenos

Panelists:

Dima Djani, Group CEO, Hijra
Jamaludin Bujang, Managing Partner (Malaysia), Gobi Partners
Mohammad Hafiz Jamaluddin, Head of Halal Integrated Platform, Halal Development Corporation (HDC)
Rafiza Ghazali, Director, Digital Banking, KAF Investment Bank

Malaysia’s top-down and ‘Islamic first’ strategy has been highly successful as Islamic financial services continue to flourish. What strategies at a governmental, regulatory and institutional level will maintain this success? Does the Islamic financial services sector face a structural imbalance, and how does this impact Islamic financial institutions? What do digital transformation strategies mean for the sector, and what is the ongoing influence of value-based intermediation? Where does Islamic finance play a role in the development of the Halal economy, and are Islamic financial institutions well positioned to serve the corporate and SME sectors? Does Islamic finance need to build appeal and maintain competitiveness in this segment? We ask an expert panel.

Moderator:

Nitish Bhojnagarwala, Senior Vice-President, Financial Institutions Group, Moody’s Investors Service

Panelists:

Ahmad Shahriman Mohd Shariff, CEO, CIMB Islamic Bank
Dr Bello Lawal Danbatta, Secretary-General, IFSB
Dr Hurriyah El Islamy, CEO and Founder, HGC Firm
Dr Rusni Hassan, Professor and Dean, IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IIiBF)

The past few years have seen some landmark deals and transactions in the Omani Islamic finance and Sukuk markets, and this trend can be expected to continue, Asad Qayyum, a managing partner at MAQ Legal, tells IFN's Nessreen Tamano in this podcast episode.

Ahmed Ali Al Maamari, Executive Vice-President, Capital Market Authority, Sultanate of Oman

• What represents a blueprint for advancing the transition to a low-carbon economy via effective stakeholder collaboration, regulation, resource allocation, positioning and product innovation in the Omani financial services sector?
• What are the implications for the Islamic sustainable financial services sector of the introduction of various regulatory taxonomies, frameworks and standards?
• How will new bond and Sukuk regulations, as part of the executive regulations to the Securities Law, accommodate and facilitate sustainable finance in Oman?
• What are current tax and operational cost incentive frameworks for the development of Islamic sustainable finance and investment products in Oman? Are they effective, and what more can be done?
• The juxtaposition facing the GCC: funding the hydrocarbon sector, while simultaneously developing a thriving green and sustainable finance sector
• Are we sufficiently capitalizing on the powerful synergies between sustainable finance and Islamic finance and how do we effectively position the sector?
• What are important criteria in the development of Islamic sustainable finance and investment products, and are we successfully developing products which satisfy both Shariah and ESG requirements?
• What approaches are large regional institutional investors taking to sustainable finance and investment, and what can be learnt from this?
• How do we fund clean energy, sustainable activities and social projects in Oman such through an effective, liquid Islamic capital market?
• How do we continue to measure impact from green and sustainable issuance? What tools are available for issuers and investors for this purpose?

Moderator:

Luma Saqqaf, CEO, Ajyal Sustainability Consulting

Panelists:

Asad Qayyum, Managing Partner, MAQ Legal Kemal Rizadi Arbi, Expert/Advisor, Capital Market Authority, Sultanate of Oman Khalid Al Kayed, CEO, Bank Nizwa Shahariah Shaharudin, President, Saturna Malaysia Talha Ahmed Khan, Country Manager and Head Global Investment Unit, Pak Oman Investment Company Thamer Al Shahry, Partner, Said Al Shahry & Partners

• Evaluating opportunities for crowdfunding in Oman, with nine current providers and potential amendments to crowdfunding legislation.
• Unique to Oman: new opportunities for private equity and venture capital players in the crowdfunding ecosystem.
• Implications and reach of the proposed new digital and virtual assets regulatory framework.
• Building a digital marketplace and ecosystem: tokenization, ICOs, regulation and Shariah principles.
• Potential developments for standalone Islamic digital banks in Oman.

Moderator:

Dr Muhammad Suhail Rizwan, Assistant Professor and Team Head: FinTech Professional Certificate, College of Banking and Financial Studies, Oman

Panelists:

Kemal Rizadi Arbi, Expert/Advisor, Capital Market Authority, Sultanate of Oman
Khalid Howladar, Chairman, MRHB DeFi
Dr Khalid Tahhan, Co-founder, Easy Coins
Mayan Al Asfoor, Country Manager, Beehive Oman
Saleh Al-Tamami, Co-Founder and CEO, Mamun

The Capital Market Authority of Oman is working on new and updated regulations for virtual assets and the bond and Sukuk markets of the Sultanate, advisor Kemal Rizadi Arbi tells IFN's Nessreen Tamano in this episode.