IFN OnAir

Chung Chee Leong, president/CEO of Cagamas, sits down with Vineeta Tan to discuss the national mortgage corporation's plan to support Malaysia’s sustainability ambitions as well as the critical role (Islamic) financial institutions play in driving the agenda forward.  

What are the global investment flows and trends that continue to influence the deployment of Shariah compliant capital in north America today? What are recent significant developments in north American Shariah compliant private equity, and can we identify potential targets for private equity investment in the US market? What are the latest opportunities and demands for Shariah compliant direct investment into north American real estate markets? How significant is the private placement market in the North American Shariah compliant investment landscape? What structures are being employed to facilitate Shariah compliant investments in north America, and what investment types and asset classes are in favour? Can we identify geopolitical events, international developments and transactions that may influence future investment trends, and what are other potential areas for the deployment of Shariah compliant capital in the north American market? We seek the views of an expert panel.

Malaysia has seen a surge of Islamic peer-to-peer (P2P) finance service providers in the last 12 months. One of the latest entrants is Funding Societies. Vineta Tan speaks to Chai Kien Poon, the Malaysian country head for the P2P financier, to understand both its Islamic finance as well as neobanking ambitions. 

As we move into the tail end of 2022, we are globally facing an increasing number of climate- related challenges, from the devastating floods in Pakistan to the looming energy crisis in Europe. ISFI speaks to Marcel Omar Papp, the Head of Swiss Re Retakaful Malaysia, to learn more about how sustainability risk impacts Takaful and re-Takaful operators.

The Securities Commission Malaysia launched the Sustainable and Responsible Investment linked Sukuk Framework on the 30th June 2022 as an extension of its initiatives under the SRI Roadmap to facilitate fundraising by companies in addressing sustainability concerns. We are joined by Sharifatul Hanizah Said Ali, the executive director of Islamic capital market development at the SC, to learn more about this framework. 

There are many opportunities to build better tools to support the Islamic investor in their personal finance journay, says Saad Malik, the CEO and co-founder of Halal stock screening app Zoya, in this week’s episode of IFN Podcast, with news editor Nessreen Tamano.

CIMB Islamic Bank recently entered into a RM1 billion (US$224.74 million) sustainable collateralized commodity Murabahah (CCM) transaction with Standard Chartered Saadiq Malaysia. We spoke to Ahmad Shahriman Mohd Shariff, CEO of CIMB Islamic, on the back of this landmark deal to understand its structure and significance. 

With soaring inflation compelling the government to raise interest rates, yet unemployment at historic lows, Australia finds itself in a rather unique predicament. Vineeta Tan speaks to Muzzammil Dhedhy, the COO of Hejaz Financial Services, to find out how such macroeconomic conditions are impacting Islamic financial activities in Australia.

The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) launched the QFC Sustainable Sukuk and Bonds Framework in March 2022. The framework is part of the financial center’s efforts to develop Qatar’s debt capital market, which seeks to emulate the success of the Malaysian capital market. We speak to Aymane Doukali, the head of Islamic and structured finance at QFC, about how the framework will impact sustainable issuances in the region.

General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI) launched its Sustainability Guide for Islamic Financial Institutions on the 12th May 2022, following the issuance of its corresponding consultative document in March. 

In this episode, we speak to Dr Abdelilah Belatik, the secretary general at CIBAFI, about how the sustainability guide will impact Islamic financial institutions.