Emerald journal news

Islamic finance in a changing world - Abu Dhabi, October 14th-16th 2012

Keynote speakers

Professor Fouad H. Beseiso ‘Regulation of the Islamic Finance Sector’
 
Professor Fouad H. Beseiso is a former Central Bank Governor and Minister. He currently performs as a Senior Economic Regional Consultant and Academician. With an accumulated monetary, financial and economic proficiency supported by 40 years of gained experience in the fields of Jordanian, Omani, Palestinian, Regional and International Banking, Finance and Economic Development.  In 1994 was appointed as the first Governor and Founder of Palestinian Monterey Authority (PMA) and fulfilled this mission for seven years (1995- 2002).
 
Dr. M. Kabir Hassan, Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Department, University of New Orleans ‘Is Islamic Finance a solution to the Global Financial Crisis?’

At the University of New Orleans since 1990, Dr. Hassan is a financial economist with teaching, research and consulting experiences in financial markets and institutions, corporate finance, applied economics and development finance. He has published over 30 articles in refereed academic journals such as Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Financial Services Research, Applied Financial Economics, and Atlantic Economic Journal), and presented numerous papers in professional meetings in many parts of the world. Dr. Hassan has received many awards and recognition for his outstanding teaching and research performances. He has received a number of research grants to conduct research in international trade, banking and finance areas.

Conference Theme
The prime theme of this event will be the impact of the recent rapid changes on the Islamic finance sector in all pertinent aspects. The Conference will consider the spectacular political and socio-economic developments that we have been witnessing and their probable effects on the performance and future position of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs), the regulatory set-ups, and popularity of Islamic products being offered to the public, governments and business firms.

The Conference is being organized by Emerald Group Publishing, the world’s leading scholarly publisher of journals and books on business and management. Over 220 academic journals are currently published by Emerald, covering some 24 managerial disciplines, in addition to a strong and growing presence in other related fields such as LIS, social sciences, and engineering.

This Conference follows on the success of the Global Islamic Marketing Conference held in Dubai over the period 20-22 March 2011, organized by Emerald in association with the United Arab Emirates University.

Conference Objective
The chief objective of the forthcoming Conference is to assess the future of this sector, taking note of the historic events that have been unfolding in the world generally, and, more particularly, in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Matters relating to government policy, raising new finance, regulation, Sharia-compliant financial instruments, corporate performance, and acceptability of Islamic products will be analysed and discussed in depth.

The proceedings of this Conference should arouse strong interest from both academics and practitioners who are concerned with various sub-sectors of the Islamic-finance industry, including government officials, regulators, bankers, investment analysts/managers, stock-market specialists and others. The heavy accent of the papers and discussions will be on prevailing events and their anticipated consequences. All this should enlighten and inform decision-makers in various economic sectors around the globe, who need to know about the future of this major and growing part of global finance.

Focus Areas
On this basis, papers (including case situations) are invited primarily (though not exclusively) on the following seven focus areas:

• Islamic finance and socio-economic development. Frequently, IFIs are criticized for their limited contribution to the development of majority-Muslim nations and other communities where they function around the world. How can this critical issue be examined, and to what extent can this claim be supported by hard analysis? Can Islamic finance assist with poverty alleviation? Also, can a link be established with the micro-finance movement?

• Performance of Islamic financial institutions. How do IFIs compare with their conventional counterparts, in terms of survival in the face of financial crises and economic fluctuations? Also, how do they fare in terms of actual performance? What measures are suitable to be employed in this connection (e.g. profitability, growth, product innovations, expansion etc.)?

• Islamic finance and the new geopolitical realities. Issues here relate to the repercussions of changes in the political landscape on government policies, including those in the economic and business areas and in particular as they influence the health and growth of the Islamic finance sector. Are there likely to be any consequences on sovereign wealth funds, in terms of their size, investment strategies or management models?

• Islamic finance and the global financial crisis. How has this crisis affected IFIs and the national economics of the MENA region? Also, have the acute problems faced by some Eurozone countries, as well as the spiralling US debt mountain, impacted on the Islamic finance sector and MENA economies? With regard to corporate performance, has the global crisis since 2007/8 affected IFIs and conventional financial institutions to the same extent?

• Variety of Islamic financial products. What changes are currently taking place in the types of financial products provided by IFIs? These product categories include property mortgages, current accounts, investment accounts, personal investment portfolios, takaful products, and many others. Can we expect significant shifts in the relative importance of these products? Also, should we expect innovation of new products? What changes might occur in the use of Islamic instruments to fund specific projects?

• Regulation of the Islamic finance sector. How effective is the current regulatory framework by national central banks and multilateral bodies? Taking into account the latest institutional and political developments, what adjustments on this set-up might be deemed appropriate?

• Non-Banking Islamic financial institutions. What is the role and importance of this sub-sector? How can we assess its performance? Also, how can relevant concepts (e.g. waqf, takaful, and micro-finance) be incorporated into this sub-sector as well as the wider Islamic-finance sector more generally?

Conference Chairs
• Dr Kadom Shubber, MECI Ltd, UK
• Professor David Weir, University Campus Suffolk and Affiliate Professor ESC Rennes, UK
• Dr M. Kabir Hassan, University of New Orleans, USA

Programme Committee
• M Iqbal Asaria , Associate, Afkar Consulting Ltd, UK
• Dr Michel Henry Bouchet, SKEMA Business School, France
• Dr Arief Daynes, Portsmouth Business School, UK
• Mrs Deborah Regal, Working With Culture Limited, UK
• Professor Barry Rider, Counsel, Bryan Cave LLP, UK

For more information about attending or sponsoring the event, go to www.islamicandmiddleeasternfinance.com  or contact IIFC@emeraldinsight.com.