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Agenda Day One

MAIN CONFERENCE DAY ONE, Wednesday, October 22, 2008
8:00 - 8:45
Registration and Morning Coffee
8:45 - 9:00
Chairman’s Remarks

Mr. Tariq Al-Rifai, Vice President, UIB CAPITAL
9:00 - 9:40
Ethics, Regulation and Value
London Exclusive – Building a Framework to Boost International Islamic Banks and Investment into Europe
Economic opportunities generated by four established Islamic banks in London have given bankers, financiers and regulators cause to examine the UK’s approach to creating regulation and oversight to boost Islamic Finance.
  • What changes in Islamic finance regulation in the UK since 2007 have boosted the Islamic banking industry?
  • What lies ahead for UK Islamic banking and what are the current points of discussion among regulators and the commercial and institutional sectors?
  • Forecasting results from a new tax regime for Sukuk bonds and Islamic securitization and building the study group process to increase efficiency in regulation
  • Where have risk management and compliance with Basel II in Islamic banks generated success and what needs to be addressed?

Mr. Phelan Hill, Head – Islamic Finance Tax Policy, HM TREASURY, UNITED KINGDOM
9:40 - 10:20
Tracking the Growth in Shariah Advisory Market Discipline to Increase Trust in the Islamic Investment Industry
  • Creating a global model for Shariah advisory to standardize Islamic investment practices
  • Refining communication strategies between Shariah advisors and global regulatory agencies to facilitate growth in the Islamic finance industry
  • Matching market discipline with rules-based accounting approaches in established markets to ensure trust in a global financial industry
  • Setting up strong models of Islamic finance to increase transparency and ensure efficient deal flows

Q & A Session: Shariah advisors and economists answer audience questions, reflecting on how current market conditions inform shariah advisory discipline and standardization for investment.

Moderator:
Mr. Richard Debs, Chairman Emeritus – US-SAUDI ARABIA BUSINESS COUNCIL; Founding President, MORGAN STANLEY INTERNATIONAL
Mufti Dr. Mohammad Zubair Usmani, Shariah Scholar, MCB BANK
Dr. Humayon Dar, BMP ISLAMIC
Fahad Al-Zumai, Manager of Legal Affairs and Shariah Compliance, Bank of the Middle East and London, PLC
Ms. Nouran Z. Youssef, Research Analyst--Public Debt Management, Ministry of Finance, EGYPT
10:20 - 10:50
Morning Refreshments
10:50 - 11:30
Takaful and Retakaful
Using retakaful as a successful long-term capitalization strategy for retail and institutional investors
  • Preparing to develop a stringent risk-based regulatory regime for Islamic re-insurance
  • Identifying general retakaful products and understanding fire/property retakaful and other subcategories of retakaful
  • Understanding the operational mechanisms of general retakaful
  • Identifying strategies and prospects to accelerate retakaful operations and services

Mr. Tobias Frenz, Managing Director, FAMILY RETAKAFUL, MUNICH RE
11.30 – 12.00
How are global insurance providers generating takaful arms and effectively advocating for the managing of risks & ratings for takaful operators?
  • Analyzing the importance of ratings in the development of the takaful industry globally and in North America
  • Assessing the rating process for takaful companies
  • Takaful underwriting and overcoming risk management challenges
  • Managing risks in takaful funds: the capital approach; surplus to the capital and capital assessment

Mr. David Jordan, Senior Vice President, LEXINGTON INSURANCE – subsidiary of AIG Worldwide, and COO, RISK SPECIALISTS COMPANIES
12:00 - 1:00
Lunch
1:00 - 1:40

Islamic Funds

Developing a shariah-compliant asset management company: Lessons in Islamic structuring of funds and other financial products
  • Structuring an Islamic ETF backed by gold; Islamic commodities trading; Islamic stock exchange compliance
  • Creating Islamic funds that attract a global investor class
  • How does an Islamic asset management company backed by a sovereign operate – who forms investment strategies?
  • Sharpening the potential for Islamic asset management for non-Muslim institutional investing; a global forecast

Mr. Eric Meyer, CEO, SHARIAH CAPITAL
1:40 - 2:20
Trend-spotting investment in global shariah instruments to secure and expand a global Islamic funds industry
  • Broadening the Islamic funds portfolio to expand investment opportunity and to secure a global investor audience
  • Examining what funds exist and which of these funds produce effective and attractive returns
  • How funds effectively manage risk and increase global exposure
  • Documenting the most inexpensive routes to starting and maintaining an Islamic fund in line with market discipline and faith-based principles

Mr. Tariq al-Rifai, Vice President, UIB CAPITAL
2:20 - 3:00
Business Card Exchange and Speed Networking
Bring extra business cards to this event! Introduce yourself to your colleagues and potential partners in the industry. This round will be a speed networking event that facilitates introductions to as many people in the industry as possible. So, come prepared to shake hands, swap stories and take names.
3:00 - 3:40
Structures and Financial Instruments
Utilizing Hedging Tools in Islamic Derivatives Trading to Manage Institutional and Portfolio Risk
  • Hedge against interest rate variations in the Islamic markets by implementing profit rate swaps
  • Learn how Islamic institutions face exactly the same currency risks that conventional market faces in currency exposures; using currency swaps to cover temporary need for a foreign currency between both parties
  • Using forward FX in Islamic derivatives to hedge against future fluctuations in exchange rates; without forward FX they will be subject to exchange rate changes that might increase their cost of getting such foreign currency in the future
  • A Shariah compliant ISDA standard practice will address challenges in Islamic derivatives, leading to a substantial growth similar to how ISDA initiatives influenced the conventional derivative market in netting>
Fahad Al-Zumai, Manager of Legal Affairs and Shariah Compliance, Bank of the Middle East and London, PLC
3:40 - 4:45
Vision Roundtable – Structures in Islamic finance that enhance margins and produce relief for a distressed global market
  • Packaging distressed assets into sukuk and profiting from immersion in a global Islamic capital market
  • What assets are primed for Islamic securitization and debt relief?
  • What is the potential for mergers and acquisitions in this environment?
  • Do Islamic investors need to be worried about CFIUS changes lowering the gradient for oversight?

Moderator:
Michael McMillen, Chair, Islamic Legal Forum, AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, Partner and Head of Islamic and OIC Jurisdictions Finance and Investments Practice, FULBRIGHT & JAWORSKI
Mr. Richard Ho, Head of Fund-Linked Derivatives, BARCLAYS BANK
Mr. Andreas Junius, Partner, DECHERT
Mr. Shafiq Jadavji, Director – Trust & Securities Services, DEUTSCHE BANK
Mr. Naveed Siddiqui, CEO, ZAYAN FINANCE
4:45 - 5:00
Closing Remarks - End of Day One

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  • UIB Capital

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