FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) February 1, 2009 -- [Dubai, United Arab Emirates] The financial crisis has widened the global appeal of Islamic finance as western governments and institutions attempt to tap into deposits from the Islamic world by courting Islamic Financial Institutions (IFI), which remain relatively unscathed by the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

IFIs comply with Sharia, or Islamic law. One of the fundamental principles is that it is forbidden to sell what you do not own. So unlike other banks around the world, IFIs did not trade bundles of sub-prime mortgages and therefore have no direct exposure to the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

In fact, finance that complies with Sharia now accounts for around $700 billion of assets and is growing at 10 to 30 percent a year, according to Moody’s Investors Services.

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There has never been a more opportune time to open the doors to Islamic finance and to drive the growth of the Islamic finance industry as a whole.

The International Quality & Productivity Center (IQPC) is pleased to announce a perfect platform for conventional and Islamic industry leaders to address key issues in today’s economic climate and carry out business vital to sustain growth.

Leaders in Islamic Finance 2009, a global summit taking place on 19-21 April 2009 in Doha, Qatar, will see prominent figures in the financial world gather to discuss the main challenges currently facing the Islamic finance industry.

Khalid Yousaf, Vice President, Investments and Capital Markets, Siraj Capital, and former attendee and speaker at

the 2008 summit in Istanbul, describes Leaders in Islamic Finance 2009 as “the ultimate meeting place for Sharia scholars, Islamic financial institution principals, ministers, governors and regulators.”

Chris Corander, Senior Conference Director at IQPC, explains “Islamic finance is an increasingly attractive prospect because it demonstrates good banking behaviour that has perhaps been lost in the last decade or so. Despite this, the industry still has problems of its own which need to be addressed in order to drive the Islamic finance industry forward.”

Two large problems that remain are the global standardisation of Islamic finance and the desperate need for innovation in terms of products and structures. Neither challenge can be addressed without the input of revered Sharia scholars, who sit on a vast number of advisory boards for IFIs and determine what is and what is not Sharia-compliant.

Chris adds “This is why we have acquired the services of seven world-renowned scholars at Leaders in Islamic Finance 2009, who will take part in forums, roundtables and panel sessions throughout the main two-day summit. There will also be a full-day workshop led by Dar Al Sharia, a subsidiary of Dubai Islamic Bank, which is guided by the distinguished Sharia scholar Dr. Hussain Hamed Hassan.”