The Certificate in Risk Management for Islamic Financial Institutions
The Global Association of Risk Professionals and the Banque du Liban recently announced the development of a new program, the Certificate in Risk Management for Islamic Financial Institutions.
The explosive growth in, and increasing sophistication of Islamic financial products has created the need for standards and guidelines for sound risk management approaches analyzing these financial instruments.
The Certificate is expected to be available in 4Q 2008.
This marks an important milestone for Islamic Finance.
Islamic Finance
The holistic approach to life Islam requires of individuals also affects their approach to business and financial activities. The basic tenets of Sharia’a, the part of Islamic Law that covers practices and activities, dictate that investors cannot engage in transactions that are speculative, pay interest or involve contractual uncertainty.
Globalization of the financial markets and increased wealth in Islamic regions have accelerated the trend of Islamic banking and specialized products that are Sharia’a-compliant.
Development of the Certificate program is being overseen by an Advisory Oversight Committee which consists of leading Islamic finance and risk management experts and scholars from around the world:
| Name | Position | Company |
| Dr. Anthony Saunders | Professor of Finance | New York University |
| Dr. Ahmad Jachi | First Vice-Governor | Banque du Libon |
| V. Sundararajan | Director & Head of Financial Practice | Centennial Group |
| Mahmoud El-Gamal | Chair of Islamic Economics, Finance and Management | Rice University |
| Sohail Jaffer | Managing Director | Premium Select Lux S.A. |
| Jean-Marc Riegel | General Manager Investment Banking & Development Group | Qatar Islamic Bank |
| Anuouar Hassoune | Associate Financial Institutions | Standard and Poor’s |
| Noor ur Rahman Abid | Managing Partner, Head Middle East | Ernest & Young |
| Prof. Jaap Spronk | Vice-Dean, International New Business Development | Erasmu University of Rotterdam |
| Audion de Laromiguiere | Director, Corporate Risk Advisory, Middle East | Barclays Bank |
| Dr. Amine Awad | Executive Director, Member Higher Banking Council | Banque du Liban |
| Dr. Assem Safieddine | CFA Society Chairman | CFA Society |
| Dr. Christopher Donohue | Managing Director | Global Association of Risk Professionals |
| Kenneth Abbott | Managing Director | Morgan Stanley |
| Robert Scanlon | MD, Chief Risk Officer, Wholesale Bank | Standard Chartered |
| Usman Ahmed | Deputy CEO, Global Islamic Banking | Citibank |
| Nadir Sarela | Director, Risk Management | Citibank |
| Ghassan Chammas | Banque du Liban | |
| Dr. Lina El-Jahel | Tanaka Business School | |
| Fawad Laique | Partner, Financial Services | Ernst & Young |
| William Martin | Chief Risk Officer | Columbia Management Group, Bank of America |
| Youssef Nizam | Citibank NA UA | |
| Nabeel Shoaib | Global Head | HSBC Amanh |
| Sami Suwailem | Islamic Research and Training Institute | |
| Richard Apostolik | President and CEO | GARP |
| Recep Bildik | Senior Researcher | GARP |
The expertise in Islamic Finance offered by the Advisory Oversight Committee’s members combined with GARP’s proficiency in creating globally accepted standards on risk management methodologies will result in a benchmark approach to assessing and measuring the financial risks associated with Sharia’a-compliant financial products.
Who will The Certificate in Risk Management for Islamic Financial Institutions primarily benefit?
The Certificate in Risk Management for Islamic Financial Institutions is being developed for those who are pursuing careers in institutions who deal in Sharia’a-compliant financial products and for those staff members in any financial institution who have a need to understand and incorporate Sharia’a approaches and methodologies into their risk management or business strategies.
The Certificate in Risk Management for Islamic Financial Institutions will be first offered in late 2008. For any further questions please contact Dr. Recep Bildik at Recep.Bildik@garp.com