AAOIFI

Magomet Isaevich Yandiev has been worked at the Faculty of Economics
of Lomonosov Moscow State University since 1996, Phd in Finance, Аssociate Professor. He specializes in topics related to financial markets. He is the author of many publications on Islamic finance (http:/ssrn.com/author=1278584), the author of the course "Fundamentals of Islamic Finance" for senior officials of the Central Bank of Russia and the course "Fundamentals of Islamic Finance" for students of Russian and German universities. Member of the Working Group on Islamic Finance at the Bank of Russia.

Elected as a deputy to the Moscow City Duma in September 2019, he leads the Fair Russia party in the Moscow City Duma.

Dr. Al-Suwailem is currently Acting Director General of the Islamic
Development Bank Institute (IsDBI), the Islamic Development Bank Group,
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Before joining IRTI in 2004, Dr. Al-Suwailem managed the Research and
Development Center at Al-Rajhi Bank, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He worked at the
Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, Virginia; Southern Illinois
University Carbondale, Illinois, USA; and King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia.

Dr. Al-Suwailem held membership in several professional committees,
including the Technical Committee of the Islamic Financial Services Board;
Economic Committee of Awqaf at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs in Riyadh;
Academic Committee in Islamic Fiqh Academy of Muslim World League;
Liquidity Risk Management Working Group at IFSB; and Task Force for Islamic
Finance and Global Financial Stability at IsDB, among others.
He obtained his M.A. from Southern Illinois University in 1990, and his Ph.D.
from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, in 1995. He authored many
books and published several papers on Islamic economics and finance

With more than two decades of experience in international tax, Roustam Vakhitov stands out as an esteemed expert in cross-border tax planning and the tax structuring aspects of Islamic finance, as well as application of Artificial Intelligence in business processes. In his role as the Associated International Tax Partner at Crowe Kazakhstan, he specializes in the international tax implications of Islamic finance operations, with a specific focus on Islamic Fintech in Europe and the CIS region.

Akeem Oyewale started his education with a solid foundation at Adeola Model School, Offa. He then proceeded to Offa Grammar school where he finished up as a Distinction student.
Akeem holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Accounting from the University of Lagos, an MBA from Manchester Business School, United Kingdom, and Doctorate Degree in Management of Technology and Innovation from Da Vinci Institute, South Africa. He is an alumnus of the Said Business School, University of Oxford and certified Impact Investing Expert from the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town. He also has a Professional Certificate in Islamic Capital Markets from INCEIF Malaysia.
Dr Akeem Oyewale, an Arthur Anderson scholar, has over 20 years of extensive experience in Investment Banking, Credit Marketing, Trade Finance, and Sustainable Finance. He managed the Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund, Nigeria’s largest mutual fund at the time, and was responsible for the launch of the Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria. He is also an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria. He was previously the CEO of Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited (Nigeria’s largest stockbroking firm), Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited and Stanbic IBTC Nominees Limited, all of the Standard Bank Group.
Dr Akeem Oyewale is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Marble Capital Limited, and a Member of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) Financial Literacy Technical Committee. Under his leadership, Marble Capital Limited launched the first ever Commodities Fund (The Marble Halal Commodities Fund-MHCF) and (The Marble Halal Fixed Income Fund- MHFIF).

Dr. Farrukh Habib is an expert in Islamic fintech with over 9 years of experience. As Co-Founder of Alif Technologies (Dubai) and Shariah Experts (London), he focuses on Islamic fintech and the halal digital economy, including blockchain, fintech, and shariah compliance. He is currently involved in various crypto and Defi projects.

In addition, Dr. Habib has a keen interest in the intersection of Shariah, finance, technology, and sustainability. He believes that this trend is critical for achieving shared prosperity and a better future for all.

Previously, Dr. Habib was a Researcher and Advisor at ISRA, a distinguished Islamic finance research institute under the Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM). His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Islamic Finance from INCEIF, Malaysia, an MSc in Banking and Finance from Queen Mary, University of London, UK, and a bachelor and master's in economics from the University of Karachi, Pakistan. He also completed an extensive 8-year Islamic studies course and also completed memorization of the complete Holy Quran at an early age.

Professor Dr. M. Kabir Hassan is a Professor of Finance in the Department of Economics and Finance at the University of New Orleans, where he holds four endowed Academic Chairs. Professor Hassan won the 2016 Islamic Development Bank Prize in Islamic Banking and Finance. He has over 550 papers published/forthcoming in refereed academic journals. He is among the top 5% of authors according to Journal pages at RePAC/IDEAS. Professor Hassan has been cited as 2% of top scholars in the world in a study published by Standford University in 2022. Professor Hassan is the 2019 recipient of the University of Louisiana System Outstanding Educator, the 2019 UNO Life-long Research Achievement Award, and the 2018 UNO Nick Mueller International Leadership Medallion Winner. Professor Hassan is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, a Web of science indexed publication. Professor Hassan is a board member of AAOIFI Ethics and Governance Board and has been recently elected as the Chairman of AAOIFI Education Board. Professor Hassan is a Fulbright Scholar for 2023.

Dr. Yahia was born in Cairo, Egypt and immigrated to the US in 1968. He studied Chemical Engineering (M.S. & Ph.D., U. Of Wisconsin, Madison, 1971) and International Finance (MA, U. Of Texas, Dallas, 1976 – Monetary Theory.)

He authored two books and many patents. The most recent book is an Amazon.com best-seller and was published by Wiley in January 2010: The Art of Islamic Banking and Finance and one of the top 10% best sellers on Amazon list in its category. Two printings were sold out and a new Second Edition was published as a Textbook in November 2014. It was translated to Turkish in 2016. The book is taught at Regents Univ. in S. Africa, Nazarbayev U, in Kazakhstan and is a reference book at many US major universities.

Dr. Yahia spent 15 years in the Oil Industry in Production, Engineering, Corporate Strategic Planning and Finance in a major American Oil Company and refineries.

He was a member of the team that started the Industrial Bank of Kuwait (1974-1975.) In 1984-1986 he returned to help restructure it. His group started banks in Houston, Texas (1982) and LARIBA Bank of Kazakhstan, Almaty (1994.), the FIRST Islamic Mortgage and Commercial Community Bank in Kazakhstan’s History.

He invested 18 years (1986 – 2003) in the investment banking industry with CitiGroup / Smith Barney where he started (1988), developed the Shari’aa compliant stock screening guidelines with eminent scholars and managed the first ever Shari’aa compliant stock portfolio ($250 million) that achieved superior performance.

Dr. Yahia is known as the Father of Islamic banking in North America. He started LARIBA in 1987. Now, and since 1998, the shareholders also own the first full- service RF (Riba-Free) National Bank in America: LARIBA Bank of Whittier, NA. The LARIBA effort – capital – is from the American community. LARIBA and LARIBA Bank of Whittier have proven that RF (Riba-Free) banking delivers superior results as it was tested in the 2008 financial and monetary meltdown. He participated in the Start Up and Development of the Islamic Banking Industry in Malaysia, the pioneering Royal Award in Islamic Banking and served as a member of a prestigious jury to elect the best Islamic Banker in the world to receive the Global Royal Award in Islamic Finance in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016.

He is a prolific speaker, lecturer and author of papers on RF (Riba-Free) finance throughout the world. He developed a unique RF (Riba Free) Finance Model based on the Sunnah pf Prophet Muhammad (S) using a unique sales model call “Sale of title with the exception of Usufruct – Bai ul Istithnaa”. Please visit: www.LARIBA.com and www.WhittierBank.com.

Dr. Yahia taught his book in an Islamic Banking Course at Nur Sultan Nazarbayev in Astana, University in Kazakhstan, and in Regent University in Durbin, South Africa (2015). He lectured at most of the top US-based Universities like: Harvard, NYU, Univ of Wisconsin, Johns Hopkins U., Istanbul Zaim University, INCEIF in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore Management University, International Islamic University in Malaysia IIUM, Pakistan Universities in Karachi and Lahore, Cambridge, Oxford and London School of Economics to name a few. Dr. Yahia presented his book at all the above in addition to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Argentina, Germany, Switzerland, and France. Dr. Yahia presented Participatory (Islamic) Banking in India and spoke as a guest scholar at the Indian Parliament about Islamic Community Banking in America.
Dr. Yahia is a distinguished Imam and Community leader in North America. He was honored by Allah to participate in developing the masajid and schools’ infrastructure in the USA & Canada. He was the co-founder and Chairman of the Shura Council of S. California which is the umbrella organization of over 75 Centers and Islamic Service organizations in S. California. He and his wife Dr. Magda participated in the start-up and operation of many Islamic Centers and Schools in the US and Canada
He was an invited Jum’aa Imam in most US cities, Canada, India, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad-Tobago, Turkey and the UK.

Hussein Mogaibel, Manager Economic Infrastructure, Islamic Development Bank. Hussein is supervising energy, transport, urban development, and ICT sectors at the Bank. He supervises the development of sectors policies, strategies, as well as general supervision for the Bank’s portfolio of projects in these sectors, in addition to creating of sector-related partnerships. He used to work as Global Lead Energy Specialist managing energy portfolio in more than 30 countries including Arab, Asian and African Countries. He led the due diligence of large numbers of energy sector projects and assess the Bank’ contribution to their finance.

Professor Habib Ahmed is Sharjah Chair in Islamic Law & Finance at Durham University Business School, a Fellow (Honorary) at the Cambridge Judge Business School and Member, Board of Trustees at NZF Worldwide, UK. Prior to joining Durham University in 2008, he worked at the National Commercial Bank and Islamic Development Bank Group (IRTI) in Saudi Arabia. He has also taught at University of Connecticut (USA), National University of Singapore, University of Bahrain and worked as Visiting Professor at Hamad bin Khalifa University, Qatar and International Islamic University Indonesia. Prof Ahmed has also worked as consultant for several international organizations such as United Nations, UNDP, World Bank, Islamic Development Bank Institute, Islamic Financial Services Board, ICD, COMCEC and CIBAFI. He has authored/edited more than 100 scholarly publications, which include articles in international refereed journals, books, chapters in books, and other academic papers/monographs/reports. Prof. Ahmed was awarded IsDB Prize for Impactful Achievement in Islamic Economics (First Prize) in 2022 for his contributions to applied research in Islamic economics and finance.

Datuk Prof. Dr. Mohamad Akram is currently the CEO of ISRA Consulting (a company wholly owned by INCEIF University) and Professor at INCEIF University. Prior to joining ISRA he was an Assistant Professor at the Kulliyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM). In the period 2002-2004, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

At present, he is the Member of Bank Negara Malaysia Shari’ah Advisory Council, Chairman of Shari’ah Board of Employees Provident Fund Malaysia (EPF), Member of Internal Shariah Supervisory Committee, Dubai Islamic Bank, Member of Shariah Advisory Council International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM),Bahrain, and other boards locally a

Prof. Akram holds a B.A. Honours degree in Islamic Jurisprudence and Legislation from the University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan and a Ph.D. in Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh) from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Lilian Le Falher has more than 25 years’ experience of Investment Banking. He is an Executive Manager of Kuwait Finance House, Bahrain, heading Treasury, Financial Institutions and Capital Markets. As representative of KFH Group, he is a board member of the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) and he is the chairman of its Executive Committee. He has contributed to the development of various Shari’ah-compliant structured products and investment schemes.

Prior to joining KFH Group in 2005, Lilian spent 8 years with BNP Paribas in Europe and the Middle East. He ended his duty at BNPP as Head of Investment Products for the Middle East region, dealing extensively in Equity, Bonds and Structured Products.

Lilian Le Falher holds a Masters in Banking and Finance from Toulouse Business School (France) and he is a CFA Charter holder.

Farrukh enjoys 19 years of extensive and diverse experience in Islamic finance industry. His contribution involves leading Islamic finance projects across 63 different jurisdictions that include policy level advisory to the governments of more than 35 countries across 4 continents, building the infrastructure for Islamic finance, and playing key roles in launching ground-breaking Islamic finance operations across several jurisdictions including the UK and France. He led IFAAS team in various high-profile projects funded by Islamic Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, International Finance Corporation and UK Government’s Department for International Development among others, establishing Islamic finance Masterplans, strategic blueprints and roadmaps, regulatory and governance frameworks for several countries including Indonesia, Kenya, Morocco, West African Economic & Monetary Union of 8 countries, CIS countries, Pakistan, Philippines and many more. He is actively contributing towards the industry’s thought-leadership through his work with the international standard-setting bodies, pushing Islamic finance to a higher degree of Shariah compliance, professionalism and inclusiveness. His latest venture is in FinTech space where he has co-founded IFIN, and PayDay Takaful, digital solutions for Islamic finance industry.

Saif Shawqi works as an Associate Director in the Islamic Finance Group at Fitch Ratings. Based in
Dubai, his role focuses mainly on rating new as well as existing Islamic finance entities and
transactions. He also monitors the credit developments affecting the Islamic finance industry and
supports the team on research pieces across a range of industry-relevant topics.
Prior to joining Fitch, Saif worked at Al Baraka Banking Group in Bahrain as the Head of Section- Credit
& Risk Management, where he was responsible for the credit analysis of financial institutions &
sovereigns in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. Saif is a CFA charter holder and holds a
bachelor’s degree in banking & finance from the University of Bahrain

Mian Nazir is a Senior Vice President and Head of Internal Sharia Control of Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC and a member of the Sharia Committee of Dar Al Sharia, the world’s leading Islamic finance advisory firm.

He is acclaimed for his immense contribution to the growth of Islamic banking and finance industry through the cutting-edge solutions.

Mian Nazir serves as a member of the Sharia governance boards of various Islamic finance institutions in the GCC, South Asia and East Africa. He holds a master degree in Commercial Law from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, LLB (Hons) Sharia and Law degree from International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan and attended various leadership programs from leading universities.

Faizan Ahmed – CIFP, CIPA, CSAA – is a dis3nguished and dynamic professional in
the field of Fintech, Islamic Banking, and Finance, with a strong track record and
a rich tapestry of qualifica3ons and experiences. His exper3se is rooted in a solid
educa3onal founda3on and a career that spans over 22 years.
In addi3on to his profound knowledge of Islamic banking and finance, he has expanded his skill
set with cer3fica3ons in Artificial Intelligence Founda3ons for Business, Machine Learning, and
Finance Industry Transforma3on. These addi3onal qualifica3ons posi3on him at the intersec3on
of financial exper3se and technological innova3on.
Currently, he serves as the Chief Finance Officer and a member of the Board of Directors at Trust
Bank Amanah – Suriname, South America. Previously, he held execu3ve-level posi3ons in
various banks within the South Asian region

Dr. Walid Hegazy has over 30 years of experience in representing and advising clients on
transactions and disputes involving the commercial laws and regulations of many Middle East
countries, including: Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Libya.
His main areas of expertise include Islamic banking and finance, project financing, corporate
restructuring and corporate governance.
Dr. Hegazy has S.J.D. (Doctor of Juridical Science) and LL.M. degrees from Harvard Law
School.
In 2011, Dr. Hegazy was named to the "Leading Lawyer 50" in the area of Islamic Finance by
Lawyer Monthly Magazine.
In 2015, he was selected for the Board of Ethics of the Accounting and Auditing Organization
for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), the leading standards-setting body for Islamic
banks.
Dr. Hegazy is the co-founder and secretary general of the Egyptian Islamic Finance
Association.

Irshad is the Audit & Assurance Business Leader for Deloitte Bahrain in addition to his role as the Islamic Finance Leader for Deloitte Middle East. He possesses over 30 years of professional experience and has a strong track record in leading internal and external audits of large multinational groups in diverse industry sectors.

Prior to joining Deloitte, Irshad was an audit and assurance partner with PwC Bahrain. The depth of Irshad’s expertise in the industry is underpinned by his hands-on experience of leading financial reporting and tax functions at Samba Financial Group in Saudi Arabia, and Etisalat - UAE.

Irshad is a member of important regulatory committees such as the Accounting Board at the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institution (AAOIFI), where he also serves on the Technical Accounting and Interpretation Committee (TAIC) and Independent Shari'a Audit Committee of the Waqf Fund - Central Bank of Bahrain.

Irshad is the Chairman of the AAOIFI Takaful Accounting Standards Group and serves on the Editorial Board of Journal of Islamic Financial Accounting (JOIFA) issued by AAOIFI. He is a Deputy Convener at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) Takaful accounting standards committee.

As a Chartered Accountant from the ICAEW and the ICAP and Chartered Management Accountant from the ICMAP, Irshad brings a wealth of experience to the industry to benefit clients across Asia, Middle East and globally.

Dr. Bello Lawal Danbatta was appointed the Secretary-General of the IFSB effective 29
January 2018.
Dr. Danbatta, previously the Director of the Centre of Consultancy and Executive Programmes
at INCEIF, has over 29 years combined experience in the private, academia, as well as in the
financial services regulation and supervision sectors across Africa, Europe, Asia and the
Middle East. He is a Member of the Accounting and Auditing Board of Accounting and Auditing
Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), the Basel Consultative Group (BCG),
the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA), the International Auditing
and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and has chaired various working groups for the
issuance of financial accounting standards for Islamic financial institutions. He has also been
involved in the development and drafting of standards, guidelines and frameworks for capital
adequacy, accounting, as well as supervision and regulation of Islamic finance for various
countries.
Dr. Danbatta holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Banking and Finance from the International Islamic
University Malaysia (IIUM), and an MBA in Corporate Finance. He is a Chartered Accountant
(Fellow) with the Association of Certified Chartered Accountant (ACCA-UK), a Licensed
International Financial Analyst (LIFA-UK), and a member of the Chartered Institute of Islamic
Finance Professionals (CIIFP), Member of Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Institute of
Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), and International Council for Islamic Finance
Educators (ICIFE). Dr. Danbatta is a known Islamic banking and finance consultant, and has
been active in providing Islamic finance training and consultancy to central banks, securities
commissions, deposit insurance corporations and Islamic banks. He also has a number of
publications on Islamic banking, corporate governance and earnings management.
In addition to these corporate engagements, he also held the positions of Assistant Professor
at Sultan Qaboos University Oman, a Research Fellow at the Accounting Research Institute
(ARI) of University Technology MARA (UiTM), Malaysia and Academic Fellow at Insaniah
University Malaysia. He has worked with the Highland Bank of Nigeria Plc, Peugeot
Automobiles and Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria.