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Speaking Faculty
LIST OF CONFIRMED CHAIRPERSONS AND SPEAKERS
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Professor Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim
Secretary-General, Islamic Financial Services Board
View BiodataRifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim is the Secretary-General of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), a post he has held since the IFSB started to operate in 2003. Prior to his current post, he was the Secretary-General of the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions. He is a member of the Consultative Advisory Group of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, now serving his second three-year term, and the International Liaison Group, Basel Committee for Banking Supervision. He previously served as a member of the Standards Advisory Council of the International Accounting Standards Board, for two consecutive terms, ending November 2008.
Professor Rifaat is a Visiting Professor at the ICMA Centre, Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK, and is a Member of the Governing Council of International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance, Malaysia. He is the co-author of Islamic Finance: Growth and Innovation, Islamic Finance: The Regulatory Challenge and Business and Accounting Ethics in Islam. He is the first recipient of the Euromoney Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Islamic Finance Award, and other distinguished awards.
The Hon. Sir William Blair
High Court Judge of the Queen's Bench Division, UK
View BiodataSir William Blair practised at the English Bar specialising in the law of domestic and international banking and finance, becoming a QC in 1994. He was Chairman of the Commercial Bar Association between 2003 and 2005. He is a Visiting Professor at both the London School of Economics and the Centre for Commercial Law Studies. He has written and spoken widely on financial and other legal issues, and was appointed Chairman of the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Tribunal in 2006. He became a High Court Judge in England in 2008, and is one of the nominated judges who sit in the Commercial Court. He is a member of London's Financial Markets Law Committee, and has chaired the Monetary Law Committee of the International Law Association (MOCOMILA) since 2005.
Tun Abdul Hamid Haji Mohamad
Member, National Shariah Advisory Council, Bank Negara Malaysia
and former Chief Justice of the Federal Court, Malaysia
View BiodataTun Abdul Hamid Mohamad was born on 18 April 1942 and received early education in Malay and English in the State of Penang. Upon graduation from the Law Faculty, University of Singapore in 1969, joined the Malaysian Legal and Judicial Service and served for 21 years as Magistrate, President of the Sessions Court, Assistant Director of the Legal Aid Bureau, Deputy Registrar of High Court Malaya, State Legal Advisor, Senior Federal Counsel of the Department of Inland Revenue and Head of Prosecution Division of the Attorney General's Chambers.
Elevated to the bench of the High Court in 1990, to the Court of Appeal in 2000 and the Federal Court (Supreme Court) in 2003. On 5th September 2007 appointed as President of the Court of Appeal, Malaysia and on 1st November 2007, appointed as Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Malaysia. Retired on 18 October 2008.
Currently, Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission,a member of the Judicial Appointments Commission, a member of the Shari'ah Advisory Council for Islamic Banking and takaful of the Central Bank of Malaysia and a member of the Shari'ah Advisory Council of the Securities Commission of Malaysia.
Gopala Krishnan Sundaram
Assistant-Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia
View BiodataComing Soon...
Dato' Dr. Nik Ramlah Nik Mahmood
Managing Director, Securities Commission of Malaysia
View BiodataNIK RAMLAH MAHMOOD is Managing Director of Securities Commission Malaysia (SC). She is also Executive Director of the SC's Enforcement Division and a Director of the Securities Industry Development Corporation (SIDC), the training and education arm of SC.
Nik Ramlah is very actively involved in work relating to the development of the Islamic Capital Market. She provides strategic and policy input on matters relating to developing Malaysia's Islamic Capital Market and supervises the implementation of the recommendations of the Capital Market Masterplan in relation to the Islamic Capital Market. Nik Ramlah was named ‘Most Outstanding Person for Contribution to Islamic Finance' by the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum (KLIFF) in 2007.
Nik Ramlah is also involved in many of the Commission's other developmental initiatives for the Malaysian capital market such as the development of the bond market, venture capital industry, fund management, corporate governance and rationalisation of the regulatory framework.
Nik Ramlah is a member of the Professional Development Panel of International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF), the global University of Islamic Finance and a practising member of the Association of Chartered Islamic Finance Professionals Malaysia (ACIFP). She is also a member of the Technical Committee of the Islamic Finance Services Board (IFSB).
Nik Ramlah obtained a First Class Honours in Law from the University of Malaya and LLM and PhD. from the University of London. For her PhD, she was a recipient of a scholarship from the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
Prior to joining the Securities Commission in 1993, Nik Ramlah was an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya.
Dr. Mohamed Akram Laldin
Executive Director, International Shariah Research Academy
View BiodataDr. Mohamad Akram is currently the Executive Director of International Shari'ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA). 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, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. At present, he is the Member of Central Bank of Malaysia Shari'ah Advisory Council, Member of HSBC Amanah Global Shari'ah Advisory Board, Member of Yassar Limited (Dubai) Shariah Advisory Board, Member of EAB (London) Shari'ah Advisory Board, Member of Islamic Advisory Board of HSBC Insurance Singapore, and Shari'ah advisor to ZI Syariah Advisory Malaysia and other Boards locally and internationally.
In addition, he is also the Member of the Board of Studies of the Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance, International Islamic University Malaysia. Dr. 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. He has presented many papers related to Islamic Banking and Finance and other Fiqh topics at national and International level and has conducted many training sessions particullarly on Islamic Banking and Finance for different sectors since 1999. He is a registered Shariah Advisor for sukuk issuance and Unit trust with the Securities Commission of Malaysia and has acted as Shariah advisor in the issuance of several sukuks. In addition, he is also prolific author of academic works specifically in the areas of Islamic Banking and Finance.
Stefan Gannon
General Counsel, Hong Kong Monetary Authority
View BiodataStefan Gannon was called to the Bar in England and Wales (Middle Temple) in 1973. He was in private practice and was later appointed as an international legal adviser to Midland Bank Plc. Stefan arrived in Hong Kong in 1983 became the legal adviser to the Monetary Affairs Branch of the Hong Kong Government and was involved in the establishment of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in 1993. He has been its General Counsel and an Executive Director since.
He sits on Hong Kong's Standing Committee for Company Law Reform, is a member of the International Law Association's Monetary and International Law Sub-Committee; the deputy chairman of the Professional Advisory Board of the Asian Institute of International Financial Law and a fellow of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies.
Ashraf Mohammed
Principal Counsel, Asian Development Bank
View BiodataAshraf Mohammed is Principal Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and is Head of the South Asia Legal Team. Mr. Mohammed is a UK qualified solicitor with over twenty years of legal experience. Before joining ADB, Mr. Mohammed was a partner in a commercial law firm in London undertaking company and commercial and corporate finance work for a range of clients, including international banks and multinational corporations, as well as acting for insolvency practioneers on insolvency issues. Mr. Mohammed was also General Counsel for Europe of an international telecommunications company where he spent considerable time working on distress sales and debt restructuring. At ADB, Mr. Mohammed has worked all over Asia on both private sector projects and public sector and programs, in numerous development sectors and in financial intermediation. Mr. Mohammed is also a member of IFSB's Legal Working Group of the Task Force on Liquidity Risk Management in Islamic Finance.
Roberta Calarese Julfar
Legislative Counsel and Director in Policy and Legal Services Division,
Dubai Financial Services Authority, UAE
View BiodataRoberta Calarese Julfar is a Director of Policy and Legal Services for DFSA. In her 7th year of tenure at the DFSA she has been instrumental in setting up the legal and regulatory framework of the DIFC.
In her previous role she was Deputy General Manager of Prudential Bache, (Dubai) responsible for Legal, Compliance and Risk Management. Before that, she held the position of Global Compliance Officer Emerging Markets for ABN AMRO, London and was responsible for setting up the global compliance function for the equities markets of ABN AMRO. Prior to that, she was with Goldman Sachs, London, responsible for legal and compliance aspects of derivatives, stock loan and prime brokerage. She has wide experience in advisory, legal and compliance matters relating to investment banking and brokerage.
Roberta was educated at Warwick University, University College London, and The College of Law.
Rafe Haneef
Managing Director, Fajr Capital PLC, Malaysia
View BiodataComing Soon...
- Adil Awad Babiker
Head, Legal Affairs, The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit, Saudi Arabia
View BiodataComing Soon...
Muddassir Siddiqui
Partner and Head, Islamic Finance - Middle East
Denton Wilde Sapte, UAEView BiodataShaikh Muddassir Siddiqui is uniquely qualified both as a Shari'ah scholar and as a US-trained attorney. He is a member of New York Bar. Shaikh Siddiqui a partner in the Dubai office of Denton Wilde Sapte and Head of Islamic finance - Middle East. He is former Internal Shari'ah Supervisor of the Islamic Development Bank and a former member of the Shari'ah Board of Accounting and Auditing Organization of Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). He has extensive experience in advising on transactions involving Shari'ah compliant financing and Saudi laws.
Hanim Hamzah
Resident Partner, Roosdiono & Partners, Indonesia
View BiodataHanim Hamzah is the Resident Partner in Jakarta, of Zaid Ibrahim & Co, the largest law firm in Malaysia with offices in Kuala Lumpur (and elsewhere in Malaysia including the Labuan Offshore Financial Centre), Dubai, Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Hanim is a UK and Malaysian trained lawyer who after two years at Zaid Ibrahim & Co then left to take up the position of Foreign Legal Associate at a leading law firm in Tokyo, Japan where she spent five years being involved in award-winning work, including "Japan's Top Ten IPOs in 2004" by AsiaLaw, and "2004 Japan Equity Deal of the Year" by Asia Law Business Journal. Hanim returned to Zaid Ibrahim & Co to be part of the brand's regional expansion and was made Partner in 2005. She also became Senior Foreign Counsel at Roosdiono & Partners, a full service corporate law firm and member of the Allen & Gledhill Zaid Ibrahim alliance. Hanim's specialization includes advising on Islamic finance structures, infrastructure projects and M&A deals across the sectors of plantations, mining, oil & gas, banking, property, and insurance.
Hanim has also played a leading role in the firm's organising team for a number of workshops and dialogues on Islamic finance, namely "Financing of Infrastructure Project Developments Using Islamic Finance Instruments" with KKKPI (Jakarta, 2006); "A Synergy of Islamic Financing in the Nusantara: Prospects and Challenges" (Jakarta, 2007) and "New Opportunities in raising capital: Banking, REITS & Sukuk" (Jakarta, 2008). The workshop and dialogues were attended by the Minister of Finance and the Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia respectively.
Michael J.T. McMillen
Partner, Fullbright & Jaworski LLP, New York, USA
View BiodataComing Soon...
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Yeo Wico
Partner, Allen & Gledhill, Singapore
View BiodataYeo Wico, a Partner in Financial Services, has a well rounded practice with broad experience in corporate finance, capital markets, Islamic finance, structured finance, derivatives, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructuring, private equity and securities regulations. In 2005 and 2003, Wico advised on the largest IPO and the largest bond offering in Singapore. He was listed in PLC Which Lawyer? (2007 to 2009) as a highly recommended lawyer for Equity Capital Markets in Singapore. In the 2009 edition, he was described as being "widely considered to be a very talented practitioner". He was the lead transaction counsel on the SME Loan Securitisation transaction which was awarded ALB Singapore Deal of the Year Award and the ALB Singapore Structured Finance and Securitisation Deal of the Year Award for 2007. Wico was named by The Asia Pacific Legal 500 (2008/2009) as a leading individual in banking and finance in Singapore.
Wico is a leading lawyer in Islamic finance and advised as lead transaction counsel on ground-breaking and award winning transactions. He advised UOB Asia in arranging the first ever issue of Islamic bonds by Majlis Ugama Islam, Singapura (a breakthrough for the Singapore debt market) as well as the S$1 billion Islamic Trust Certificate Programme of City Developments Limited which was awarded ALB Debt Market Deal of the Year for 2009. This programme was the first Islamic certificate programme in Singapore and the first ever by a Singapore corporate to issue sukuk under the Ijarah financing principle. In 2009, he led the team advising as sole transaction counsel to the S$200 million Islamic Trust Certificate (Sukuk) Issuance Programme established by the Monetary Authority of Singapore with the aim of facilitating and promoting Islamic banking and finance. This was the first sukuk programme established by a statutory board in Singapore, the first reverse inquiry Ijara based sukuk from such a high quality issuer in the world and the first local currency sukuk to be established by a central bank of a non-Muslim majority jurisdiction.
After graduating from the National University of Singapore with an LLB (Hons) degree in 1991, Wico went on to obtain a Diploma in Banking and Finance from the Institute of Banking and Finance in Singapore. He was called to the Singapore Bar in 1992. In addition, he has been admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in England & Wales and as an Attorney and Counselor-at-Law in the State of New York.
Dr. Charles Proctor
Partner, Bird & Bird, UK
View BiodataCharles specialises in the field of banking and financial services. He has particular experience in transactions involving a cross-border element and/or complex security arrangements.
His more recent transactional work comprises a variety of real estate and corporate facilities, including both conventional and Shari'a compliant funding arrangements.
He is also very active in the regulatory fields. He has advised on numerous current issues, including the implementation of MiFID, credit risk mitigation under Basel II and the consequences of the Third EU Money Laundering Directive.
He has published three books and numerous articles on various aspects of banking law. His most recent publication is the Sixth Edition of Mann on the Legal Aspect of Money, which is regarded as the leading text in its field.
He holds the degree of Doctor of Laws and is an honorary professor in the School of Law, University of Birmingham. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal studies in London.
Edward Murray
Partner, Allen & Overy LLP, UK
View BiodataEdward Murray is a partner in the London office of the law firm Allen & Overy LLP, where he advises on international financial transactions, specialising in derivatives, structured financings and related collateral arrangements. He is a senior member of the Allen & Overy team advising ISDA as its principal global external counsel and has advised ISDA over many years on a variety of documentation, netting, collateral, regulatory and law reform issues. He is Chairman of ISDA's Financial Law Reform Committee, which co ordinates ISDA's lobbying efforts with international organisations, European institutions and national authorities on financial law reform matters, including netting and financial collateral legislation.
Mr. Murray is a member of the Bank of England's Financial Markets Law Committee and is also a member of the UK Treasury's Banking Liaison Panel. He has written on legal aspects of derivatives, collateral and related topics and is a regular speaker at financial and legal conferences and seminars. He a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary, London and a visiting lecturer at the Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II). He has also lectured at the London School of Economics & Political Science and the Bucerius Law School in Hamburg.
