Our Speakers

Dr. Ghiath Shabsigh is the Secretary-General of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), a prominent international standard-setting body of regulatory and supervisory authorities with interest in ensuring the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry – defined broadly to include banking, capital market and insurance.

Dr. Shabsigh is an economist with broad experience in financial sector issues. Prior to his appointment as the Secretary General of the IFSB, he served as Assistant Director at the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department where he had broad responsibilities covering IMF’s work on central banking and fintech. Prior responsibilities at the IMF included working on economic reform programs, financial sector development, and financial stability assessments, in a wide range of countries from low-income to advanced economies. His previous work experience includes working as a financial analyst and university lecturer.

He led the IMF’s work on Islamic Banking for the past 25 years helping to build international institutions, developing policies and standards for the sector, and providing technical assistance on Islamic banking regulatory frameworks, central banking operations, and sukuk markets for large number of IMF member countries.

Dr. Shabsigh holds a Ph.D. degree in Monetary and International Economics, a M.A. in Economic Development, a B.Sc. in Economics and Business, and several professional qualifications in banking and securities market operations.

Fatih Karahan was born in 1982 in Eskişehir and graduated from Boğaziçi University, Departments of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering in 2006. After earning a master’s degree, he completed a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Pennsylvania in 2012.

Mr. Karahan started his career as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2012 and served as the Team Leader of Labor and Product Market Studies and also a monetary policy advisor at the Bank until 2022.

He also taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia University and New York University. Then, Mr. Karahan became a senior economist at Amazon in 2022 and was appointed principal economist there in November 2022.

Mr. Karahan, who had been acting as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye since 28 July 2023, was appointed Governor on 3 February 2024.

Dato’ Mohammad Faiz Azmi became Executive Chairman of the Securities Commission Malaysia in June 2024. He chairs the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum in conjunction with Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025, and leads the development of the Capital Market Masterplan 4 (2026–2030).

He spent over 30 years with PwC and served as Chairman of PwC Malaysia for 11 years until 2023. He led PwC’s Global Islamic Finance Team (2007–2012), served as Malaysia’s Financial Services Leader and joint Head of Audit, and advanced ESG and Shariah Investing initiatives.

Dato’ Faiz advised the Government on Accrual Accounting, financial restructurings and investigations, as well as being Administrator for several entities.

A Fellow of ICAEW and member of MIA, he also served as President of MIA, Chairman of MASB and President of KLBC. He studied law at Durham University, joined the English Bar and holds Honorary Doctorates of Laws from Nottingham and Durham.

Mr. Zeeshan Rehman Khattak joined the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) as Commissioner in November 2024. He has over two decades of local and international experience in Real Estate Investment & Management, Regulatory Affairs, Wealth Management, and Development of Export-led Technology Infrastructure.

Mr. Khattak brings rich experience in capital markets, regulatory oversight and assets’ management. In his previous leading roles, he had managed large portfolios while focusing on strategic planning, risk management, and delivering innovative solutions for high-net-worth individuals and institutional clients.

Mr. Khattak’s most recent association was with Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) as Chief Commercial Officer and additionally as Chief Executive Officer designate. At PSEB, Mr. Khattak played a pivotal role in advancing the IT industry’s growth, fostering trade partnerships, shaping national-level policies and country’s representation at global forums for trade agreements. His vision is to help creating a globally competitive, attractive and resilient capital market in the country enabled by cutting-edge technologies for sustainable economic development.

Mr. Khattak has strong academic background in Business, Economics.

As Vice President (Finance) & CFO, he is responsible for managing IsDB’s USD 35 billion balance sheet and multi-billion funding and investments programs. IsDB has successfully issued several AAA-rated Islamic benchmark bonds and is active in global financial markets. He led the issuance of inaugural Green Bond in 2019 and Sustainability bond of IsDB in 2020.
Prior to joining the Islamic Development Bank, he served as head of the World Bank Global Islamic Finance Development Center in Istanbul. Before that he served at the World Bank Treasury for more than 25 years in the areas of capital markets, asset management, risk management, and financial sector. Islamic finance has been his research focus and he has co-authored several articles and books on Islamic finance. He earned his Ph.D. in international finance from the George Washington University (GWU) and served as Professional faculty at GWU and Carey Business School of Johns Hopkins University.

Omar is the Managing Director of the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI) and Board Member of the UK Islamic Finance Council (UKIFC)

A Chartered Accountant by profession, he specialises in ethical/responsible finance, Islamic finance, and private equity. He has extensive experience in financial services and has advised multiple governments and regulators on ecosystem building as a leading advocate for sustainable and Islamic finance. His background includes working with EY London, where he qualified as a CA and was the former Head of Islamic finance.

Through his GEFI work, Omar has established a number of initiatives, including the Path to COP, the SDG Financial Products platform with UNDP, which promotes innovative financing structures for the SDGs, the Global Islamic Finance and UN SDGs Taskforce launched with the UK Government and IsDB, and the award-winning interfaith Edinburgh Finance Declaration—the world’s first shared values approach to finance between Islamic finance and the Church. He also served on the Board of the University of Oxford Faith-Aligned Impact Finance Project

Omar received a BAcc and a PhD from the University of Glasgow along with an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University conferred for his work in developing ethical finance. Beyond finance, he is actively involved with Colourful Heritage which works with Glasgow Museums to preserve and celebrate South Asian heritage in Scotland, The King’s Trust Scotland and Olivewood Primary School.

Sharifatul Hanizah is the Executive Director of Islamic Capital Market Development (ICMD) of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC).

She leads the team that spearheads the developmental agenda and operational aspects of Malaysia’s Islamic capital market (ICM). Their efforts encompass a range of initiatives aimed at broadening and deepening ICM products and services, with the ultimate goal of fortifying Malaysia’s position as the global leader in Islamic finance.

Sharifatul Hanizah has an extensive and diverse experience of over 30 years in the fields of investment analysis, portfolio management, equity trading and unit trust while serving in various organisations such as Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), RHB Investment Management Sdn Bhd and Muamalat Invest. During her tenure in PNB and RHB, Sharifatul Hanizah’s board experience was vast, spanning consumer goods, technology and manufacturing companies. She served on the boards of exchange-listed and private companies as a Nominee Director for PNB and RHB.

Prior to joining the SC in August 2019, Sharifatul Hanizah was the Chief Executive Officer of SIDC, the learning and development arm of the SC. She is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (F Fin), a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), an Islamic Financial Planner (IFP), a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia (ICDM) and a member of the Malaysia International Islamic Finance Centre (MIFC) Leadership Council.

Saskia de Vries is the Global Practice Manager for Financial Stability and Integrity at the World Bank. She leads the global team on financial stability and integrity, at a time of growing financial vulnerabilities. The team supports EMDE financial sector authorities around the world in implementing global regulatory and supervisory standards, and cutting-edge best practices: through diagnostics, technical assistance and lending, and research and knowledge. In this role, Saskia is responsible for the Financial Sector Assessment Program at the World Bank. Saskia was previously head of International Financial Architecture and Financial Stability at the Dutch Central Bank and co-chair of the NGFS Task Force on Nature-related Risks. She is also Honorary Research Associate at the Sustainable Finance Group at University of Oxford. Saskia holds a PhD in financial economics.

Appointed on 1 October 2025, Mr Mohamad Yasin is the Maybank Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Islamic Banking and CEO of Maybank Islamic Berhad, and responsible for leading the Maybank Group’s Islamic banking franchise and driving its ambition to be a global leader in Islamic finance. He oversees strategy, product development, and Shariah governance, while advancing Maybank’s leadership in Islamic wealth management and championing innovative digital solutions to strengthen the overall Maybank Group’s competitive edge.

He brings with him over 28 years of experience in banking and finance including 12 years as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Mr Mohamad Yasin has held several key leadership positions within Maybank Group, including CFO, Chief Operating Officer and CEO– International of Maybank Investment Banking Group. Most recently, he served as Maybank Group Chief Audit Executive, where he spearheaded the development and implementation of the Maybank Group Audit Strategic Plan 2023–2025, strengthening the Group Audit function through the adoption of global best practices.

Stella Cox CBE, FCSI(Hon) has worked within the Islamic financial marketplace for over thirty-five years. ‎ Since 1998, she has been the Managing Director of DDCAP Group™, the industry-leading market intermediary and digital solutions enabler which, via its proprietary, multi award-winning platform, ETHOS AFP™ (ETHOS), is connecting the global Islamic financial market responsibly.

Since 2015, Stella has represented DDCAP within the Islamic Finance and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Taskforce, the inaugural meeting of which took place in July 2020, convened by the Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC) in partnership with the UK Government. Since 2014, Stella has been Chair of the Islamic Finance Market Advisory Group formed by TheCityUK. In 2025, Stella accepted an invitation to join The Islamic Finance for Growth UK Taskforce as a member of the steering committee, with the taskforce being chaired by Lord John Sharkey and the secretariat function being provided by Gatehouse Bank.

In June 2016, Stella was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Stella was honoured for her services to the Economy and, specifically, as a Champion for the Development of Islamic Finance in the UK. ‎Stella was ranked number 1 amongst the ‘100 Most Influential Women in Islamic Finance’ in the ISFIRE ‘WOMANi 2018′ Report and was appointed Patron-in-Chief of WOMANi in April 2019.

In July 2019 Stella became a Freeman of the City of London and, in 2024, Stella was awarded the privilege of Honorary Fellowship of The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (“The CISI”) by its Board of Trustees.

Mohamed Damak is a Managing Director and the Sector Lead for Financial Institutions in the Emerging EMEA region. Mohamed is also the Global Head of Islamic Finance at S&P Global Rating (SPGR). In this capacity Mohamed leads SPGR’s cross-practice analytical thought leadership initiatives and credit rating activities in the Islamic Finance sector globally. In addition to these responsibilities, Mohamed co-heads the Emerging Market Global Industry Focused Team and is a member of several senior forums and research labs including the Digitalization of the Markets Research Lab. Mohamed’s research interests include emerging markets financial institutions, the digitalization of the financial services industry (including cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, tokenization, and digital bonds) and Islamic finance. Mohamed is a regular speaker at industry events and conferences.

Prior to joining SPGR, Mohamed worked as a Principal Credit Risk Officer for the African Development Bank in Tunis. From 2006 to 2010, Mohamed worked for SPGR covering conventional and Islamic financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Mohamed holds a PhD in Finance and Master in “Money, Banking and Finance” from University of Paris 2, Pantheon Assas and a Master’s degree in Financial Institutions Management from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Tunis.

Nitish Bhojnagarwala is an Associate Managing Director with Moody’s Financial Institutions Group. Based in Dubai, Nitish manages the team responsible for bank credit ratings in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), Turkiye, Iraq and Jordan. Nitish also manages Moody’s research and outreach activities in the Middle East including Islamic Finance.

Nitish joined Moody’s in 2011 and has led sukuk roundtables and conducted workshops on Banking and Islamic finance at various conferences in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Nitish has also authored several research pieces, with a focus on regional banking, credit issues and issuer-in- depths for conventional as well as Islamic banks.

Prior to joining Moody’s, Nitish spent five years at Tamweel in the Treasury function. He has also worked for KPMG in the UAE, where he covered financial institutions. Nitish holds an MBA from S P Jain Institute of Management & Research, with a major in Finance (Investment Banking).

Arshadur Rahman is a Senior Manager in the Bank of England’s Data and Statistics Division, and the Bank’s specialist in Islamic finance.  He was a co-author of the Financial Services Authority’s 2007 regulatory paper on Islamic finance and has supervised UK Islamic banks.  He also led the design and implementation of the Bank’s Alternative Liquidity Facility (ALF), the first non-interest-based central bank deposit facility established by a western central bank.  Arshadur holds an MSc in Finance from London Business School, is currently undertaking doctoral research at King’s College London, and is a visiting fellow in Islamic finance at King’s Business School.

Prof. Dr. Hoda Alkhzaimi is a Strategic Economic and Investment Advisor with over two decades of experience at the intersection of advanced science, industry, research and technology, economic strategy, and international investments. She spent the first 12 years of her career in sovereign wealth funds, developing diversified long-term assets in advanced industries, sciences, and new economic zones.

She currently serves as Associate Vice Provost for Research Translation and Innovation and Assistant Professor of Engineering at New York University Abu Dhabi, where she leads initiatives that transform research into market-driven industries by fostering collaboration between academia, industry, and government. She is also the Founder and Director of EMARATSEC, a center focused on accelerating emerging technologies, advanced research, and market creation, and a Founding Partner of Bluverse Ventures, building global investment vehicles in deep science and competitive industries.

At the international level, Dr. Hoda is an Advisor and Mentor to the UNDP AI Trust and Safety Re-Imagination Programme, an Advisor to Ignyte, Dubai’s first advisory platform for startups and ventures launched under the Dubai Digital Economy Mandate, and a Member of the Academic Advisory Body on Emerging Technologies at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), convened by the Secretary-General. She also contributes to global policy and strategic foresight as Co-Chair (2024–2025) and Member (2025–2026) of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Cybersecurity, as well as Director Emeritus of the Centre for Cybersecurity.

In addition to her academic and policy leadership, she serves on the advisory boards and boards of multiple listed companies across critical sectors, including advanced industries, energy, technology, and financial services, where she advises on emerging technologies, market competitiveness, and long-term investment strategies.

Her focus on Sustainable Development Goals-based investments aligns with her expertise as she advises on strategic technology adoption and industry convergence for the BRICS advisory councils, G20 trade dialogues, and leading global companies such as Jaguar Land Rover (UK) and Tata Group (India).

Dr. Hoda holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Mathematics (Technical University of Denmark), a Master’s in Cryptology, Security, and Information Coding (Université de Grenoble and Université Joseph Fourier, France), a Master’s in Financial and Business Big Data Analytics (ESCP), a Master’s in International Business Law (Paris-Sorbonne University), an Executive MBA in Investments and Finance (London Business School), and a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering (United Arab Emirates University).

As an advocate for women in STEM, she has served as President of the Emirates Digital Association for Women and as Ambassador Emeritus and CEO for Women in Artificial Intelligence, Ambassador Emeritus for Arab Women in Computing, and Ambassador Emeritus for the International Network of Women in Engineering and Science.