Bahrain Financial Exchange announces strategic participation in key Islamic conference

The WIBC is the world's largest gathering of Islamic financial services professionals with over 1200 delegates attending.

This year's conference, focused on New Strategies for New Economic Realities. It was positioned to set the stage for discussions to shape the post-crisis landscape as Islamic banks grapple with the growing need to manage risk, seek new growth markets, deliver on market expectations as well as remain competitive.

Arshad Khan, Director of the BFX, commented, "I am delighted that BFX was a key partner at this gathering of Islamic financial industry leaders. The event was a success for the BFX, as it provided a platform for the BFX to emphasize the integral role the Exchange will play in reinforcing and driving liquidity in the Islamic markets."

As part of its involvement in WIBC 2009, Craig Hewett represented the BFX on a panel which debated how to define the next stage of Islamic finance. Particular attention was given to product innovation, global connectivity and stress testing within an exchange environment in an effort to looking beyond the current global financial crisis.

For his part, Craig Hewett, Chief Business Officer of the BFX, said, "There is a growing demand for risk management tools in the Islamic markets and it is the aim of the BFX to be the exchange platform providing solutions to meet the requirements of this important and diverse industry."

The BFX Training Institute also took part by staging a training workshop on the subject of Base Metal Warrants in Islamic finance, which was led by Simone Carminati, Senior Vice President, Head of Training Institute at the BFX.

50 delegates attended the workshop representing some 20 Islamic and conventional organisations, and was well received by the attendees with praise given to the content with a fundamental understanding of Islamic products and in particular, how metal warrants are used to structure Shariah compliant instruments. The seminar focused on the use of commodity based underliers and the applications and limitations of using these products in Shariah compliant structures.