ADIB puts Islamic finance on the global ethical business agenda

Hosted at the inaugural episode of 'Faith in Finance', a new six-part series launched by Bloomberg TV and exclusively sponsored by ADIB, Tirad Al Mahmoud, CEO, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank depicted a positive outlook for Shari'a-compliant banking as a viable, resilient and ethical business model.

"There is enormous demand for ethical banking all over the world especially in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Global consumers do not want any more to lose their savings and sometimes even their pensions. They want a bank that speaks their own language, a bank they can trust to manage their wealth in a fair and transparent way with no hidden charges. As a Shari'a-inspired bank, these consumer basic requirements lie at the heart of our value proposition," Tirad Al Mahmoud told 'Faith in Finance' Series.

"Shari'a-inspired finance has brought discipline and high-ethical standards to banking. We make money in a way that is transparent and far from being excessive. We don't have penalty banking. We don't make money on a client who he is late to pay or has lost his job and can't pay. We make money when the client is able to perform and honor his contracts," Tirad explained.

"We believe that banks inspired by an ethical business model such ours will eventually be more profitable to shareholders and investors in the medium and long terms. Equally important, what is unique about our value proposition is that it promises consistency of performance to investors, depositors and clients. In sum, it is a stable and predictable business model," Tirad added.

"We are seeing more and more a convergence of business models. Conventional banks are being asked by the regulators to take much less risk than they used to do in the past and become more transparent and compliant. Interestingly, prudential risk management, transparency, compliance and ethics are key pillars of our value proposition, which happen to be universal values," Tirad said.

"We don't have a monopoly over these values but we see a real value to promote them in the best interest of the banking industry all over the world," Tirad concluded.

ADIB has recently joined hands with Bloomberg TV to launch 'Faith in Finance' series which will help raise awareness of Islamic banking among a wider global audience. This partnership comes as part of ADIB's strategy to enhance awareness about Islamic banking, a role the bank is proud to play. ADIB is a top-tier Islamic financial services group and is leading the debate on Islamic banking, an industry that is rapidly shifting from a niche into a mainstream business in many markets.