Deutsche Bank points to need for innovation in developing Islamic finance products

Notes and media contacts

For further information please contact:

Bell Pottinger Communications, Middle East

Tom Mollo
Tel: +9714 390 2514
Mob: +9715 0550 4203

Natasha Sterling
Tel: +9714 367 2228
Mob: +9715 0252 8014

About Deutsche Bank
With € 840 billion in assets and 65,400 employees, Deutsche Bank offers unparalleled financial services in 74 countries throughout the world. Deutsche Bank competes to be the leading global provider of financial solutions for demanding clients creating exceptional value for its shareholders and people.

Deutsche Bank ranks among the global leaders in corporate banking and securities, transaction banking, asset management, and private wealth management, and has a significant private & business banking franchise in Germany and other selected countries in Continental Europe.

About Dar Al Istithmar

Dar Al Istithmar (DI), a highly positioned think tank based in London, is a joint venture between Deutsche Bank, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, a renowned Islamic research institute, and Russell Wood Limited, a specialist advisor on investment structures in the Middle East. DI offers a powerful combination of financial know-how, client relationships and Islamic research to drive the development innovative Islamic products.

DI has working relationships with many renowned Shariah scholars such as Dr Ali Alquaradaghi, Dr Mohamed Daud Bakar, Dr Mohamed A Elgari, Dr Abdus Sattar Abu Ghuddah, Dr Hussein Hamid Hassan, Nizam Yaqubi and may others

The role of the Scholars is to ensure that DI clients products are fully compliant with Shari'a Law.

Biographies of speakers

Dr. Basil Mustafa
Dr Mustafa received his Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Loughborough. He also holds a Master's degree in Educational Management from the University of Oxford. Dr Mustafa is the Nelson Mandela Fellow in Educational Studies at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. He is Board Director of Oxford Islamic Finance Ltd and Dar Al Istithmar Ltd. His work for the last ten years has been in the field of higher education management and financial administration. He teaches at the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education and has numerous publications in the fields of engineering and educational management.

Dr. Mohamed Elgari
Dr Elgari is an established Islamic economist. He teaches, writes and works with several institutions in the field. He received his PhD in Economics from University of California (USA), and for a long time taught at King Abdulaziz University (Jeddah), Saudi Arabia where he was the Director of the Centre for Research in Islamic Economics. He is a member of the Academic Committee of the Islamic Development Bank, member of the Islamic Fiqh Academy, Shari'a advisor to HSBC Amanah, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Bahrain Islamic Bank, Dow Jones Islamic Index, National Commercial Bank, Saudi American Bank, Saudi Fransi Bank. Dr Elgari is a Professor of Islamic Banking, Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance, and the author of several books and papers on Islamic economics and finance, including the Review of Islamic Economics (International Association of Islamic Economics, London) of which he is the Editor.

Dr Humayon Dar
Educated at International Islamic University Islamabad and Cambridge University, Dr Humayon Dar is one of the very few who have formal education in Islamic economics, banking and finance. Prior to joining Dar Al Istithmar as a Vice President, he was at Loughborough University where he founded and directed an MSc course in Islamic economics, banking and finance. Dr Dar has published on Islamic banking and finance in professional and academic journals, and organises international conferences, seminars and workshops on Islamic economics and finance on both sides of the Atlantic. He has advised numerous organisations, governments and central banks on policy matters related to Islamic banking and finance. He is a director of Charity Bank Limited, the first of its kind of bank in the Western Hemisphere, set up solely for financing voluntary sector organisation in the UK and elsewhere. He is also involved in a number of other social and academic initiatives, and is frequently interviewed by print and electronic media.