2nd Islamic Finance, Banking and Business Ethics Conference was held on April 18-19, 2017 in Kuala Lumpur. The Conference was co-organised by International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) and Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB) of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).
The second year of conference received an overwhelming response from academics and industry practitioners from around the world. The conference witnessed a total of 54 research presentations from scholars and professionals from 40 different institutions from across fifteen 15 different countries. The conference was also attended by CEOs of Islamic Financial Institutions in addition to the academics.
The conference has brought the relationship between INCEIF and Suleman Dawood School of Business at LUMS further who have previously been collaborating on Executive Development as well as research for the past two years. Prof. Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi, Vice Chancellor, LUMS highlighted how the relationship between LUMS and INCEIF, is furthering the intellectual development between the two nations of Malaysia and Pakistan and bridging the knowledge gap in the field of Islamic Finance.
In addition to the research output, two eminent scholars Prof. Dr. Abbas Mirakhor and Prof. Dr. Paresh Narayan, shared their insightful thoughts on Risk Sharing and Islamic Finance in a global paradigm and in academic research perspectives respectively. An engaging panel discussion on the theme of Challenges, Innovation and Leadership saw Mr. Daud Vicary, Dr. Saad Azmat and Professor Dr. Jawad Syed highlighting the course of action the Islamic financial industry needs to undertake. An active participation from the industry was witnessed who engaged with the scholars with an intent of furthering global Islamic Finance. LUMS academic research was presented by Dr. Atif Saeed, Dr. Salman Khan, Dr. Kamran A. Chatha, Dr. Syed Aun R. Rizvi and Dr. Saad Azmat, who brought laurels to the university when he was awarded the Best Paper Award.
The Islamic finance initiative at LUMS is being championed by the Centre for Islamic Finance (CIF). CIF was established two years ago at Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB) through a generous funding by the State Bank of Pakistan. CIF in its two years of existence has held two international conferences and been at the forefront of quality research being showcased in top journals globally. Members of the CIF has gone beyond the traditional boundaries of Islamic countries and are furthering Islamic finance research in mainstream global platforms across the world.
The Islamic finance sector has experienced exponential growth in the last few decades. Islamic banking institutions are now established in over 50 countries and account for more than 15% of the financial landscape in most of these countries. The success of the Islamic financial industry is all the more evident since it has come during a period when the conventional financial industry was experiencing a crisis. The global Islamic financial assets stand at USD 2 Trillion with Pakistan and Malaysia at the forefront. With nearly one-fifth of the banking sector in the two countries reliant on the Islamic financial services with double digit annual growth, the potential of Islamic financial services is huge.
