Toby Birch

Articles:

Islamic Finance Exam Success

By Toby Birch April 2009 Ozannes, Guernsey

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Ozannes' Senior Advocate, Gavin Ferguson, has successfully attained the Securities & Investment Institute Islamic Finance Qualification and with a number of local financial institutions active in the Sharia compliant funds and trusts structures, looks set to corner this developing market.

The Islamic Finance Qualification (currently held by only 400 or so persons) is a ground-breaking qualification that covers Islamic finance from both a technical and Sharia perspective, providing the first international benchmark in the area.

Gavin has a close connection to the Middle East and regards the future of the Islamic finance industry to be a major player alongside the conventional finance industry. Currently Islamic financial institutions operate in more than 75 countries with assets exceeding US$ 400 billion some of which will be held in Guernsey structures.

The growth of the Islamic finance industry is particularly relevant given the current economic climate as highlighted by Toby Birch or Birch Assets Limited, holder of the IFQ and author of The Final Crash: Addictive Debt and the Deformation of the World Economy (published 2007) "Having endured the implosion of esoteric and leveraged assets it is a relief to witness the emergence of a new major financial system, albeit based on ancient principles. Islamic Finance is founded on transparency and reality-based investing, providing a much-needed antidote to the small-print of speculative and debt based products which played a large part in causing the current economic downslide.

Aside from the business potential of attracting Middle Eastern wealth and meeting the needs for Muslims (representing one-fifth of the world’s population) to find Sharia'a acceptable financial products, a financial system that shares risk and reward is a most welcome development for non-Muslims also".