UK Islamic FinTech Panel Launched

An independent group of Islamic Finance and FinTech practitioners will this week convene the inaugural meeting of the UK Islamic FinTech panel. The panel aims to create momentum in the Islamic FinTech sector by building on London’s leading position as a global FinTech hub and as a recognised centre for Islamic Finance.

The panel will be chaired by Harris Irfan, MD of Cordoba Capital, an Islamic Finance and Islamic FinTech advisory boutique. Irfan was previously CEO of Deutsche Bank’s Islamic Finance subsidiary, Global Head of Islamic Finance at Barclays and Head of Investment Banking at Rasmala Group. He is widely recognised as one of the world’s leading authorities on Islamic Finance.

A recent white paper on the Islamic Finance sector, published by Cordoba Capital and IslamicBanker, promoted the idea of an Islamic FinTech panel as a means to build a community to work alongside existing public sector infrastructure in order to provide support to sharia-compliant FinTech companies.

The Islamic FinTech Landscape published in September 2017, by RedMoney Group found that of the approximately 103 Islamic FinTech firms globally, 16 were founded in the UK, making it the second largest hub for Islamic FinTech after Malaysia, a strong basis for future growth of the sector in the UK.

In its first year the UK Islamic FinTech Panel will seek to:

• identify the challenges in the sector
• explore tangible avenues to overcome these
• build cohesion in the community
• promote the Islamic FinTech sector
• drive the policy agenda

Commenting on the launch of the panel, Irfan said, “I am delighted to be chairing this important panel.  Islamic Finance has so much potential, which hasn’t yet been realised. I firmly believe the disruptive power of FinTech combined with the real economy, ethical dimension of Islamic Finance can unlock enormous potential in our economy, to the benefit of people of all faiths and none.”

The founding members of the panel will be as follows:

Harris Irfan, MD, Cordoba Capital (Chair)

Shaikh Badr Al-Hasan, Chairman, Insure Halal

Iqbal Asaria, Associate, Afkar Consulting

Abdul Haseeb Basit, Co-Founder and Principal, Elipses

Richard de Belder, Advisory Board Member, UKIFC

Stella Cox, MD, DDCAP

Wayne Evans, Adviser, TheCityUK

Ashley Freeman, CEO and Partner, Gateway Law

Hussain Kanji, Managing Partner, Hoxton Ventures

Irfan Khan, Founder and CEO, Yielders

Muneer Khan, Partner, Simmons & Simmons

Nyra Mahmood, MD, Simply Sharia HC

Daniel Morgan, FinTech Sector Specialist, Department of International Trade

Tariq Munif, Partner, Monument Partners

Shakeeb Saqlain, CEO, IslamicBanker

Natalie Schoon, Prinicpal Consultant, Fromabb

Shaykh Haytham Tamim, Director and Founder, Shariah Solutions

Junaid Wahedna, CEO, Wahed Invest

Lawrence Wintermeyer, Co-Founder and Principal, Elipses

Tom Woolf, Founder and CEO EdAid/Qard Hasan

Attendees with observer status are as follows:

Arshadur Rahman, Manager, Bank of England

Robert Ward, Deputy Director Global Financial Markets, HM Treasury