US-QATAR business council

Islamic Finance Forum

The U.S. Qatar Business Council (USQBC) and the Arab Bankers Association of North America (ABANA,) in collaboration with the National Council for U.S. Arab Relations (NCUSAR,) hosted an Islamic Finance Forum at the George Washington University Law School. The event featured five of the most distinguished scholars and experts in the field of Islamic finance namely: Prof. Frank Vogel (Senior Fellow and Head Muslim World Law and Islamic Finance, Institution Quraysh for Law and Policy,) Mr. Umar F. Moghul (Partner at Murtha Cullina LLP and co-chair of the firm's Islamic Finance and Investments Group,) Shaykh Yusuf Talal deLorenzo (Chief Shariah Officer at Shariah Capital,) Mr. Aamir A. Rehman (Managing Director at Fajr Capital Limited,) and Dr. Ibrahim Warde (Adjunct Professor of International Business at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University). The panelists addressed various aspects of contemporary Islamic finance such as its historical legacy, the compatibility of Shariah compliant institutions with U.S. law, derivative instruments and the development of Sukkuk in the Gulf, Shariah financial regulation and practice in the GCC, and Islamic finance in the light of the recent financial crisis. Over 120 registered participants as well as television and print media attended the discussions moderated by Jean-Francois Seznec (Visiting Associate Professor at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.) “The inspiration for this important event came as a result of lessons learned from our bread-and-butter operation: assisting American and Qatari firms in doing business with one another. Over the last year or so, we have discovered that Islamic Finance issues have become a steadily more important element in that process,” Ambassador Patrick N. Theros, President of the USQBC, said in his welcoming elocution.