Meet the Speakers
Keynote Speaker
Khaled Al Kamda
Group Managing Director
Dubai Islamic Bank
After obtaining his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the Melbourne Institute of Technology in Florida, USA, and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the Cranfield School of Management in England, Khaled Al Kamda joined Emirates Airline in 1985 as Assistant Manager for Information Technology.
He held various senior management and marketing positions in Emirates before being appointed in 1992 as Senior General Manager responsible for the airline’s commercial activities in the Gulf, Middle East, Africa and CIS regions.
During these years he also served as Chairman of the Board of Airline Representatives and represented Emirates Airline on the board of the Arab Air Carriers Organization. He remains Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for the Emirates Group (the parent company of Emirates Airline and Dnata), Chairman of Emirates Hotels and Resorts LLC, Chairman of Dubai Express Freightworks and Vice Chairman of Tamweel as well as Istithmar – an investment subsidiary of Dubai World.
Prior to his appointment as Managing Director of Dubai Islamic Bank in 2007, Mr Al Kamda (47) served on the Bank’s Board of Directors and Chaired the Follow-Up Committee, as well as being a member of the Audit Committee. He lives in Dubai with his wife and three children.
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Mr Ajmal Bhatty
CEO
Tokio Marine Middle East Takaful, UAE
Mr. Bhatty is CEO of Tokio Marine Middle East Takaful based in the DIFC, Dubai. The Company provides technical and management services to insurance and takaful companies of the Group in the MENA region and is currently in the process of setting up Takaful JVs in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Previously, Mr. Bhatty was Global Head of Takaful at HSBC and CEO of Takaful International Bahrain. Before that, he was with Arab Insurance Group Bahrain and Old Mutual in the UK.
Mr. Bhatty’s association with Takaful started in 1985, when ‘takaful’ was still in embryonic stage, driven more by its concepts than by credible numbers and financial viability. The demand side of takaful could only be expressed on paper and the supply side was in the hearts and minds of small group of committed individuals and entrepreneurs, faced with huge challenge of cynicism and opposition. He vigorously and untiringly supported and promoted the development of takaful through those trying times and for more than 20 years now, has worked with conventional industry leaders, reinsurers, entrepreneurs, Shariah Scholars and regulators. The pioneering research work that he had the opportunity to lead in Arab Insurance Group, lead to providing the industry invaluable insights into the quantifiable potential of takaful and its progress and growth over recent years in key markets of Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
His insurance, takaful and bancassurance experience includes exposure to several markets, managing businesses ranging from multinational organizations to smaller companies and start-up ventures.
He has been engaged in industry debates and worked with Regulators and AAOIFI in developing Norms, Models and Terminology for Takaful Industry.
Mr. Bhatty has maintained active data base on the growth and development of takaful business globally which has become recognized source and reference on Takaful within the industry.
Some of his professional activities and associations have been as follows:
- Advisor to Bahrain Monetary Agency’s on takaful from 1998 to 2003.
- Director of Bahrain Insurance Association from 1999 to 2003.
- Helped draft Bahrain’s insurance regulations 2002
- Local representative of the Institute of Actuaries for the GCC
Mr. Badlisyah Abdul Ghani
CEO
CIMB Islamic Bank, Malaysia
Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, aged 34 joined CIMB Group, South East Asia’s most valued Universal Bank in 2002, and was attached in the Corporate Finance Division, prior to his appointment as the Group Head of Islamic Banking, a position he holds until now. He is a member of the Group Management Committee and is responsible for the overall Islamic banking and finance business of CIMB Group. He is also the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad, the group’s Islamic banking flagship. He sits on the Board of CIMB Principal Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd and CIMB Islamic Investment House BSC (Bahrain). He chairs the Islamic Capital Market Committee of the Malaysian Investment Banking Association (MIBA) and sits in various industry committees. Badlisyah is recognised as a leader in Islamic finance globally. Amongst his notable accomplishments are the introductions of the world’s first sukuk al ijarah, the world’s first istisna’ sukuk and the world’s first Musyarakah ABS/RMBS. Euromoney named him one of “Global Top 20 Pioneers in Islamic Finance” and he was recently voted “Islamic Banker of the Year” at the Islamic Business and Finance Awards, Dubai and by Islamic Finance News. Under his leadership, CIMB Group has been entrenched as the world’s largest issuer of sukuk, South East Asia’s top Islamic fund/asset manager and Malaysia’s largest retail Islamic bank by branch network. He has successfully transformed CIMB Group into an Islamic universal banking powerhouse providing comprehensive Shariah compliant products and services in investment banking, consumer banking and asset management worldwide in 11 countries under the ‘CIMB Islamic’ brand.
Christopher Chadie
Principal Investments
Rasameel Structured Finance, UAE
Prior to joining Rasameel, Chris Chadie worked in London for Credit Suisse where he was a structurer in the Asset Finance Capital Markets team, working on securitizations for Financial Institutions to achieve capital relief. Transactions he was involved in include Dexia’s WISE 2006 (securitization of a wrapped Project Finance portfolio, GBP 1.5 billion) and Credit Suisse’s CLOCK Finance No.1 (securitization of part of Credit Suisse’s SME loans portfolio, CHF 4.8 billion). Before that, Chris worked in the London Investment Banking arm of UBS, in the Financial Institutions Group. There, he focused on advisory work and M&A transactions for UBS’s clients. Transactions he was involved include BNPP’s 2006 rights issue which financed part of the bank’s acquisition of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro. Chris holds an MBA from ESSEC Business School in Paris. He is fluent in English and French, and has some knowledge of Spanish.
Mohammed Asaria
Managing Director
Rasameel Structured Finance, UAE
Mohammed Asaria is responsible for spearheading Rasameel’s expansion into the UAE and developing Rasameel’s principal investments platform. Rasameel is a leading Kuwaiti investment company, whose business model revolves around Shariah compliant structured finance and investment banking. Prior to joining Rasameel, Mohammed was with HSBC’s Middle Eastern securitisation team since 2005. In this role Mohammed had responsibility for originating and executing the first public rated Middle Eastern securitisation - UAE CMBS Vehicle No. 1 as well as working on securitisation transactions in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. By training, Mohammed is a UK qualified lawyer and he worked in the capital markets and securitisation group of Lovells (both in London and Tokyo) for 6 years. In this role Mohammed developed an expertise for emerging market securitisation and Islamic capital markets transactions - working on a number of high profile transactions, including, the first residential mortgage securitisation in Saudi Arabia. Mohammed has also spent time with Lehman Brothers, London where he worked on a number of UK Master Trust securitisation transaction. Mohammed has a law degree from Trinity College, University of Cambridge and completed his law school at the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice.
Gary Griffiths
Senior Executive Director, Head of Investment Banking
The First Investor, Qatar
Having joined The First Investor in February 2008, Gary is responsible for Investment Banking, which covers Corporate Finance Advisory, Mergers and Acquisitions, Equity Capital Markets (including private placements and IPOs), Debt Capital Markets (Sukuk) and Structured Finance. He has over 35 years banking experience covering a range of products within Capital Markets, Corporate Banking and Trade Finance and has operated successfully in a variety of markets, including Euromarkets (London), Singapore, Australia, the U.S as well as the GCC. Previously, he worked for and has headed product teams/divisions within large international financial institutions that have included NatWest (now RBS), ABN-Amro, Fortis Bank and ANZ Investment Bank. Over the past 4.5 years he has specialised in sharia’ah compliant banking. Prior to joining TFI he was Head of GCC Capital Markets at Gulf International Bank in Bahrain. Gary brings to TFI and its clients a wealth of diverse experiences well suited to deliver a high quality solution driven service.
Gary has a B.A. (Honours) degree from the University of York (UK), is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and a member of the Institute of Export.
Dr. Jamil El Jaroudi
CEO
Elaf Bank, Bahrain
Dr. Jamil El Jaroudi is the Chief Executive Officer of Elaf Bank, an Islamic investment bank headquartered in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He has over 35 years of relevant financial experience, commencing in 1976 as a consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton in the UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
From 1982, Dr. Jaroudi held senior executive roles with Al-Mawarid Group, contributing to its development as a leading business conglomerate and one of the largest employers in Saudi Arabia. He drew upon his combined advisory and business experience to co-establish the Middle East Capital Group in Lebanon in 1996 – the region’s first merchant bank with a pan-Arab focus.
Since 1997, he has devoted his efforts exclusively to support the growth and development of the regional Islamic banking industry. In Bahrain, this included senior positions with DMI Trust, the Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf (IICG), and Shamil Bank. He then moved back to Lebanon, where he was closely involved in establishment of Arab Finance House in 2004.
In late 2006, Dr. Jaroudi returned to Bahrain to assist in the development of Elaf Bank, a specialised Islamic investment bank, of which he is the CEO. With an authorised capital of US$ 500 million and initial paid-up capital of US$ 200 million, Elaf Bank was established in June 2007, and posted a profit for its first six months of operations.
Dr. Jaroudi holds an MBA from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from Kellogg School, Northwestern University, USA. An active supporter of several educational and charitable institutions, and social organisations, he is a Board member of the Beirut Islamic University, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Lebanese American University Institute of Family Businesses.
Mr. Mujeeb Beig
Executive Vice President and Head of Research and Development
Dawood Islamic Bank Ltd, Pakistan
Mr. Mujeeb Beig is currently working with Dawood Islamic Bank Ltd., as Executive Vice President and Head of Research & Development. He has also worked with Habib Bank AG Zurich as Senior Vice President. Besides being a business graduate, he has also passed Chartered Accountant (intermediate level) examination and holds Post Graduate Diploma in Islamic Banking & Finance from Darululoom, Karachi with silver medal/ second position. Mr. Beig has developed many innovative Shari’ah compliant products including but not limited to Shari’ah compliant inter-banks clean product and secured money market product (as substitute for conventional Repo) Shari’ah compliant substitute for zero coupons bonds, Shari’ah compliant substitute for conventional Running Finance/Cash Finance facility, Shari’ah compliant substitute for Local and Foreign bills discounting and credit card as ell. He has presented his research papers at different international forums in Pakistan, Malaysia Singapore Hong Kong and UAE. Upon invitation, he visits to IBA, Hamdard University, Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre of Karachi University, SZABIST, Bahria University, IBP, NIBAF, and other institutes to conduct courses on Islamic Banking and Finance specially and Finance discipline courses generally.
Mohamed Ali Abdullah S. Mussabeh Al Neaimi
CEO
Mawarid Finance, UAE
Mohamed Al Neaimi, Chief Executive Officer of Mawarid Finance and Al Jazeera Financial Services Chairman, was one of the visionaries who were behind developing the concept of Mawarid Finance as the first independent Sharia’a compliant finance company, bringing fresh and innovative solutions to the financing sector in the UAE. He also participated in establishing Dar AlTakaful which provides Islamic insurances products and services.
Al Neaimi who holds an MBA, is one of the UAE’s prominent finance executives and brings nearly 20 years’ experience in banking and finance to Mawarid’s Board of Directors and senior management team.
He has attended intensive courses in broad-ranging subjects, including Anti-Money Laundering Systems & Controls, Effective Measurement of PR & Corporate Communications, Database Management Systems, Fighting Illegal Money Laundering, Selling Financial Services, Supervisory Skills, Foreign Exchange Options, Management Planning, The Essentials of Finance, Business Letter Writing, Laws Related to Banking in UAE, Management Development through Self-Assessment, Investigating Financial Crimes, Anti-Money Laundering, Stocks and Financial Markets, Time Management, Bank Report Writing, and Investment: Fundamentals and Operations.
Al Neaimi learnt the ropes of the banking industry by working as a counter services officer at RAKBANK (the National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah). Within eight months he was promoted to branch manager becoming the youngest person to fill this position in the whole bank’s network. He then went on to manage critical banking divisions such as management, finance risks, internal audit and wealth management amongst others.
His extensive professional experience prior to joining Mawarid included serving in senior positions at the National Bank of Dubai (NBD) for around 10 years, where his roles included serving as Senior Commercial Manager, Senior Manager of Business Development and Planning, Secretary to the Board of Directors and most notably as General Manager – National Financial Services which he played a leading role in establishing, and the General Manager of Aqarat.
During his tenure at the company, Al Neaimi was highly involved in forming many existing PLC companies in the UAE as part of his work at the NFS.
With his broad experience in the financial services industry, Al Neaimi played a key role in the creation of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). He was a member of the research team that participated in presenting the requirements for DIFC’s rules and regulations, based on international standards.
In his current role as CEO, his primary focus is on implementing Mawarid’s strategic vision to be a leader in the development and benchmarking of unique services in Islamic banking, and identifying and actualising new growth areas for Mawarid.
A committed Emirati, Al Neaimi maintains his links to the community by serving as a board member on many scientific and social organisations. These include the UAE Ministry of Health Fund and Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies. He has served as a board member of a local sports club, and was a former member of the UAE Anti-Money Laundering Committee and the UAE Nationalisation Committee.
Al Neaimi served as a committee member of the Central Bank of the UAE, as well as of several federal ministries and local departments. He is also a distinguished public speaker, providing valuable input to seminars and conferences local and internationally.
An important goal for Al Neaimi is Emiratisation, in line with the mandate of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in the “Dubai Strategic Plan (2015)”.
Under Al Neaimi’s leadership, the company has increased the number of UAE nationals in its workforce to 30 per cent and more than 70 per cent of executive positions are held by nationals.
Safdar Alam
Executive Director, Head of Islamic Structuring
JP Morgan Chase, Bahrain
Safdar Alam joined JP Morgan in June 2007 to establish and head the Islamic Structuring business, with responsibility for developing Shariah compliant solutions and structures on a global basis for all business lines of JP Morgan. Safdar has strong experience in developing solutions for a wide range of business lines such as structured investments, treasury, hedging and risk management, debt capital markets and wealth management. Safdar has previously been involved in developing the Islamic finance businesses at UBS and Calyon. Safdar has a BSc in Mathematics and is a qualified Chartered Accountant, and is based in Bahrain.
Dr. Adnan Aziz
Head of Shari’ah Advisory and Structuring
BMB Islamic, UK
Dr Adnan Aziz possesses a wealth of academic and research experience from Pakistan, UAE and UK. Having received formal academic training in the field of Islamic economics, banking and finance from the International Islamic University (IIU) in Pakistan, he has had extensive consultancy and senior managerial industry experience having worked at Dar Al Istithmar as Project Manager.
As head of Sharia Advisory and Structuring at BMB Islamic, Dr. Adnan possesses a unique ability to develop cutting edge Sharia solutions having worked with the industry’s leading thinkers and practitioners. He has pioneered several innovative Sharia financial engineering techniques and has also authored research articles and is a frequent figure at many conferences. His technical skills are complemented by his dynamic leadership skills and he currently manages the in-house Sharia advisory and structuring team.
Dr. Adnan serves as a central channel of communication between the advisory team and the Sharia scholars with whom he regularly convenes meetings and he is the focal point in managing the Fatwa acquisition process. With his excellent quantitative skills and substantial experience of using econometric tools for data analysis, Dr. Adnan is the epitome of the combination of consultancy and Sharia knowledge that BMB Islamic proposes to bring to any organization.
Mark Watts
Head of Asset Management
European Finance House, UK
Mark Watts CFA joined EFH in January 2008 as Head of Asset Management. Mark has 20 years' experience in the fund management industry, having worked with two leading UK fund management groups. Most recently, he was with Morley Fund Management as Head of Global Fixed Income with overall responsibility for strategic asset allocation and the structuring and launch of new funds. Previously, Mark worked for 17 years for Baring Asset Management in London and Boston in a series of key roles. Mark is a CFA charter holder and holds the Islamic Finance Qualification, he and has extensive experience in managing funds and businesses in both bull and bear markets.
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