Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
My first job was in the petrochemical industry in Pakistan but I have always had an interest in Islamic finance. It began through a course in my MBA in Finance in Karachi. I wanted to learn about what Islamic finance has to offer society at large because finance is such an integral part of any society. Without it, trade would not prosper.
To pursue this interest, I joined the Shariah team of Al Baraka Islamic Bank in Pakistan in 2003. This was where I started to learn the business through extensive discussions and deliberations with the Shariah advisor of the bank that I am very grateful to for sharing his knowledge and still keep in touch with him.
In 2004, I moved to the Islamic banking division of Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB Bank) and was with their corporate relationship management team for about two years. Subsequently, in 2006, I joined the Shariah team of HSBC Amanah.
What does your role involve?
At HSBC Amanah, I oversee the Shariah structuring and Shariah compliance of businesses including retail, corporate, asset management, debt capital markets and treasury.
Specifically, my team works with our colleagues in HSBC Amanah to ensure that the Shariah structures and documentations are as per the standards required by our central Shariah committee.
Also, we ensure that the guidance of the central Shariah committee is communicated and implemented by our colleagues in HSBC Amanah.
What is your greatest achievement to date?
Building a Shariah team that acts as a solutions provider for HSBC Amanah. I have a team of people with diverse backgrounds in legal, Shariah and finance. It is their interest and dedication to Islamic finance that make the output of the central Shariah group most relevant for HSBC Amanah.
What are the strengths of your business?
We have been blessed with Shariah scholars who are not only internationally recognized but are authorities in their own right. Their guidance and endorsement have been pivotal to the success of HSBC Amanah. With their guidance, we have come up with solutions which would otherwise have been unavailable to someone without access to Shariah advice from such leading authorities.
What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
The main challenge is the legal and regulatory constraints that make it hard for Islamic finance to prosper in some countries. These include double taxations, title transfers and a lack of trust laws in many countries that practice Islamic finance.
Where do you see the Islamic finance industry in, say, the next five years or so?
It will continue to grow in even more countries. Now we are seeing places such as France, South Korea and Singapore moving ahead with Islamic finance legislation. I believe Islamic finance will spread to more countries with non-Muslim majorities such as China and India
Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance.
I hope for one binding, cross-border Shariah governance regulator that has authority in all countries that practice Islamic finance. This would help in improving the standards of Shariah structuring and compliance.