Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
My interest in Islamic finance started when I was pursuing my PhD at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London and whilst I was lecturing at the International Islamic University Malaysia.

I then saw the potential of Islamic finance when I was a Visiting Fulbright Fellow at Harvard Law School. Upon my return from Harvard I then accepted the offer to practice initially at Baker & Mckenzie (Singapore) and then subsequently to my country of origin, Malaysia, at Zaid Ibrahim & Co.

What does your role involve?
I lead the Islamic finance practice at Zaid Ibrahim & Co and my work involves inter-alia, providing legal advice to Islamic finance structures and documents generally.

What is your greatest achievement to date?
To me, my greatest achievement was to co-author the first book dealing with the legal aspects of Islamic finance entitled “The law and practice of Islamic banking and Finance”.

Which of your products/services deliver the best results?
Being a law firm, we have been able to provide legal advice on various pioneering structures and Islamic financial instruments.

However, the best service we provide is through our associate company, ZI Shariah Services that has been approved to provide inter-alia, legal as well as Shariah advice generally. This is fairly new and innovative.

What are the strengths of your business?
We have lawyers that are trained in both the law and the Shariah, and most of them are able to converse and draft in Arabic.

That in itself to me, is an advantage and enables us to compete globally.

What are the factors contributing to the success of your company?
Our firm believes that Islamic finance is an international phenomenon and as such we have established offices in Singapore, Jakarta and Bangkok. We have also established a Middle Eastern Desk to cater for clients from GCC countries.

Our business case is therefore we should export our services, in line with the Malaysian government’s initiatives.

What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
I must say it is the human capital element. I have seen a brain drain from Malaysia and I have my ex-lawyers now practicing in the Middle East as well as in Europe, particularly in London.

From a positive view, it’s a validation of the exposure and training they receive whilst they were in our firm. I guess it means that we have to train more lawyers!

Where do you see the Islamic finance industry, maybe in the next five years?
I believe that Islamic finance will be have a much wider global perspective in the future and will complement conventional finance.

I therefore foresee a more generous slant towards ethical finance and as such, enormous potential for Islamic finance.

Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance?
The industry is evolving, and as such there are a lot of milestones to be achieved. However, the one area that I hope we can focus on is the establishment of a Shariah professional/accreditation agency or association. It should be similar and in line with professional accounting and legal bodies, complete with modules, exams and syllabus. That, to me will facilitate the further growth of this nascent industry.

Zaid Ibrahim & Co. is the largest law firm in Malaysia with more than 130 lawyers in offices located throughout the country. The firm has successfully developed legal solutions for many of Asia’s largest deals in the private and public sectors. Also, with offices in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand, Zaid Ibrahim & Co. has a regional reach and a distinctive edge on the Asian legal perspective.

The firm also advises governments, statutory bodies, major Malaysian, American, European and Japanese corporations and local and international financial institutions on a wide range of legal matters.