Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
I worked extensively on corporate finance issues with ABC, which was then a newly incorporated subsidiary. In 1994, I became the associate director of ABC Islamic Bank responsible for syndication and marketing.
I then joined The International Investor (TII) Kuwait in 1998 in the structured finance department working on project finance, asset-backed leases and a broad range of Islamic investment products.
I am the chairman and managing director of Rasameel Structured Finance, which is a capital markets-focused investment company supervised by the Central Bank of Kuwait.
My greatest achievement was helping Rasameel overcome the financial crisis with a solid financial position and intact reputation. I believe that survival is the name of the game at this stage.
It depends solely on the client’s requirements. However I believe that investors in the current market conditions prefer asset-based income generating assets for security purposes or sovereign issues.
The strength of our business is being client-driven, reputation and client’s trust.
The factors are prudence and putting the client first as well as being a niche player in the debt capital market.
The obstacles are scarcity of liquidity, cautious investors, lack of established legal framework and appropriate corporate forms.
We believe that Islamic finance will continue to grow, especially in new frontiers such as France and Germany where there are large Muslim communities.
Also Islamic finance will continue to co-exist with conventional banking in Muslim countries as well as see an increase in product offering.
Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance.
The lack of cooperation between Islamic financial institutions.