On 2 October 2019, the UK Islamic Finance Council (UK IFC), in partnership with International Shari’ah Research Academy (ISRA), DDCAP Group, Gatehouse Bank and hosts Clifford Chance, presented “Reimagining Islamic Finance – The London Summit 2019”. The event focused on the role Islamic Finance can and should play in delivering social impact in the markets in which it operates. The event brought together a wide range of viewpoints from the global Islamic Finance industry to explore and debate the topic at hand. Panellists and attendees participated in frank and honest discussions, challenging the accepted norms in the Islamic finance industry and exploring the means by which the industry could move forward in a more sustainable, purposeful and positively impactful way. Topics from the event included: what the Islamic finance industry is doing to demonstrate a social purpose, the opportunity posed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the future of impact sukuk and green sukuk and the role of charitable structures such as waqf to make a positive impact on society.
Distinguishing itself from many other Islamic Finance events, the London Summit 2019 included a panel on impact investing with participants from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and Samak Ethical Financing and ended the day’s events with a panel discussion on the overlap between Islamic and other faith and non-values, bringing into the discussion both the Church of England, the Church of Scotland and the Alliance of Religions and Conservation.
Amongst the many accomplished speakers participating was DDCAP Managing Director Stella Cox CBE who called on those in Islamic finance to not only take up work around the SDGs but also begin to focus on the targets set out for each SDG. Other notable speakers included Dr. Mohamad Akram Laldin (ISRA), Rafe Haneef (CIMB Islamic), Hatim El-Tahir (Deloitte Bahrain) and Ramya Gopalan (International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.