special focus S26 THEEDGE M A L AYS I AM A L AYS I A | SEPTEMBER 17, 2012 THE M A L AYS I A

lamic finance,” IDA International Financial Services head Kieran Donoghue points out in a conference call.

The Irish government published a new strategy about the development of the inter-national financial sector in Ireland last year, which refers to Islamic finance specifically, as a new area of opportunity. Last year too, its Ministry of Finance introduced new leg-islation, via the Finance Act 2010, to enable Islamic finance transactions to be treated in the same way as conventional finance trans-actions from a tax perspective.

“So as a government institution, the IDA is now looking closely at the area of Islamic finance. We’re trying to get a clearer under-standing of the opportunity,” he says.

But what has the IDA done? “In terms of practical things, we at the IDA have retained my colleague Dermot O’Reilly, who has a pro-fessional qualification in Islamic finance from the Chartered Institute of Management Ac-countants in Ireland where a number of the textbooks were co-authored by a team of Ma-laysian Islamic finance experts called Amanie Advisors. And it’s through Amanie that IDA has got to understand Islamic finance, espe-cially in Malaysia, in more detail.”

O’Reilly cuts in: “We’ve identified a number of areas that Ireland would be particularly good at in the Islamic finance world and one of them is sukuk origination, particularly for takaful companies. They are looking for longer-term sukuk issuances and one of the assets that Ireland has a very good reputation for serv-icing is aircraft. So we’re looking at aircraft leasing for sukuk. Normal issuances are five years, but that’s not really viable for aircraft leasing. It has to be longer,” says O’Reilly, who is IDA International Financial Services busi-ness development executive.

Michaél Smith, IDA director for Asean, who is based in Singapore, points out that under the country’s New Era initiative, there are certain assets that are for sale from ports to energy companies. “They are potentially syariah-compliant and another area that can be looked at.”

Smith adds that dual issuance of sukuk is another area that can be explored in the fu-ture. Not too far in the future, too. According to sources, there were several Irish govern-ment-linked companies were already visit-ing Malaysia last week to look into this. But, as all the IDA officials say when asked about the possibility: “It’s early days yet.”

At the moment, there are 14 promoters of Islamic funds active in Ireland, including CIMB Principal Islamic Asset Management, and a total of US$1 billion worth of syariah-

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be sending a full contingent to the Global Is-lamic Finance Forum, both to speak, as well as explore business opportunities with local companies and financial institutions.

“A part of our (the IDA’s) job is to explore new geographies and new activities. So, rather T

he Irish are eager to become a major world player in the Islamic finance space, offering Malaysia and other Asian countries a gateway into Eu-rope. With this in mind, the Irish Development Authority (IDA) will

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than confining our marketing and promotional efforts to conventional geographies that we have a strong affinity to, like Europe and the US, we are branching out. Recently, Malaysia came to our attention, especially in the con-text of its efforts to develop into a hub for Is-

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an understanding of the influence of sya-riah in a business context and prepare them to hold key positions in the Islamic finance industries.

Recently, Malaysia Building Society Ber-had (MBSB), Palestine Monetary Authority,

Kano University of Nigeria and UiTM School of Accounting have successfully engaged IB-FIM to assist in training their personnel for Associate Qualification in Islamic Finance (AQIF), the core component of IBFIM’s CQIF. Within the 1st half of the year, IBFIM’s CQIF

already had 70 AQIF graduates, of which 53% were locals. Of the total graduates, 72% were trained in-house.

IBFIM is an industry owned institute that was set up in 2001 to produce talent for the Islamic finance industry. — IBFIM

Driving talent for development of Islamic fi nance

Islamic finance, with its current global value estimated at more than US$1.1 tril-lion, is becoming much more prominent in financial institutions of the world. It is rapidly transforming, from a niche indus-try, into a mainstay of global finance.

It is anticipated that over the next 10 years, an Islamic finance workforce of about 200,000 employees would be required, which is an increase of 56,000 people from the current 144,000 employees.

Today, it is estimated that Islamic finance accounts for some 11% of the total workforce of the financial sector in Malaysia. Indeed, as the industry has entered a new growth phase, it is anticipated that talent training will become even more important, going forward.

To address this issue, the Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM) intro-duced the Certified Qualification in Islamic Finance (CQIF), an innovative training frame-work that provides a progressive structured route to the acquisition of the relevant knowl-edge for the different levels throughout the career of the workforce in the industry.

The framework offers flexibility in learn-ing, as professionals can complete the modules at their own pace in banking, takaful, capital market or wealth management.

Who is the qualification aimed at? The qualification mainly targets profes-

sionals already working in the conventional and Islamic finance industries but is also available for candidates who are looking for career enhancement opportunities in Islamic finance.

The qualification will assure regulators, employers and consumers that candidates and employers can perform their roles according to Islamic banking (syariah) requirements. CQIF is designed to equip professionals with

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compliant assets serviced in that country, says Donoghue.

Smith adds that as a focus area under the new government strategy, the Irish will be looking to expand its expertise in Islamic Finance. “Given that Malaysia seems to be a world leader, there is an opportunity for us to build up educational linkages.”

Donoghue concludes: “Given our specific mandate as an agency that promotes foreign direct investment, we’re using GIFF as a focus, firstly to showcase Ireland’s capabilities to the Islamic finance community in Malaysia, and secondly, to inquire if they would be interest-ed in actually doing some syariah-compliant business in Ireland or through Ireland.” — by Jennifer JacobsAG E

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Irish electricity board plans sukuk issue in MalaysiaThe Electricity Supply Board (ESB), Ireland’s premier electricity utility, recently in Kuala Lumpur to meet with potential investors and service providers as well as senior delegations from Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission, is looking to issue a sukuk in Malaysia, according to O’Reilly. ESB will be applying to Bank Negara Malaysia for the status of “qualified issuer”, after which it will seek to obtain a rating from Ratings Agency Malaysia (RAM) and apply to the Securities Commission for authorisation to issue in the Malaysian market.

With a combination of wealth, a concerted country-wide push to incorporate Islamic Finance into their funding sources, and growing consumer appetite for Shari’ah-compliant financial products, Oman is now the focus of leading global players. The recent decision to open the industry to Islamic Banking and Finance, plus a large funding need has resulted in a new emphasis on Muscat.

With this in mind, Amanie proudly presents the 1st Muscat International Islamic Finance Forum (MIIFF 2012) that will bring leading experts from across the globe to present and share the success stories of Islamic Banking and Finance and to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the Islamic Finance industry.

The Amanie Group consists of an independent Shariah global advisory firm founded on the core values of integrity, transparency, commitment and accountability that serves institutional, corporation and financial institution clients on Shariah, investment banking, legal, capital market, and fund management across offices in Dubai, Luxembourg, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Astana, Cairo, Muscat, Seoul and Dublin.

Highlight:Key-note Address by His Excellency Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia

Key issues to be discussed at MIIFF 2012:

Latest egulations, Market Developments and the Current Issues in Islamic Finance Shariah Perspective on Current Innovation and Development of Islamic Finance

ew Islamic Finance Opportunities in Far Eastern, Europe and Australia Challenges and Opportunities in Islamic Li uidity Management Managing Islamic Asset in ew Markets Prospect, Challenges and arious Approach in Takaful Globally

tili ation of Islamic Fund on Serving a Wider Community Opportunities and Challenges of Islamic Finance on SME Latest Development of Sukuk and its Prospects in 201

ew Structure of Sukuk in ew Markets

M MI F Kuala u u el: +603 2164 1651 Fa : +603 2164 1644 ail: yas i a a ie e us coM F H KH I I Muscat el: +968 22005505/06 Fa : +968 22005504 ail: ahad a a iead iso s co

ii a a ie e us coa a iead iso s co

For more information and registration, visit our official website at miiff.amanienexus.com

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