Publisher's Synopsis
This work is a minor revision to my earlier 2013 release on the standardisation of Islamic Financial compliance within a conventional, that is, non-Shari'ah aligned financial services industry. As a twenty-five-year veteran within financial services I first became aware of Islamic Finance when asked to analyse and define how my then employer, Bank of America might enter the market. The need to understand what it was, how it worked, how it differed from conventional finance took me on a steep learning curve which I fully committed to first of all completing the CIMA Diploma in Islamic Finance before choosing to continue my research via an applied research masters through the University of Gloucestershire.My research had highlighted that there was a viable alternative to the interest based, risk adverse system that had operated for hundreds of years, that it was viable but I was puzzled as to why there was very little take up away from the relatively small footprint of specialist operators. The banks are always looking for new markets and product lines so why was the interest low? It became evident rather rapidly that an ethical stance was mired in confusion and complexity and that operating costs were going to limit any risk-reward conversations that one might typically have had. The lack of consistency across the industry coupled with a number of high-profile cases only deepened the curiosity.In order for Shari'ah compliant financial services to enter the mainstream a root-cause analysis was required which ultimately led me to understand that whilst there is little to no consistency of standards and conflicting accounting policies, product design and sustainability was almost impossible. This book is a summary of my findings back in 2013 as to the possibilities for standardisation.I hope you find my research and findings not only interesting but also informative as to how parity might be achieved in the future.
