Financial engineering and product development from an Islamic perspective go well beyond the basic tenets of conventional finance. The principles upon which Islamic financial engineering and product development are built are deeply rooted in the teachings of Shariah, and in particular, the rulings of the principles of usoul al fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence.

The IFN Asia Forum is the region’s largest Islamic finance gathering. An annual ‘must attend’ business event for Islamic finance professionals from around the world, IFN Asia is a confluence of the brightest and most influential personalities of the industry, bringing quality and relevant discussions to the stage and invaluable networking opportunities.

It’s clear that the most important development from COP was the launch of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero (GFANZ), representing 450 organisations with some USD130 trillion of assets under management. 40% of global assets are now committed to the transition. For a sense of scale, global GDP last year was USD85 trillion.

China's Asset-backed Securities (ABS) market has become the world's second-largest with growing and maturing auto loan ABS, as well as new opportunities in REITs, bank securitisations, and emerging infrastructure PPPs and green auto loans. With more than $200 billion in annual issuance, the Chinese ABS market represents a unique opportunity for those seeking yield and volume.

India’s previous ban on cryptocurrency was overturned in April 2020, leading to a booming cryptocurrency market.

The transition away from the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) to alternative risk free rates will occur in the short term. In order to progress this phase out in an orderly manner, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), on 15 November 2021, issued a circular to all banks under its supervision covering.

Although the preferred playing fields of GCC sovereign investment funds have traditionally been Europe and the US, we now see their sands shifting towards China. This momentum shows no signs of abating. What is more, Saudi Arabia is now ready to make its mark on Chinese equity markets, with a strategic approach to purchasing assets.

In July 2017, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that LIBOR was coming to an end. Banks will be required to transition away from LIBOR to Alternative Reference Rates (ARRs) based on overnight wholesale deposit rates from the end of 2021. Without any doubt, this transition is one of the largest upheavals of the financial markets in living memory.

After years of struggling to launch, Egypt’s Sukuk market has finally taken off with the issuance of the country’s first corporate Sukuk in 2020. The Egyptian House of Representatives has also given its final approval for the draft Sovereign Sukuk Law, which outlines the terms for issuing sovereign Sukuk.

The ideological and political differences between China and the U.S. continue to grow, but the world's two largest economies remain inextricably linked.