QInvest, Luxembourg host workshop to focus on Shariah finance themes

From left: Theobald, Ibrahim, Ahmed and Armstrong:  Promoting Shariah-compliant finance.Luxembourg for Finance and QInvest are hosting an Islamic finance workshop next week in the European country to debate some of the pressing themes in the Shariah finance industry.The event, which will be held November 24, will bring together investment fund professionals, bankers, corporate houses and industry practitioners to discuss sukuk issuance and ways of promoting the Shariah bond market as well as the emergence of Islamic high yield financing as an alternative.The workshop will have presentations from several senior officials of QInvest as Hani Ibrahim, head of Debt Capital Markets; Alexander Armstrong, head of Financial Institutions and Structured Finance; and Dr Ataf Ahmed, head of Asset Management.They will be joined by Luxembourg and international panellists, including the chief executive of Luxembourg Stock Exchange.Highlighting that the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has been a significant contributor to the growth of the Islamic finance sector with its €200mn five-year sukuk last year; Ibrahim said, “At QInvest we continue to see growing interest in Islamic finance, across sukuk and Islamic asset management, as investors look for new means to diversify their portfolios and generate returns.”As the second largest fund centre in the world and home to the world’s leading stock exchange for international securities listings, Luxembourg is today a key centre for the development of Islamic finance in Europe, according to Tom Theobald, deputy chief executive of Luxembourg for Finance. “As in other areas, such as the internationalisation of the Renminbi, Luxembourg has been successful by building on its openness and innovation, as well as its unique expertise in cross-border financial services,” he said.