Speakers

 Rodney Wilson

 University of Durham, UK

 International Centre of Education in Islamic Finance, Malaysia

Prof Wilson is a holder of IDB prize in Islamic Banking and Finance 1435 H, 2014. In 2009-10 he has worked with Central Bank of Qatar on monetary policy and prudential ratios. He has been an advisor on Shari’ah governance, Islamic Financial Services Board, Kuala Lumpur in 2007-9. Prof Wilson has been a member of GTZ team, Ministry of Planning, Riyadh in 2003-4. Find his detailed profile here.

 

 Sheikh Bilal Khan

 UK Catalyst at UKTI 

 Co-chairman, Dome Advisory

Sheikh Bilal Khan is an English qualified lawyer from a ‘Magic Circle’ law firm and first Islamic Scholar to be recognized as a Freeman of the City of London. He is a special adviser on the Middle East Association Board, works in collaboration with the UKTI, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and The City of London Corporation. Sheikh Bilal is a Vice Chairman of the International Panel of Mosaic (Prince of Wales Trust) and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of International Bankers.

Sheikh Bilal is a holder of numerous awards which include ‘Religious Advocate of the Year’ 2013, 'Oxford Visiting Fellow of Islamic Finance' 2012-2013, ‘Young Takaful Scholar of the Year’ 2012 and ‘Zaki Badawi Shari’ah Scholar of the Year’ at the 2011 London Sukuk Summit. Find his detailed profile here.

 

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 Zamir Iqbal, Ph.D.

 

 

Lead Financial Sector Specialist at the Finance and Markets Global Practice of the World Bank. He heads the World Bank Global Islamic Finance Development Center in Istanbul. He has more than 20 years of experience of risk management, capital markets, and asset management at the World Bank Treasury. Islamic finance is his research focus and he has co-authored several books on Islamic finance on the topics of banking risk, financial stability, and risk-sharing.  His latest co-edited book, "Economic Development and Islamic Finance" was published by the World Bank in 2013. He earned his Ph. D. in international finance from the George Washington University and serves as Professional faculty at Carey Business School of Johns Hopkins University.

 

 Mark Mulcahy, UCC

 Senior Lecturer,Accounting & Finance

 

Dr. Mark Mulcahy, CFA is a Senior Lecturer in Corporate Finance the Department of Accounting, Finance and Information Systems, University College Cork (UCC).  Dr. Mulcahy holds first class honours B.Comm. and M.Sc. Degrees and a Ph.D. in Finance from the National University of Ireland (Cork).  He is Academic Director of the M.Sc. Asset Management Degree and Co-Director of the B.Sc. Finance Degree at UCC and is/has been the external examiner to the Ulster Business School (University of Ulster), The School of Professional Finance (University College Dublin) and Liverpool John Moores University.

His primary research interests are in valuation, corporate governance, earnings management, corporate finance, Islamic finance and private equity. He is published in international peer-reviewed journals including the British Journal of Management, Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Corporate Governance: An International Review, as well as the International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, among others.

Dr. Mulcahy also has significant industry experience.  Prior to joining UCC he held positions at Prudential Volpe Technology Group and Wedbush Morgan Securities (fka Pacific Growth Equities) in San Francisco and Investec in Dublin.  At Volpe and Pacific Growth he was an investment banker and senior equity research analyst with primary research coverage responsibility for the technology and software sectors.  He was lead analyst in numerous initial public offerings, secondary offerings, venture capital and private equity transactions, raising in excess of $1.5 billion in capital for early stage and small/mid. cap. firms in these sectors.

Dr. Mulcahy is a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), a member of the CFA Institute and also holds an Islamic Finance Qualification (IFQ) from the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment (CISI) in the UK.  He is a consultant to Enterprise Equity Venture Capital as well as several national and international financial education companies including the Institute of Banking (IOB) and the Life Insurance Association (LIA).

 

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 Simon O’Neill

 Partner, McKeever Rowan, Ireland

 

Simon O Neill is a Senior Associate Solicitor in the Banking/Financial Services And Regulatory Team in McKeever Rowan. Simon is admitted to practice as a Solicitor in Ireland and holds a Bachelors Degree in Business and Legal Studies, Diploma in Applied Finance Law and Diploma in Islamic Finance.

Based in the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin's city centre, Simon advises a broad range of financial services providers, multinational companies, micro finance and social lending entities. Simon has extensive experience advising on secured lending, asset finance and acquisition finance transactions on behalf of banks and borrowers. Simon has advised clients in relation to the Commission of Inquiry into the Banking Sector in Ireland (Nyberg Report) and other inquiries conducted in to the causes of the financial crisis in Ireland.

Simon is the Senior Solicitor in charge of the Islamic Finance practice in McKeever Rowan and a strong advocate of the opportunities for Islamic Finance in Ireland.

 

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 Omar Shaikh

 Executive Board Member of the Islamic Finance Council UK

 

Omar is a Chartered Accountant by profession and specialises in Islamic finance and private equity. He is an Executive Board Member of the Islamic Finance Council UK (IFC) and leads the organisation’s activities in the arena of government policy advisory.


Omar’s background includes working with Ernst & Young UK as the firms Subject Matter Expert for Islamic finance. At EY he also worked within the UK Private Equity team providing financial due diligence and the multi-award winning Islamic Financial Services Group in Bahrain developing operational frameworks for new Islamic banks.


Omar has been extensively involved in the UK Government’s development of Islamic finance through the UKTI and HM Treasury Committees. He has lectured at multiple global conferences and universities and is involved in development initiatives relating to Waqf , shariah governance and Islamic microfinance. Omar is also an investment director at RHT Partners, an independent private equity investment manager based in the UAE.


The IFC is a not-for-profit body established to promote the Islamic finance industry focusing in the areas of: 1) advising government agencies on Islamic regulatory frameworks; 2) shariah assurance and developing scholars; 3) executive training and capacity building; and 3) community education and awareness.

 

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 Martin Moloney

 Head of Markets Policy at the Central Bank of Ireland

 

Martin Moloney is the Head of Markets Policy at the Central Bank of Ireland. In that capacity, Martin is responsible for the formulation of policy in relation to the prudential supervision of investment firms, UCITS and Alternative Investment Funds and Market Infrastructure. He is a member of the European Regional Committee of the International Organisation of Securities Regulators and of the IFSC Funds and Asset Management Working Groups.

Martin was previously Head of the Markets and Stockbroking Supervision Division, which he established in 2006 and where he was responsible for the prudential supervision of stockbrokers, Primary Markets and Secondary Market Supervision including market abuse, transparency and transaction reporting.

Martin represented Ireland on the EU Committee of Securities Regulators (“CESR”). Prior to moving into securities regulation, Martin established the Legal and Enforcement Division of the Central Bank. As Head of that division he put in place the administrative sanctions enforcement regime and the levy system under which regulated entities contribute to the cost of regulation. He was also a member of the Company Law Review Group.

Martin spent ten years working in the Department of Finance where he held posts with responsibility related to the oversight of national and semi-State debt management and the sale of State banks. He has also worked on law enforcement issues in the Department of Justice and the Competition Authority.

Prior to joining the public sector in Ireland, Martin worked in London with Barclays Bank and Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking. Martin holds a PhD. in philosophy and a Master’s Degree in Economic Policy from TCD and a postgraduate diploma in arbitration from UCD. He has also competed professional examinations of the Chartered Institutes of Bankers and Arbitrators. He is a member of the board of the Firestation Arts Studio.

 

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 Edward Donelan

 Adjunct Professor in the Sutherland School of Law, UCD

 

Edward Donelan is a barrister, qualified in Ireland and the United Kingdom, Wales.  He worked with the OECD from 2004 to 2015 in 40 countries and has extensive experience of regulatory management (policy making and legislative drafting) and the development of better regulation policies.

From 1999 to 2004 he was Director of the Statute Law Revision programme of the Irish Government managed a programme to review legislation enacted and in force in Ireland between 1215 and 1922. Prior to that he worked as a parliamentary counsel and drafted legislation over a wide range of policy fields. He is the author of a number of books and other publications.

Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Law University, College Dublin and is a special counsel to the Government Legislation Office in Croatia and is engaged in projects with the Governments of Armenia, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen.

 

 

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 John Havel

 Managing Partner, Havel Accounting

John Havel B.Comm., M.B.A., C.D.I.F., F.C.M.A. is a qualified accountant with a Masters degree in change management and cash flow cycles. A recognised expert in Islamic Finance, John specialises in the development, implementation and management of domestic and export sales initiatives, and holds Diplomas in Advanced Finance from the Irish Management Institute and Islamic Finance from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.