E’temad Islamic Finance the first advisory aimed at the globalization of Sharià compliant finance and banking, has been launched in the Dubai International Finance Centre, UAE. The Company has its head office in the Monarch Towers, Dubai and a representative presence in the UK, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and China . E’temad’s primary objective is to contribute actively to the development and regular use of Islamic finance in global financial markets. The Company caters for: - international users of capital intending to access the Islamic capital markets; - Islamic finance institutions and banks proposing to develop, structure and launch new Sharià compliant products, services and business units; and - Investors and providers of funds wishing to ensure that the international acquisition, project financing, joint venture and trade based transactions offered to them are structured, organized and managed in keeping with Sharià rules and principles. In the course of its activities, E’temad focuses on bridging the gap between the reporting and regulatory standards presently used in Islamic finance and banking and the international accounting (IAS) and financial reporting standards (IFRS) obligatory in the global financial markets. E’temad is sponsored by investors from UAE and UK. Its directors are Hammad Ali ex-Chase Manhattan and presently adviser to Swiss and UK financial institutions; Oxford educated Rhodes Scholar Jehangir Masud ex-Lazard and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; Khalid Nazir also an Oxford graduate, ex-UBS and Abu Dhabi Islamic bank; and Shaaukat Haq, Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, ex-Price Waterhouse and ENI group . E’temad’s team of consultants is drawn from Europe and the US as well as countries which have mature and highly regulated Islamic banking and finance sectors. ‘Islamic finance risks losing credibility if it is allowed to be hijacked by unscrupulous market operators and inventive interpreters of Sharià’ says Shaaukat Haq .‘ Islamic finance must only be practiced in the spirit of ‘Sunnah’. You have to be a believer and not a usurper who uses cleverly concocted Islamic ‘wrappers’ to cut a share of the $700 billion market. ‘Riba’ by any other name is still ‘riba’. We are committed independently to assuring the providers of funds, that the Islamic banking products and financial instruments offered to them comply with the tenets of Sharià not only in word but more so in spirit’
