The 2025 SOAS-QFC Annual Public Lecture and Experts' Workshop on Islamic Finance
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Key information
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- Date
- Time
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5:00 pm to 7:30 pm
- Venue
- SOAS, University of London
- Room
- DLT Lecture Theatre, Philips Building
About this event
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The Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (CIMEL), School of Law, SOAS University of London is pleased to announce the 2025 SOAS-QFC Annual Public Lecture and Experts' Workshop on Islamic Finance.
The event is held in partnership with the Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) Dubai, and ISRA Institute, INCEIF University, Malaysia, and kindly funded by the Qatar Finance Centre (QFC), Qatar. The 2025 edition will also commemorate the 20th anniversary of this annual event on Islamic Finance which was commenced at the Havard Law School in 2005.
The aim of this annual event is to advance scholarship and contribute to the debates on Islamic finance and to strengthen collaboration, knowledge exchange and innovation amongst economists, lawyers, shari‘ah scholars and regulators in the field of Islamic finance. Over the years the public lectures and workshops have contributed significantly to the development of industry practices and helped to educate society about the ethical role that Islamic finance can play in modern financial markets.
Rethinking Sukuk-Islamic Bonds
The topic of this year's public lecture is "Rethinking Sukuk-Islamic Bonds: Is the Draft AAOIFI 62 Out of Touch with Reality or Much Needed?" to be delivered by Dr Umar Oseni, Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Arbitration Centre, Member of the Governance and Ethics Board of the Accounting and Auditing Organization of Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), Member of the Financial Regulation Advisory Council of Experts (FRACE) of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and Former Chief Executive Officer of the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM) Malaysia.
In this lecture, Dr Oseni will discuss the proposed AAOIFI Sukuk Standard 62 which has recently stirred much debate, exploring its modern relevance and practicality in the global finance market. The lecture will probe core Shari'ah principles concerning asset-backed structures and the legal enforceability of the proposed requirements. Is this a crucial step for Shari'ah compliance or an unrealistic burden on the industry's growth and contractual flexibility? The discussion will also engage with the question of how will these proposed amendments align with domestic legislations and core legal principles in common law and civil law jurisdictions? The public is invited to join this intriguing debate on the future trajectory of Islamic Bonds.
Experts workshop
The experts' workshop will be held on 26 June. It is a closed event by special invitation only. The workshop will be moderated by Professor Frank Vogel, Legal Consultant on Islamic Law and the Laws of the Modern Muslim World.
