iAn independent group of Islamic Finance and FinTech practitioners came together on 24 January for the inaugural meeting of the UK Islamic FinTech Panel. The panel aims to create momentum in the Islamic FinTech sector by building on London’s position as a global FinTech hub and as a recognised centre for Islamic Finance.
The panel will be chaired by Harris Irfan, MD of Cordoba Capital, an Islamic Finance and Islamic FinTech advisory boutique. Irfan was previously CEO of Deutsche Bank’s Islamic Finance subsidiary, Global Head of Islamic Finance at Barclays and Head of Investment Banking at Rasmala Group. A recent white paper on the Islamic Finance sector, published by Cordoba Capital and IslamicBanker, promoted the idea of an Islamic FinTech panel as a means to build a community to work alongside existing public sector infrastructure in order to provide support to sharia-compliant FinTech companies.
The Islamic FinTech Landscape published in December 2017, by RedMoney Group found that of the approximately 116 Islamic FinTech firms globally, 18 were founded in the UK, making it the second largest hub for Islamic FinTech after Malaysia with 21. Indonesia has 15 such firms, the UAE has 15 and the US has 14.
In its first year the UK Islamic FinTech Panel will seek to:
- identify the challenges in the sector
- explore tangible avenues to overcome these
- build cohesion in the community
- promote the Islamic FinTech sector
- drive the policy agenda
