David Stringer-Lamarre, within his role as Chairman of the Institute of Directors, City of London, was pleased to be the panel moderator for this joint event between IoD City of London and the British Malaysian Society.

The welcome speech was delivered by Dato’ Anthony Cooper, Chairman of the British Malaysian Society.

Lord Sheikh of Cornhill, Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Islamic Finance spoke about the work of the Group. He also commented that the UK could export more of its expertise within Islamic Finance and that this was a growth area post-Brexit.

Dato’ Faiz Azmi, Chairman of PwC Malaysia provided excellent descriptive coverage of Islamic Finance. He then noted the increase demand for Islamic Finance products and said that the market would double by 2050.

Andrew Gosnay, Head of Banking & Finance, Laytons LLP noted that the UK is innovative and is the centre of the western market for Islamic Finance. He mentioned that has a deep talent pool that understands the market and that the UK was a very good place to invest in, with low lega risk.

Iqbal Asaria CBE, Islamic Finance Specilaist mentioned that the English Common Law system was very useful for Islamic Finance. With respect to post-Brexit he noted that Commonwealth countries such as Nigeria and India could be growth markets. Insurance and Islamic Finance was discussed.

A lively and engaging comments and questions session followed.

Image: Right to left; Mei Sim Lai OBE DL, Lord Sheikh & David Stringer-Lamarre