Sheikh Abdelkader Amor is a co-founder and CEO of Al Maali Consulting Group. He currently also serves as the Shari’a Board Chairman for United Investment Bank, an investment bank based in the DIFC (Dubai International Financial Center) and is heading the Shari’a consultancy services at Al Maali.
He is a Certified Shari’a Advisor and Auditor (CSAA) from AAOIFI, and an accredited trainer by General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI). He is a regular figure at international Islamic finance events and has spoken extensively at numerous conferences and seminars globally.
Sheikh Abdelkader holds a Masters in Islamic Economics from Umm Darman University in Sudan and a BA in Shari’a from IB University in Yemen. He has undertaken and successfully delivered several projects related to but not limited to the following:
- Establishing Islamic unit/window of banks
- Shari’a audit and Review for several Islamic investment funds
- Establishing the Shari’a framework for an investment bank
- Reviewing Islamic finance products structure and documentation
- Arbitration for Islamic businesses
- Training in Islamic finance
Please tell us about Al Maali Consulting Group, what it is, what it aims for and what are the different segments within it.
Al Maali Consulting Group is an international consultancy firm headquartered in Dubai (Middle East), with branches in Casablanca (Africa) and Belgium (Europe). Al Maali specialises in providing Islamic finance consultancy, business consultancy and training services of Shari’a compliant businesses. Al Maali Consulting Group’s interdisciplinary and internal team is composed of international experts and senior consultants in Shari’a, Islamic finance operations, corporate finance, strategy and business consulting, which enables Al Maali team to deliver end-to-end solutions to our valued clientele.
Al Maali aims at being a leading player in the Islamic finance development, and strives at serving the Islamic Finance industry by an integrated strategy that is formulated as follows:
- Forming a new generation of interdisciplinary competent Islamic finance professionals
- Developing new genuine Islamic finance Shari’a-based products
- Endorsing the Shari’a compliance by enhancing Shari’a governance practices
The different segments within Al Maali are:
Shari’a management services department
Islamic finance consulting department
Islamic finance training centre
Business consulting department
Al Maali Consulting Group has offices in three different countries, please share with us your ownership structure.
Al Maali Consulting Group is a part of United Financial Partners, a holding company registered in Hong Kong. Under this holding group, there are four companies:
- United Investment Bank, an Islamic investment bank based in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)
- Capital Sky Investments, an Islamic investment company in Dubai
- Fast, a fund administration services provider based in Luxembourg
- Al Maali Consulting Group, headquartered in Dubai, with branches in Morocco and Belgium.
Please share with us who are your clients and how have you assisted them.
Our clients are:
- Islamic banks
- Islamic finance and investment companies
- Islamic banking windows
- Conventional banks and finance companies seeking Islamic banking services
- Islamic micro-finance institutions
- Individuals seeking Islamic finance training
We have helped Islamic banks in terms of product development, Shari’a structuring, etc. For instance, we are currently working for Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on a product development project.
Similarly, we are providing Shari’a management services to an Islamic investment bank in Dubai. We have also provided business consulting to Islamic finance companies. In the recent past, Al Maali converted a conventional bank based in Kazakhstan into a full-fledged Islamic bank. On a different note, Al Maali is currently providing services to a big Somalian financial group with international presence, for set up of an Islamic Bank in Somalia. We have also offered a number of Islamic finance training courses to both corporates as well as individuals.
How are you different to other consulting companies and who are your competitors?
We always go for innovative ways instead of confining us to the traditional and conventional ways. For example, we are currently in the process of setting up a Zakat house in a European country.
Our competitors are Islamic finance consultancy companies and other companies which provide Shari’a-compliant business consulting. For example, PwC was one of our competitors in the bid for Zaman Bank conversion project in Kazakhstan.
Al Maali Consulting Group has worked with a number of institutions in converting them into Islamic in different jurisdictions, please share with us your experiences.
Al Maali recently converted Zaman Bank JSC based in Kazakhstan, into a full-fledged Islamic bank. Apart from this, Al Maali also converted an investment bank based in Dubai, into an Islamic investment bank. Converting a bank in Kazakhstan is more complex and sophisticated compared to Dubai. The most obvious reason is the absence of a proper regulatory framework on Islamic banking and finance. On the other hand, the regulatory authorities in UAE are quite supportive to Islamic finance.
Share with the readers of ISFIRE, how do you convert a conventional bank into Islamic with an example.
In general, conversion of conventional bank into Islamic involves the following milestones:
Constituting a temporary Shari’a board:
This Shari’a board approves all the work undertaken in the conversion process from the Shari’a perspective.
Amending or redrafting the documents:
These documents include organizational structure, memorandum and articles of association of the bank, corporate governance code, risk management policies, procedures, etc.
Treatment of current assets and liabilities:
Al Maali provides solutions on how to treat and convert the existing assets and liabilities of the bank, in order to make them Shari’a compliant. The most important factors to be taken into consideration during the treatment of assets and liabilities are
- The assets and liabilities have to be converted into Islamic in such a manner that the customers are not financially affected, so as to retain the clients.
- The treatment or the conversion has to be in line with banking regulations as well as Shari’a.
Developing new products/ Restructuring the existing products:
Developing new Islamic products on the asset side and liability side.
IT Support:
IT system plays an essential role in proper functioning of any bank, and Islamic banks are no exception. As the nature of Islamic banking products and their accounting treatment is different than their conventional counterparts in many ways, Islamic banks need IT system which suits the Islamic products. Al Maali helps its clients in finding the right IT solution for the bank.
Training the bank staff:
The existing bank staff is well versed in conventional banking, however, majority of them are not competent enough in Islamic banking. Al Maali trains the staff of the bank converted on how to conduct Islamic banking.
Accounting:
As there are many differences between the accounting framework of conventional and Islamic banks, in most of the cases the chart of accounts also needs to be modified or replaced in order to suit the Islamic principles.
Set up of the Shari’a Board, Shari’a department and Shari’a audit department:
Al Maali helps the bank in hiring the Shari’a board members, Shari’a auditors and Shari’a compliance officers. Al Maali also provides the policies and procedures required by these departments.
Liaising with the central bank and obtaining approval:
Al Maali liaises with the central bank or the licensing authority for banks in order to fulfill the requirements for obtaining the Islamic banking license for its client.
Al Maali Consulting Group has a lot of focus in training, however access to high-quality talent is a challenge in Islamic banking and finance. How is Al Maali filling this gap?
The training courses offered by Al Maali are designed by industry practitioners as well as academicians. Thus, our training courses are a blend of theory and practice. We include practical case studies in our training courses. Our trainers are industry experts who have plenty of market experience and exposure.
What more can be done to overcome this challenge in the shortest time- frame?
In my opinion, Islamic banks and other Islamic financial institutions have to play a bigger role in the transmission of Islamic finance knowledge. There is a huge gap between the Islamic banking courses taught in the universities and the one practised in the industry.
Islamic banking and finance is seen as mimicking conventional products. Do you think that is the case and how can we improve this image?
Yes, that is the case. However, I don’t think that mimicking conventional products is the main issue. The most important factor is that all the Shari’a conditions have to be fulfilled. When Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) came to Madinah, people used to do Salam in dates, however, there were certain violations from the Shari’a perspective. The Prophet did not stop the practice, rather he rectified the mistake by putting a condition that the Salam commodity has to be qualified and quantified and the time of delivery has to be specified. So shall we say that the Prophet mimicked the practice which was wrong? No. The main element is following the Shari’a conditions for each Islamic contract and product.
On correcting the image, the industry has to follow the Shari’a conditions and secondly, we have to spread awareness about Islamic banking.
What are the short, medium and long terms goals of Al Maali? Are there plans to open offices in other countries?
Al Maali is planning to open offices in Malaysia and UK.
Your head office is in Dubai, a hub for Islamic economy, where a number of institutions offering similar services to you are based. Tell us the challenges of working in this environment.
There are a lot of players in the Dubai market, however, Dubai being at the forefront of Islamic finance market, the opportunities are immense as well. In fact, we believe in capitalising on the challenges and converting them into opportunities. Given the small share we had in the market, we adopted pincer grasp strategy to penetrate the market and provided be spoke and custom-tailored solutions to our clientele.
Al Maali Consulting Group received an award at the Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) 2014 held on 27th October in Dubai, please share your thoughts on it.
It is a great honour and pleasure to receive such a prestigious award. Global Islamic Finance Award or GIFA, as it is known, is considered to be one of the most celebrated and illustrious awards of Islamic Finance industry.
Al Maali Consulting Group is delighted to be the Award winner for the category “Best Islamic Finance Consultancy 2014”. This is indeed a great accomplishment. It is just a reflection of the phenomenal achievements marked by our team by successfully executing some of the highly valued projects around the globe; in Africa, Europe, CIS and Middle East.
I would like to dedicate this award to our committed hardworking team for their devotion and endeavours to make this happen”.
All that Al Maali has achieved would not have been possible without the hard work, commitment and support of your team, please share your views on the team and how do you motivate them as their leader.
The Al Maali team is passionate not only about their job, but about spreading Islamic finance. In order to motivate them, I offer them a friendly and family-like environment for work. This instills in them the teamwork spirit.
Share with us your journey into Islamic banking and finance and how you became a firm believer in the concepts of Islamic economics.
My bachelor’s degree was in Shari’a studies. I studied Shari’a extensively and specialised in different schools of thoughts like Shafai, Maliki, Hanafi, etc.
I completed my Masters in Islamic sciences in Yemen. After completing Shari’a studies, I went on to do an executive Masters in Finance. It was then that Islamic finance fascinated me. I went on to have some professional training courses in Islamic finance like Certified Shari’a Advisor and Auditor (CSAA) from AAOIFI (Accounting & Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions). In 2008, we established Al Maali.
Share with the readers of ISFIRE a typical day of Mr AbdelKadel Amor. How does it start and end and what is on your must do list?
I offer Fajr prayers and then recite Quran for around 30 to 45 minutes after which I normally go to the gym for another 30 -45 minutes. Later, I get ready for the office after having bath and breakfast. Once in the office, I read books and articles related to Islam, including Islamic finance. I start my office work around 8:30 am. At 2 pm I take prayer and lunch break. Normal working hours at Al Maali are 8 am to 4 pm. However, I usually stay in the office till Maghrib. After Maghrib I return home and give some time to my family.
