Al Rayan Bank’s Head of Sharia Compliance & Product Development authors ground breaking book
Dr Samir Alamad, Al Rayan Bank’s Head of Sharia Compliance & Product Development, has authored a pioneering book entitled ‘Financial Innovation and Engineering in Islamic Finance’. A combination of theory and practical guidance, the book is the first to provide a comprehensive account of religious orientation towards financial innovation and engineering in Islamic financial institutions.
Written primarily for academics; regulators; practitioners in the Islamic finance industry; and banks’ audit and risk managers; Financial Innovation and Engineering in Islamic Finance provides important contributions to existing theories in the financial innovation literature. The book is published by Springer*, a company specialising in academic journals and books, and is available through major retailers.
Speaking of his book, Dr Alamad said, ‘I am often asked “what is Islamic finance?” and my answer is always more complex and encompassing than the questioner expects. Islamic finance is not about providing Sharia compliant products that echo the interest-based products of conventional banks, it is far more than that. It is an all-encompassing approach to financial matters, and I hope to demonstrate with my book that religious, ethical values can harmonise with finance for a better financial outcome; one that benefits everyone in society and minimises any harmful consequences of the banking system.’
This is the second occasion that Dr Alamad’s work has appeared in print. He also collaborated with several academics on the book, Macroprudential Regulation and Policy for the Islamic Financial Industry, which was published last year. Edited by senior researchers from the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), the book explored the current academic and policy research, theory, methodology and applications of macroprudential regulation and policy in the Islamic financial industry. Dr Alamad currently has three further books focussed on Islamic finance in the pipeline.
Dr Samir Alamad is Head of Sharia Compliance & Product Development for Al Rayan Bank, the UK’s largest Islamic retail bank, by assets and one of the fastest growing banks in the UK**.
* Financial Innovation and Engineering in Islamic Finance can be found on the Springer website: http://www.springer.com/gb/book/9783319529462
**Based on latest ‘published accounts as of May 2017. Bank League Tables 2017, a complete financial analysis of all 155 UK incorporated banks, Searchline Publishing 2017