Islamic Finance News (IFN) Roadshow 2014 held in İstanbul

Islamic Finance News (IFN) Roadshow was held in İstanbul for the sixth time. The Roadshow has been held since 2009.

Islamic Finance News (IFN) Turkey Roadshow, was held for the sixth time as a result of the cooperation of Borsa İstanbul and Boğaziçi University Center for Applied Research in Finance (CARF) in İstanbul.

The keynote speeches were delivered by Capital Markets Board (CMB) Executive Vice Chairman Tevfik Kınık and Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) Vice Governor Murat Çetinkaya. During the Conference, the latest developments in Islamic banking and finance in Turkey and the world were discussed in detail.

Advancing Turkey’s Progress in the Participation Finance Industry

Following the opening, a CEO session entitled “Advancing Turkey’s Progress in the Participation Finance Industry” was held, moderated by Jawad Ali, Managing Partner, Middle East Offices, King & Spalding; Derya Gürerk, Chief Executive Officer, Türkiye Finans & President, Participation Banks Association of Turkey (TKBB); Khalid Howladar, Global Head, Islamic Finance, Moody´s Investor Service, UAE; Professor Necdet Şensoy, Board Member, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey; and Önder Halisdemir, Chief Executive Officer, Aktif Bank.

Sukuk, Infrastructure and Project Finance in Turkey

The second session, entitled “Sukuk, Infrastructure and Project Finance in Turkey” was moderated by PriceWaterhouse Coopers Corporate Finance Director Aykut Taşel and discussed the opportunities that Turkey offers to market actors for the financing and maintenance of infrastructure projects. The panelists were Alex Roussos, Dentons Partner; Eda Tanyel Topçu, Associate Director, Debt Finance, Capital Financing, HSBC;  Gökhan Cumbul, Board Member, Teleferik Holding; Dr. Serdar Sümer, Managing Partner and Board Member, DCM, Tera Securities; and Tanweer Bukhari, Head of Investment Banking Advisory, CIMB Middle East.

The Turkish Investment Landscape: Trends and Strategies for 2015 

Siti Rosina Attaullah, Head of Islamic Capital Markets, KFH Research, Malaysia delivered a presentation entitled “Islamic Investments in Asia”. Following the presentation, a session entitled “The Turkish Investment Landscape: Trends and Strategies for 2015” was moderated by Sohail Jaffer, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, FWU Global Takaful Solutions. The panelists were Asim Khan, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Khalij Islamic; Avşar R. Sungurlu, Executive Vice President, BMD Securities; Didem Gordon, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Ashmore Turkey; Farid Masood, Director, Head of Advisory Services and Asset Management, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, IDB Group; Giorgio Medda, Chief Executive Officer, AZ Global; and Victoria Clark, Senior Manager, DDCAP.

Following the panel, Dr. Eddy Chong Siong Choy, Director, Finance Accreditation Agency, Malaysia delivered a presentation entitled “What Initiatives Exist to Develop Talent and Human Capital in the Islamic Finance Services?”.

Roundtable Meetings held in the Afternoon

Roundtable meetings were held in the afternoon. The first meeting was entitled “A Discussion of the Year’s Most Prominent Sukuk Deals”, moderated by Rizwan Kanji, Partner, King & Spalding, UAE. The panelists were Hani İbrahim, Managing Director, Investment Banking, QInvest, Qatar; Müfit Arapoğlu, Counsel, Yeğin Çiftçi Attorney Partnership; Mustafa Kahraman, Assistant Vice President, Investment Banking, Kuveyt Turk; Raja Amir Shah Raja Azwa, Associate Director, Debt Capital Markets, HSBC Amanah Malaysia; Sami Bozdağ, Vice President and Head of Financial Institutions, Türkiye Finans; and Sera Somay - Counsel, Paksoy.

The last meeting of the day was entitled “Turkey Real Estate Roundtable”, moderated by Ersun Bayraktaroğlu, Partner, PwC Turkey. The panelists were Didem Erendil, Director, Head of Capital Markets, Cushman & Wakefield; Hüseyin Arslan, Chairman, YDA Group; Özkan Yıldırım, Partner, Deloitte; Prof. Rasim Kaan Aytoğu, Group CFO, Kiler Holding & Member of the Board, Kiler REIT.

A closed meeting entitled “Turkey Dialogue” was held simultaneously with the conference program, and tabled Turkey’s bid to become a center of Islamic investment.