This 3-day program is brought to you by Islamic Finance Training and is entirely unique. The course will allow you to understand how to develop and implement treasury strategies to overcome challenges and generate returns.

Also covered will be the use of Islamic treasury instruments and derivatives which now play a hugely important part in today’s international financial markets. Investors’ drive for yield, challenging market conditions as well as growth in funds under management have pushed the move towards increased innovation in derivative instruments. The Islamic finance sector is no different and has witnessed enormous development. Derivatives are now increasingly being applied to Shariah-compliant products, which presents exciting opportunities for issuers and investors alike. There are however, crucial concepts to understand in the development of Shariah-compliant products. Through hands-on simulations we will look at what derivatives can and cannot be structured and deployed by a treasury team operating under a Shariah-compliant environment to manage risk and hedge against market shocks.

The course is a hands-on simulation and requires direct involvement from participants. You will be given live data and real-life scenarios, and be expected to develop strategies to manage your exposure and produce yield. The program is competitive and there will be winners and losers!

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Who should attend

COURSE OUTLINE

Rules & Treasury as We know it Today
This session discusses and diagrams key deal flows within the Islamic finance industry to ensure delegates fully understand these transactions. Delegates will also be introduced in detail to the rules and format of the trading exercises.

• Two people per treasury
• Each bank is de novo with $1 billion in assets and capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 8%
• Discussion of deal flow challenges for each bank
• Importance of inter bank relationships

Review of The Basic Tools As Known Today

• Deposits
• Murabahah
• Sukuk
• Arbun
• Wakalah
• Promises
• Structured Notes

Bank Formation / Distribution of Balance Sheets and Memos

• The treasury team will divide into unique banks with similar balance sheets and capital ratios
• Each bank will have a distinctive strategy that will influence the focus of the bank and its treasury
• Each bank may have a unique deposit structure and some may require more inter-bank activity than others

Test Run

• Distribution of first deal memos to each treasury – how to fund
• Explain how the deal impacts your bank

The following session will consist of a series of 90 minute trading periods. Each of these trading periods will represent a “month” and results will be calculated and assessed.

Concept Reminder

• The only Islamic finance slide you will ever need?
• Overview of Islamic contract forms
• Freedom of contract rules compared to emphasis on contract form
• Documentation issues to consider

Syndicated Steel Murabahah Introduced

• Principles of the Islamic instalment credit sale
• Diagramming a sales contract and shifting it into a credit instrument
• Funding sheets introduced

Syndicated Telecoms Ijarah Introduced

• Principles of the Islamic lease methods
• Diagramming Ijarah, Ijarah wa iqtina and “guaranteed” transactions
  

Introducing Alternative Salam Opportunities

• Principles of the Islamic futures methods: is Salam simply a futures or options contract?
• Diagramming Salam and parallel Salam

Central Bank Wildcard

• Central bank introduces Sukuk Al Salam as an open market tool

Introducing Syndicated Istisnah

• Istisnah in the manufacturing and construction contexts
• Differences between Salam and Istisnah

Trade to Manage Your Balance Sheet

Introducing Musharakah, Mudarabah Deals

• What is the difference between Musharakah and Mudarabah and why do they seem to be favored by some Islamic scholars?
• Can the transactions be priced off of top line, intermediate or net profit/loss calculations?

Your Bank Wildcards

• Home finance
• Credit cards
• Autos
• Consumer goods projects
• Deposits
• Funds

How do you pay Depositors?

• Discuss profit-sharing investment accounts (PSIA) and various funds

Trade to Manage Your Balance Sheet

The following session addresses the important role played by Sukuk securities for the treasury function.

Sukuk are All Over

• Many new Sukuk on offer – distribution by worksheet

Do your Sukuk affect your positions? Can you trade?

Client Failure Card

• A major client or two will fail and cards will be distributed to each bank
• How will this affect each bank?

Illiquidity Card

• A surprise central bank inspection will shut one bank
• How will this affect everyone else?

Winner Analysis

• Criteria:
  • CAR
  • profitability
  • balance sheet structure

Course Wrap up & Conclusion

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COURSE FORMAT & WHAT TO EXPECT

The course will be run as both lectures/group discussions as well as hands-on trading simulations.

The course will run from 9.00am to 5.00pm and set up on day one will begin at 8.00am. Please allow yourself enough time for travel and to set up at the course venue. All participants are required to bring along a laptop computer complete with Microsoft Excel, Windows 2000 or later (XP is preferable), with either a CD Drive or USB Port. If you do not have access to a laptop computer we can provide one for you for a fee.

The program is interactive and hands-on. Delegate participation is the key to a productive environment. The environment and dress code will be informal to encourage participation and interaction amongst participants.

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EXPERT COURSE DIRECTOR

Abdulkader Thomas

President & CEO, SHAPE™ Financial Corp. Consultants to the US and international financial community in matters relating to Shariah compliant financial structuring; sub-advisor to the global securities industry with respect to sukuk and other forms of Islamic transactional issuance; and Islamic banking training resource. Clients include University Bank of Ann Arbor, Salam Financial Corp. of Toronto , and others. Principal, AJIF.org, LLC (The American Journal of Islamic Finance www.ajif.org). Research resource for the financial services industry including ISI Emerging Markets; Guidance Financial Group, LLC; Lightbulb Press, iHilal.com, Dow Jones Islamic Markets Indexes; and others. Licensor of REIT screening concept to iHilal Financial Services. Abdulkader has 25 years of diversified financial services experience. A graduate of the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy in international trade, Abdulkader earned a BA with honors in Arabic & Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago. Abdulkader has worked in Bahrain , New York , London and Los Angeles. His areas of activity have included trade finance, real estate finance, securities, and Islamic finance at Citibank, Credit Lyonnais, Sumitomo Bank, Ltd., The United Bank of Kuwait , and MEF Money/Guidance Financial Group.

Abdulkader is responsible for shepherding the first US banking regulatory approvals of Islamic financial instruments for ijarah wa iqtinah and murabahah. More recently Abdulkader secured regulatory approval for an Islamic profit sharing deposit to be applied in the US. Abdulkader also structured the first REIT of REITs structured to allow Muslims to invest in listed US REITs whilst complying with Shariah. Abdulkader has also been involved in the structuring of inbound foreign investment for both the US and the UK. Abdulkader has included supervising marketing and consumer demographics in conjunction with new business launches.

Abdulkader is a frequent speaker on Islamic financial and banking matters. He is the author of several works in the field including Islamic Bonds: Your Guide to Issuing, Structuring and Investing in Sukuk with Nathif Adam ( London : Euromoney, 2004). Forthcoming books include Structuring Islamic Financial Transactions (contracted with Euromoney for early 2006) and Interest in Islamic Economics: Understanding Riba (contracted with Taylor & Francis – Routledge for early 2006).

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DATES & PRICE

Discounts

• Why not take advantage of our special group booking incentive and train a number of your team members at once?  Send 3 delegates to any one course and receive a fourth place completely free of charge.  Further incentives are also available for higher delegate numbers – please contact us directly for more details.

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