Amjid Ali, senior manager, HSBC Amanah

THE rapid growth of the Islamic banking and finance sector and the steady globalization of the industry have seen a proliferation of institutions offering degree, diploma and training courses in Islamic finance. Next month, Dauphine University in Paris, an economics and finance higher education institution in France akin to the London School of Economics (LSE), is launching its masters degree in Islamic finance. Similarly, Reading University in the UK has signed an agreement with an institution in Luxembourg to offer Islamic finance courses.

Reading University is already jointly offering a one-Year Masters (M.Sc.) in Investment Banking and Islamic Finance in cooperation with the International Center for Islamic Finance Education (INCEIF), the Islamic finance training arm of Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank. Under the arrangement INCEIF provides the curriculum and students spend two terms on the campus at Reading University and one term at INCEIF in Kuala Lumpur. INCEIF in fact has similar programs with universities in Indonesia, Pakistan and Bahrain.

Similarly, HSBC Amanah, the dedicated Islamic finance division of the HSBC Group which has a strong Islamic finance franchise in the Middle East and Malaysia, following a successful first year of partnership, recently agreed to continue its global partnership to promote the CIMA’s (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) Certificate in Islamic Finance. “The expanded collaboration,” says Amjid Ali, senior manager, HSBC Amanah and UK head, “represents an exclusive partnership program to advance the promotion and development of the Islamic finance sector through high quality, relevant and practical training with a focus on practitioners attaining a professional qualification. The partnership will see more HSBC Amanah staff from around the world undertaking the Certificate as HSBC Amanah’s qualification of choice.”

IslamicAdvisory.com, which clams is to be the world’s only Islamic finance training portal, recently launched what it claims to be “the first accredited Islamic finance training certificate available 100 percent online.” Those who pass the exam will be awarded the Certified Islamic Finance Executive (TM) (CIFE-TM).

Another provider, the London-based IFS School of Finance, a registered charity incorporated by Royal Charter, has restructured its finance programs in response to the growing importance of Islamic banking both in the UK and internationally. The IFS School of Finance recently signed a key partnership agreement with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi to deliver the IFS Professional Diploma Program to its banking professionals.

Courses have proliferated elsewhere in Pakistan, India, Indonesia, the US and the Middle East. This has been in response to the growth of Islamic finance and the huge challenge of human capital development to overcome bottlenecks especially in the Middle East markets. Many Islamic banks, especially new ones, are faced with a lack of qualified personnel and expertise, which unfortunately has meant that banks and allied industries such as law firms, auditors and consultancies have indulged in poaching staff from institutions by offering higher salaries and promotions. Bank Negara Malaysia has in fact imposed penalties on financial institutions who engage in this practice, forcing those who do this to pay a portion of the person’s salary to a training and education fund.

But with the proliferation of the above courses, inevitably some of these, as in other areas of education and training, range from the good to the mediocre. Quality control is virtually absent and it is clear that some of the courses are just jumping on the Islamic finance bandwagon to make a quick buck.

“One major problem,” says Agill Natt, chief executive officer of INCEIF, “is there is no uniform standard. There is an urgent need for a global initiative to determine a standard.” — M.P.