The Evolution of the Global Financial System from the Current Crisis: A Report on the Panel Discussion

The Islamic Finance Project (IFP) organized a panel discussion at Harvard Law School on March 16, 2009 in an effort to determine the relevance and merits of Islamic finance principles, in light of current global financial crisis. Given the relative insulation of Islamic financial institutions (IFI’s) from the brunt of the crisis, IFI’s may provide insights into the development of a more stable and morally-sensitive financial framework. The roots of the current crisis run deeply into ethical, legal, and economic issues, As such, only a multi-disciplinary approach can properly discern the foundational issues. Thus, the discussion was intended to provide a platform for robust discussion between various experts and present possible opportunities for a more values-based approach to finance.