Dawood, Majid

(Chief Executive Officer, Yasaar Limited, Dubai, UAE) Dawood is an experienced financial services professional. He has been a key individual in the establishment of Yasaar Limited, the first Shari‘a compliance services company. In his capacity as chief executive of Yasaar, Dawood assists financial institutions structure cost-effective Shari‘a compliant financing structures around the globe. He is a Director of BRR Investments, set up in the early 1980s as the first and largest Islamic leasing company in Pakistan. Prior to setting up Yasaar, Dawood held the position of country representative for Credit Lyonnais Securities (Asia) Ltd as well as capital markets consultant to Credit Lyonnais and Jardine Fleming, advising on privatisation and capital market issues. Dawood has spoken on the subjects of Islamic finance and Shari‘a extensively and has authored numerous articles for industry journals and chapters for books. In 2004, Majid was presented the Deloitte & Touche award for the most innovative Islamic finance product for the Caravan 1 Sukuk. Under his leadership and guidance in December 2007, Yasaar was voted “The Best Islamic Finance Advisory Firm” by the readers of Islamic Business and Finance magazine and again in January 2009. Dawood also established Yasaar Media. Yasaar Human Capital, the Islamic finance executive search and recruitment division, was launched in 2009. Dawood holds a BA in Economics from the University of Massachusetts.