FIIB's Buyout Strategy for Success (interview)

An interview with Atif Abdulmalik, Chief Executive Officer of First Islamic Investment Bank (FIIB) in Bahrain. The US is an important market for Islamic investments, and there is concern amongst Islamic bankers over increased regulations from the US. FIIB is expanding beyond the US market and into Europe, hopes to target the Middle East and Malaysia in the near future, and is considering offering a private equity fund in a few years. The Shari`a Board has recently declared, at the request of the FIIB, that intellectual property can be categorized as an asset to be securitized. FIIB utilized tradable FIRSAN notes that resemble sukuks to finance transactions. The Islamic banking industry needs to adopt more western financial conventions and move away from a reliance on murabaha, towards more long-term maturities.