American Express Bank, New York, New York. Robert Friedman is a Senior Director of American Express Bank, responsible for the management and development of private investment banking and Treasury products. He is a Director of American Express Bank Asset Management Jersey and the American Express Latin Funds. He also serves as Chairman of EPIC Mutual Funds and the Islamic Multi-Investment Fund. Friedman has a B.S. in Economics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania.

International Monetary Fund, Washington, District of Columbia. Luca Errico is an Economist in the Monetary and Exchange Policy Analysis Division at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. He received his education from the Bocconi University in Milan and the Stockholm School of Economics. He was previously a Fellow in the Department of Economics at the Bocconi University and a manager at a leading merchant bank in Milan.

The International Investor, Safat, Kuwait. Adnan Al Bahar is currently the Chairman of the International Investor, which he founded in 1992. He started his career in banking and was the General Manager of Kuwait Finance House between 1984 and 1990. Before founding the International Investor, he was the Managing Director of the London-based Al Rajhi Company for Islamic Investments. He was also awarded the “Islamic Banker of the Year” award by the Islamic Banking and Finance Forum in 1997. He holds a B.A.

Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Don Babai is a Research Affiliate at Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES). He is a research coordinator for the Harvard Islamic Investment Study. He was an Assistant Professor in the Government Department at Harvard University between 1984 and 1989 and since then has held research positions at several centers at the University. His research has focused on international financial institutions and policy reform in developing countries. He holds a Ph.D.

Citibank, New York, New York. Shaukat Aziz is an Executive Vice President, presently responsible for Citibank’s Private Bank worldwide. In his nearly 30 years with Citibank, he has held a variety of senior management positions, spanning several lines of business, and has directed the efforts of the corporation in more than 10 countries. Aziz is on the board of several Citibank-owned financial institutions, including Saudi American Bank, Citibank Bahamas, and Citibank Switzerland. Aziz is a frequent speaker on international finance.

Al Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Abdul-Rahman Abdullah Bin Aqeel is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Al Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation and its Shari‘ah Board. He is a noted Shari‘ah scholar and has spoken on numerous issues relating to it.

School of Islamic and Social Sciences, Leesburg, Virginia. Waleed El-Ansary is currently affiliated with the School of Islamic and Social Sciences. His previous experience includes stints at the World Bank, Hal Consulting and Investment Group, and the Paper and Plastic Education Research Foundation of New York. El-Ansary holds an M.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland and a B.A. from George Washington University. He is currently working on a Ph.D. in human sciences at George Washington University.

School of Islamic and Social Sciences, Leesburg, Virginia. Taha Jabir al-Alwani is currently President of the School of Islamic and Social Sciences, which he founded in 1996. He is also the founding member of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and the president of the Fiqh Council of North America. Al-Alwani received his Ph.D. from Al-Azhar University.

Associate Professor of Business Administration, Penn State University; University Park, Penn. Abdullah Yavas is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at Penn State University. His teaching and research focus on real estate, applied microeconomic theory, the economics of information and uncertainty, and experimental economics. He was formerly Assistant Professor at Penn State and has spent time as an academic at the International Black Sea University (Tbilisi, Georgia), the University of Michigan, Bogazici University (Istanbul), and the University of Illinois. Yavas has a B.A.

Principal, Financial Engineering and Risk Management; Concord, Mass. Rudy Yaksick is the Founder and Principal of Financial Engineering and Risk Management, a research and consulting firm. He was formerly a senior consultant to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, where he designed and implemented the Kingdom’s first investment-management accreditation program, and has worked at Chase Manhattan Bank, Boston University, and Clark University. Yaksick has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. in Economics from Boston College. He is completing his Ph.D.