This was the crux of a round table titled’ Education in Islamic Finance: Eco System in Canada’ held on the sidelines of the 20th Edition of the World Islamic Banking Conference being held in Bahrain.
Canada made a debut at the WIBC 2013 as part of its strategy to seek better interaction with the banking institutions specialised in Islamic banking and finance as well as sharia’ah compliant products and services.
Ambassador of Canada to Bahrain Thomas Macdonald was among the panelists who shed the light on the Canadian financial sector and it keenness to learn and replicate the best practices in the Islamic banking sector.
“The success of Canadian financial sector with almost zero per cent of failure rate of financial institutions speaks volume of sound regulations of the system. Similarly, we are seeking the best practices in the Islamic financial sector and all efforts were on to help and facilitate the growth of the Islamic banks in Canada,” Jeffrey Graham, Partner at Borden Ladner Gervias told the audience during the discussion.
“There has been no failure in the banking history of Canada for a very simple reason for establishing such an institution the bar is very high. This means the regulators requirements in terms of liquidity and higher capital help in creating a sustainable business entity,” Jeffrey added.
The panelists also included Walid Hejazi Associate Professor in Business Economics, Academic Director Executive Programmes at Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto and Janet Ecker President and CEO at Toronto Financial Services Alliance.
Dr Hejazi highlighting the importance of the education in Islamic finance said a strong depth of knowledge would help to facilitate growth of Islamic finance.
“The necessary knowledge is must for creating a sustainable business model for the Islamic banking and finance in Canada,” he added.
Ambassador Thomas Macdonald said that the embassy in Riyadh, which is also responsible for Bahrain, would continue to assist any if any potential query arises in Islamic banking.