The Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration (QICCA) at Qatar Chamber kicked off its inaugural ‘Legal Week’ Sunday with a webinar on ‘Islamic banks and means of dispute settlement’.
The virtual event, which will run until April 1 through video conferencing, featured informative presentations and discussions examining many topics and issues related to arbitration.
Moderated by Dr Asma al-Qaradaghi, the first session gathered the participation of prominent legal experts and arbitrators. Addressing the webinar, Dr Ali Mohi Eddin al-Qaradaghi spoke about pros and cons of arbitration in Islamic banks, noting that arbitration “leads to an amicable settlement between parties of the dispute.”
He also discussed the obstacles facing arbitration in Islamic banks, stressing the importance of adherence of arbitration parties to arbitration awards especially that it does not contradict with the principles of Islamic Shariah. Al-Qaradaghi stressed the importance of adding improvements in arbitration contracts in Islamic banks.
Professor of Islamic economy at Mohammed V University in Morocco, Dr Abdel Salam Balaji, talked about the experience of Islamic banks in Morocco with a reading in the banking law, noting that Islamic banks started in 2013 after the endorsement of the Moroccan banking law, which constituted a legal frame of Islamic banking, terming them as ‘participatory banks’.
Balaji also discussed the importance of encouraging scientific research in the field of Islamic economy and finance, and benefiting from previous experiences and institutions specialising in Islamic finance, indicating that laws related to microfinance shall be issued to encourage youth and entrepreneurs.
During his presentation, professor of economy at Istanbul University Dr Ashraf Dawaba discussed the development of Islamic products. He said these are intended to create Islamic financial products with new characteristics for customers, noting that this requires real will from the senior management of institutions, effective research management with professional, economic, and legal cadres, and the use of financial technology.
Dawaba also said there are more than 20 Islamic financial products in the market other than services.
For his part, partner manager of Qutoof Consultancy Company, Dr Shaaban Mohammad Islam al-Barwari, spoke about ‘legal sukuk and controls and their effects on the infrastructure’.
Barwari stressed that Qatar enjoyed a successful experience in the issuance of sukuk, adding that it had issued $700mn global sukuk to finance the construction and development of the Hamad Medical City. He said sukuks provide many advantages for governments and investors in terms of sharing commercial and operational risks.