THEMATIC WORKSHOP ON ISLAMIC FINANCIAL INNOVATIONS

(ICIFI 2015)
Turin, Italy
27-28 May 2015

BACKGROUND
Islamic financial markets have gained momentum over the past few decades, by demonstrating the
strong foundation as well as the practicality of the Islamic based-financial industry and the
contribution it can make to the global financial markets. This fast growth of the Islamic finance
industry was mainly due to the increasing demand for Islamic financial products by both
institutional and retail clientele, not only in majority Muslim countries, but also in many minority
Muslim countries, which is a sign of global acknowledgment of the Islamic finance industry.
Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the industry is still operating far below its real potential
level, shown by its current global market size. Thus, in order for the Islamic finance industry to
reach its real potential level, and to maintain its continuing momentum and achieve sustainable
growth, there is a need to develop advanced Islamic financial instruments to enhance the depth
and breadth of the industry. Hence, there is an urgent need for significant innovative efforts for the
Islamic financial industry. This would offer greater economic efficiency through the expansion of
opportunities for risk sharing, reduction of transaction costs, asymmetric information and agency
costs.
In this regard, the process of Islamic financial innovation has been complex and sensitive
as it requires multi-disciplinary understanding of the various shariah and finance aspects.
Furthermore, shariah scholars and shariah Supervisory Boards (SSBs) in different countries use
different approaches for Islamic financial innovation processes. This has resulted in major
differences and gaps in Islamic banking and finance across countries, which has subsequently
contributed in weakening the Islamic banking and finance industry and slowing its progress.
Hence, the shariah applications in innovative Islamic financial instruments and processes across
countries are required to be harmonised, which is the objective that the current thematic workshop
attempts to achieve, notably by establishing a representative framework and body of practical and
theoretical references to reflect the substantial financial innovative efforts in Islamic finance and
their compliance to the shariah principles, taking into account all the above mentioned
differences.

OBJECTIVES
To enrich the theory of Islamic financial innovation.
To highlight the significance of financial innovations in developing Islamic finance
industry and discipline.
To address various issues currently faced by the Islamic finance industry
To assess the current innovative efforts of the Islamic finance industry

CONFERENCE THEMES
The main topics of the conference include, but not limited to:

Assessment of existing Islamic financial innovations from shariah and practical

perspectives.
Islamic financial innovations proposals.
Issues in the financial stability of Islamic Financial Institutions [Thematic
Workshop].
Roles of various stakeholders in the Islamic financial innovations.
Shariah scholars and SSBs and their position vis--vis Islamic financial innovation.

CONFERENCE LANGUAGE
English

PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITY
Selected papers presented in the conference will be published in a special issue of Islamic
Economic Studies/European Journal of Islamic Finance.

PAPER SUBMISSION
Authors are invited to submit their full papers either in English, in Word formats. Submissions
should be made though ConfBay website (http://submit.confbay.com/conf/icifi2015).
Any submissions after the 15th of March 2015 will not be entertained. All the papers
submission are peer-reviewed and the decision notification is made latest by 1st of May 2015.
Both theoretical and empirical papers are considered by the conference. The authors are
required to use the following format:

Length: 10 to 15 pages, Font Times New Roman, size 12, 1.0 line spacing (single space),
A4 paper size, Margins: 1 inch or 2.5cm
Author(s) names, affiliation, correspondence address, and email address should be
provided in title page
An abstract of no more than 250 words should be provided
Between three to six key words should be mentioned by the author(s)
Tables and figures should be placed in their appropriate location in the paper
References should follow APA format

CONFERENCE VENUE
The conference will be held in Turin, Italy.

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IMPORTANT DATES
Deadline for abstract submission
Notification for abstract acceptance
Deadline for full paper submission
Notification of paper acceptance
Registration deadline
Conference dates

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REGISTRATION FEES:
Presenter
Standard registration
Presenter
Student registration
Participant
Standard registration
Participant
Student registration

15st March 2015

20th March 2015
20th April 2015
1st May 2015
10 May 2015
27-28 May 2015.

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300
250
200
150

ORGANISER
The conference is jointly organised by three internationally renowned institutions, namely:
Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI, IDB), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Effat University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

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