Islamic financing, banking system on the road to success in Pakistan.

Byline: Khalil Ahmed

PAGE: Tell me something about yourself and your organization, please:

Muhammad Shoaib Ibrahim: I remained Chairman of NBFI and Modaraba Association of Pakistan and have also served as Executive Member on several times. Currently again I am holding portfolio of Chairman of said Association. This is my second time of Chairman of the Association. Presently, I am a country correspondent of Islamic Finance News, Malaysia, also remained speaker, and presented research papers on the Modaraba and other Islamic financial products at different local and international forums.

At present, First Habib Modaraba (FHM) is well positioned in Islamic financial market with sound equity base, highest assets size and strong profitability within entire Modaraba sector of Pakistan. Extensive work experience with Non-Banking Islamic Financial Institutions has given me excellent learning with rich experience of Modaraba sector in Pakistan. This expertise has given me insight into the financial and technical aspects of the non-banking Islamic financial activities.

In my service tenure, I have seen various ups and downs in Pakistan's financial market and also witnessed the emergence of Islamic banking within the country. As I stated earlier, I worked almost in all departments and this experience gave me tremendous support to handle the affairs of FHM in an efficient manner as a CEO of the company.

The non-bank sector constitutes a diverse set of financial intermediaries under various business models. In the presence of robust banking sector with deep resources and offering matching products continues to give strong competition to said sector. Alhamdulillah, at present, FHM is well positioned in the Islamic financial market with a strong equity base, sound assets size and profitability within the Modaraba sector of Pakistan. FHM holds a strong credit rating scale of AA+ in long term and A1+ in short term. Moreover, FHM has secured several awards/accolades on best performance, best corporate report, best corporate disclosure and corporate excellence from reputable bodies, such as NBFI and Modaraba Association, ICAP and ICMAP, Management Association of Pakistan, and SAFA an apex body of SAARC.

PAGE: Kindly tell us about the regulation of the Islamic financing activities?

Muhammad Shoaib Ibrahim: The financial system in Pakistan is playing a vital part for economic development of the country. This system is being headed by State Bank of Pakistan...