Dr Mohammed Burhan Arbouni has several years experience in Islamic banking and finance, and he is an expert in the field of Islamic banking and finance. As a founding member of GIIBIC, Dr Mohammed vision is to use his expertise in sharia and Islamic banking and finance to contribute to Ghana socio-economic, and Islamic development. Dr Mohmmed currently is the head of shari’a compliance of Al Salam Bank of Bahrain. He has several experiences prior to Al Salam Bank. Dr. Mohammed was the Shari’a Head and Shari’a Board member of Seera Investment Bank B.S.C Bahrain, Head of the Shari’a department at Kuwait Finance House Bahrain, and has worked as a Shari’a researcher and consultant for the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) in Bahrain. He is a respected lecturer on Islamic banking and finance, and provides consultancy on orientation and professional programs for a number of professional and educational institutions. Dr. Mohammed was also a member of the Islamic Money Market Framework (IMMF) steering committee, a committee initiated by the Central Bank of Bahrain for the management of liquidity amongst Islamic banks. He holds a PhD in comparative law with a specialization in Islamic banking and finance and a Masters in Comparative Laws with specialization in Law of Evidence from the International Islamic University Malaysia, a BA degree in Shari’a, and Higher Diploma in Education from the Islamic University, Medina.

Mufti Ismail Ebrahim Desai is an internationally reputed shariah advisor and investment banker who currently serves a special advisor to various Islamic financial institutions, Islamic Banks, investment entities, and educational institutes around the world. Mufti Ismail has developed various Shariah auditing, governance and risk management standards for Islamic financial institutions and has issued several thousand expert legal opinions (fatwas) with a special focus on Islamic finance and economics. Mufti Ismail has attended and delivered papers at international conferences and has created the first ever Shariah Compliant models for leveraged/structured finance and currency trading. Mufti Ismail has conducted deal advisory of over 4 Billion USD on a range of transactions including complex mergers and acquisitions, divestments, corporate restructures, bond issuances, corporate capital raising, cash management, derivative, structured finance and IPO/LBO/MBO transactions. He is the chairman and advisor to various banks, financial institutions and global funds. He has appeared on various prestigious media such as Bloomberg and Reuters. The Mufti holds an MA, Islamic Banking, MA, Islamic Theology and BSc Banking from the London School of Economics (LSE) among other honorary academic qualifications.

Mufti Barkatulla is a prominent Shariah scholar with a strong background in Economics and Finance. He is a member of the Shariah Supervisory Committees of several Islamic financial institutions including United National Bank, Alburaq of Arab Banking Corporation London and Lloyds TSB. He is also a member of the Islamic Shariah Council. Mufti Barkatulla initially graduated in Islamic Studies at the famous Darul Uloom, Deoband, India where he was also trained as a Mufti (qualified to issue Islamic authoritative edicts) in 1974. Moving to London in 1979, he pursued his studies and attained both BSc (1985) and M Phil (1992) as one of the Shariah Judges at the Islamic Shariah Council, Mufti Barkatulla has wide experience of dealing with socio-cultural issues affecting Muslims living in the UK.