I would like to turn my attention this month to area of our business that is gaining in traction and requires considerable thought, analysis and attention. This relates primarily to technology, otherwise known as FINTECH, and how it relates to the real world and the real economy. I must confess that, as someone in their 60's, I cannot claim to have any particular expertise in this area. However, I would like to make some observations (based purely on my experience) and to promote not only a discussion but also to speed up the process of realisation.

The subprime crisis that peaked in 2008 has pushed the world economy into the deepest recession since the end of World War II. As doubts mount over the proper functioning of the conventional banking and finance industry during the crisis, growing attention is being given to Islamic banking and finance. Headed by Iran, Saudi Arabi, and Malaysia, Islamic finance has penetrated more than 65 countries around the globe. By the end of 2013, Islamic financial assets were estimated to be around US$1.3 trillion to US$1.5 trillion. Although Islamic assets are roughly less than 1 percent of global financial assets, their rapid growth, especially in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, and their superior performance during the crisis have led many to believe that Islamic finance is a viable alternative. The rapid growth of the Islamic finance can be seen in various regions of the world. To provide perspective and an overview of the Islamic finance industry, key developments of the industry for various regions are highlighted in this introduction.

This Eaglemont Career Book on Islamic finance consultancy aims to paint an accurate and in-depth picture of the good, the bad and the downright challenging aspects of the work to give the reader the best possible picture of what lies ahead if they decide to pursue a career path that takes them towards this destination. The intention throughout the book is to answer the same questions that jobseekers and students might ask themselves.

This book looks at Islamic finance from the perspective of the consumer who has to make very important financial decisions throughout his or her life. It provides timely and highly relevant lessons on the: principles of Islam that form the bedrock of Islamic finance; similarities and differences between conventional and Islamic finance transactions; and types of Islamic financial products and the various contracts underlying them.

Interview session with Daud Vicary Abdullah, President & Chief Executive Officer of INCEIF on "Issues in Islamic finance: starting up an Islamic financial institution in China".

This paper discusses a global overview of liquidity management in institutions offering Islamic financial services. It also investigates the challenges and issues which impact on an effective liquidity management process. The main challenge and issue with liquidity management is to make it a globally accepted process by having global standardisation. This would promote transparency as well as familiarity within the Islamic finance industry. Our findings show that there are still many gaps to be filled, especially in the area of Shari'ah-compliant liquidity management schemes, cross-border liquidity market and infrastructures, availability of adequate short-term financial instruments, robust standards of documentation, product, process and accounting, uniformity in tax, legal and regulatory frameworks, an integrated payment and settlement system, as well as integrated liquidity monitoring and supervision. It is well accepted that liquidity management is the life-blood of a business process. Therefore, it is crucial to have a globally accepted process in order to develop a high-quality liquidity management framework. As such, creating awareness through education, having the right perceptions about Islamic finance, and having sufficient cross-border liquidity will bring liquidity management to the next level.

This month I would like to focus on an area that I consider of great significance and one that I have written about frequently in the last year or so. The focus is the alignment of Maqasid al Shariah with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is a topic that I have commented on several times before in this column and I should like, with your indulgence, to give you the latest thoughts and updates that I have been having in this area after several related meetings in recent days. During the last month or so I have had several discussions with a couple of very prominent and globally recognised scholars. Both have expressed concerns, as I have, that the scholars in general, are less relevant than they should be in the current day and age. Indeed, both have commented on the fact that the Shariah Boards are starting to look like Fatwa factories, when they should be looking more closely at the outcomes of their decisions, particularly with regard to alignment with global SDGs.

Interview session with Daud Vicary Abdullah, President & Chief Executive Officer of INCEIF on "Perspective on Islamic finance: Islamic finance 2.0".

Economists typically divide the overall macro economy into two sectors, the real sector and financial sector. The real sector represents the productive capacity of the economy and produces the goods and services that accounts for a nation's GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The financial sector on the other hand serves to provide the financing needed by the real sector to produce the goods and services. Islamic economics requires that all financial returns be anchored in real sector returns. For an economy to function optimally, both the real and financial sectors need to function optimally.

Islamic finance as an alternative. Islamic financial sector is in a unique position to promote financial innovation and bring stability to global finance, as long as it is correctly nurtured and developed internationally.

Economic and financial crimes, defined generally as crimes against property, have been increasing rapidly in recent years. In the 2014 Global Economic Crime Survey it is noted that among the 5,000 business organisations across the world responding, 37 percent report being victims of economic crime, up from 30 percent in 2009. No country, society, culture or community has been immune. The financial crisis focused attention on elite white-collar crimes while empirical research was pointing to another alarming development: “the everyday crimes of the middle class”, committed by those “[...} at the very core of contemporary society” (Karstedt and Farrall, 2007).