Islamic Financial Services

Abu Dhabi is a prominent player in Islamic finance and is active in markets for sharia-compliant debt; deposit, lending and investment schemes; and risk-management through takaful (Islamic insurance). Acting through the Abu Dhabi Global Market, the emirate’s financial free zone, the sector has access to domestic as well as offshore service providers. Together with the six other emirates of the UAE, Abu Dhabi participates in a national level market, which is the world’s fourth-largest in terms of Islamic finance assets, at $203.2bn. The emirate holds just over 9% of the $2.2trn total global sharia-compliant assets, 72% of which is held by banks. This chapter contains an interview with Khamis Mohamed Buharoon, Acting CEO and Vice-Chairman, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.