Iqbal Asaria

Iqbal is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants. He is a graduate of the Victoria University of Manchester where he also completed his post graduate degree in Accounting and Finance. He was awarded the CBE in the 2005 Queen’s Honours List for services to international development.

Iqbal is an internationally renowned expert in Islamic Finance and a leading figure in the UK Muslim community. He is a key member of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) holding various roles including Special Advisor on Business & Economic Affairs to the Secretary General of the MCB, representative on Working Party set up by the Governor of Bank of England to look into issues relating to launching of Islamic Housing Finance and other products in the UK, as well as the previous Chairman, Business and Economics Committee.

Iqbal speaks frequently at conferences and is the author of several articles on Islamic finance. He has advised HSBC Amanah, Lloyds TSB Group, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership’s (SWIP) Global Equity Shari’a Fund, and The Children’s Mutual (for their a Shari’a compliant Child Trust Fund product). Iqbal is the founder and convenor of the renowned International Takaful Summit held in London till July 2012. The Seventh International Takaful Summit was held in Cairo in February 2013.

Iqbal has extensive involvement in Islamic Finance training in the UK. He is an associate of the Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance (IIBI) and lectures on Islamic Economics and Islamic Banking & Finance at CASS Business School (Executive MBA in Dubai), Islamic Banking, Finance and Insurance at CASS Business School in London, Durham University Summer School on Islamic Finance, Islamic Finance and Banking at Aston Business School, Middlesex University Business School (MSc in Islamic Banking and Finance) and Bangor Business School (MSc in Islamic Finance and Chartered Banker MBA programme). Iqbal is also an accredited trainer for the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) Introduction to Takaful module and also an appointed marker for the CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) certificate and diploma in Islamic Finance.

Iqbal was also an associate of the Third World Network (TWN). In this capacity he served on the Non Aligned Movement’s Expert Group on Debt. He was also the TWN’s representative on the World Bank NGO Committee, which he served as the chairman for three years. As Chair of the MCB’s Business and Economics Committee, Iqbal was appointed to the Department for International Development’s (DFID) Development Awareness Working Group (DAWG).