The Islamic Finance Working Group is a small circle of experts, scholars and practitioners alike, which was constituted in 2017. It meets once a year: two or three short keynote presentations of about 15 minutes each on topics in Islamic finance are each followed by a discussion of about 45 minutes. In 2020 the Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law published a special issue on ‘Islamic Finance and Banking’, guest edited by Hatem Elliesie with contributions from many members of the working group. For further information, see here.

In 2023 the fifth meeting of the working group took place in Erlangen. It formed the centrepiece of the annual conference hosted by the FAU Research Center for Islam and Law in Europe and the Society, which focused on Islamic insurance (takāful).

In 2022 after a pause of a year caused by the pandemic, the fourth meeting of the working group took place at the law firm Fieldfisher in Frankfurt am Main. The meeting focused mainly on the impact of the MoPeG (Act on the Modernisation of Partnership Law) on Islamic finance.

In 2020 the members met at the law firm White & Case LLP in Düsseldorf to discuss fintech (in particular crowdfunding and blockchain based initial coin offerings) and the law applicable to Islamic financial transactions.

In 2019 the meeting took place on the premises of KT Bank in Frankfurt am Main, where participants addressed regulatory questions concerning Islamic finance and the position of Islamic banking within the wider financial sector.

In 2018 the members met at the law firm Amereller in Berlin to discuss compliance practice in an Islamic bank and the practice of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).

The members of the working group are:

  • Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Mathias Rohe (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, among other roles Director of the FAU Research Center for Islam and Law in Europe)
  • Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Ebert (Leipzig University, Professorship of Islamic Law)
  • Prof. Dr. Matthias Casper (University of Münster, Director of the Institute for Corporate and Capital Markets Law)
  • Prof. Dr. Volker Nienhaus (Essen, formerly President of Philipps-Universität Marburg)
  • Prof. Dr. Hatem Elliesie, MLE (Leipzig University)
  • Dr. Murad M. Daghles (White & Case LLP, Düsseldorf)
  • Dr. Kilian Bälz, L.L.M. (Amereller Rechtsanwälte, Berlin, Cairo, Dubai)
  • Dr. Rüdiger Litten, LL.M. (Fieldfisher, Frankfurt am Main)
  • Dr. Osman Sacarcelik (Commerzbank, Frankfurt am Main)
  • Dr. Martin Heckel (Regierungsrat and lecturer in the Department of Taxation, Thuringian University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration, Gotha)
  • Dr. Alexander Wilhelm (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)
  • Dr. Abdelaali El Maghraoui (University of Tübingen)
  • Dr. Johannes Engels (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin))
  • Robert Elsen (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin))
  • Ibrahim Bilgin, lawyer (KT Bank, Head of Legal Department)
  • Kais Torchani, LL.M. (DLA Piper, Frankfurt am Main)
  • Kai Kreutzberger (German Embassy Cairo, Head of the Consular Section)
  • Ibrahim Ahmed Raghib (German Embassy Doha)