The Islamic Finance Working Group is a small group of experts, including scholars and practitioners, which was established in 2017. They convene once a year to exchange ideas and insights on topics related to Islamic finance, following 2-3 keynote presentations of approximately 15 minutes each, with subsequent discussions lasting around 45 minutes. In 2020, the Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law featured a special issue on “Islamic Finance and Banking,” which involved numerous members of the working group and was guest-edited by Hatem Elliesie. For further information, please see here.

After a pause in 2021 due to the pandemic, the fourth meeting of the working group took place in 2022 at the Fieldfisher law firm in Frankfurt am Main. The main focus of this meeting was the impact of the MoPeG (Act Implementing the European Directive on Shareholders’ Rights) on Islamic finance.

In 2020, participants gathered at the White & Case LLP office in Düsseldorf to discuss Fintech (especially crowdfunding and blockchain-based initial coin offerings) and contractual frameworks for Islamic financial transactions.

The 2019 meeting was held at the premises of KT Bank in Frankfurt am Main, where participants explored regulatory issues concerning Islamic finance and the position of Islamic banking within the broader financial sector.

In 2018, the meeting took place at Ame­rel­ler Rechtsanwälte in Berlin, focusing on compliance practices within an Islamic bank and the practices of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).

The members of the working group include:

  • Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Mathias Rohe (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, including Director of the Erlangen Center for Islam & Law in Germany)
  • Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Ebert (University of Leipzig, Professor of Islamic Law)
  • Prof. Dr. Norbert Oberauer (University of Münster, Professor of Islamic Law)
  • Prof. Dr. Matthias Casper (University of Münster, Director of the Institute for Corporate and Capital Market Law)
  • Prof. Dr. Volker Nienhaus (Essen, formerly President of Philipps University Marburg)
  • Dr. Hatem Elliesie, MLE (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Department of Law and Anthropology, Max Planck Group Leader)
  • 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 (Deloitte Legal, Frankfurt am Main)
  • Dr. Martin Heckel (Government Councilor and Lecturer at the Tax Department of the Thuringian University of Public Administration in Gotha)
  • Dr. Alexander Wilhelm (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)
  • Dr. Abdelaali El Maghraoui (University of Tübingen)
  • Dr. Johannes Engels (German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority)
  • Robert Elsen (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority)
  • RA Ibrahim Bilgin (KT Bank, Head of Legal Department)
  • Kais Torchani, LL.M. (DLA Piper, Frankfurt am Main)
  • Kai Kreutzberger (German Embassy Cairo, Head of Consular Section)
  • Ibrahim Ahmed Raghib (German Embassy Doha)
  • Abir Haddad (University of Cologne, Faculty of Law)

Please note that some positions and affiliations may have changed since the information was last updated.