Business & Money | Wednesday 8 April, 2015 12:40 am |

Noor Bank, the UAE’s leading Shari’a compliant bank, hosted 20 MBA students from the American Ivy League institute Cornell University last week, as part of the bank's continuing efforts to boost awareness about Islamic banking and finance. The session took place at Noor Bank’s head office located at Emaar Square, Downtown Dubai.

The students had the opportunity to interact with Noor Bank’s well-respected Islamic scholars, Amjad Naser, Head of Shari’a and Ahmad Tarmidzi, Senior Manager Shari’a. Also present was Kazim Ali, Head of Corporate Banking and Mirza Muhammad Ali, Associate Wholesale Banking.

Amjad Naser, Head of Shari’a, Noor Bank said: “We are delighted to have had the opportunity to share our vast expertise with the students of the prestigious Cornell University. At Noor Bank we always take a proactive approach of sharing the bank’s best practices and learning with schools and colleges, locally and internationally, as a means of spreading awareness about Shari’a based banking. The students were given an introduction to Islamic banking principles, its beginnings and were given insights on Shari’a compliant financial products and capital market transactions.”

Speaking about the experience, Ms. Randy L. Allen, Senior Lecturer, Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University said, “We are very appreciative of Noor Bank hosting us for a very informative session on the bank and Shari’a Finance. The students and I liked that Noor Bank took the time to explain Shari’a Finance to us so carefully and thoughtfully before talking about how they applied it in their business and the bank performance and growth.

“The students were very impressed with the non-speculative nature of Shari’a Finance and its tie to tangible assets. We admired the way that Noor Bank has ethically and creatively used Shari’a Finance to grow and expand the bank profitably while serving all customers.”

While more and more and people are becoming aware of Islamic finance, most western university students are still not exposed to Shari’a in banking and finance. The visit provided a perfect opportunity for Cornell students to get exposure to this new field. In addition, the interactive session offered a look into the size of the Islamic finance market, the Sukuk market as well as the structuring of specific transactions that Noor Bank had recently worked on.


About Noor Bank


Noor Bank began operations, in Dubai, in 2008, as Noor Islamic Bank. It is a full service bank delivering the broadest range of products for its customers, with an emphasis on unique and personalised services. Noor Bank’s products and services are governed by a Shari’a board, comprising leading Islamic scholars with extensive experience and expertise in legal, financial and banking-related matters. Noor Bank is 95% owned by Noor Investment Group and 5% by Emirates Investment Authority. Noor Investment Group is 25% owned by Dubai government related entities and 75% by members of the UAE ruling families and prominent individuals in the business community. For further details, please visit: www.noorbank.com or call 800 6667.