CALL FOR PAPERS
Seventh
Harvard University Forum
on Islamic Finance
Integrating
Islamic Finance in the Mainstream:
Regulation,
Standardization and Transparency
April 22 and 23, 2006
The
Seventh Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance is scheduled to be held at
Harvard
Law
School in
Cambridge,
Massachusetts on
April 22 and 23, 2006. The theme of
the conference will be Integrating Islamic Finance in the Mainstream:
Regulation, Standardization and Transparency.
The Harvard University
Forum on Islamic Finance provides a venue for the critical and objective
examination of the purposes, theory, practice, structure, and institutions of
the rapidly developing field of Islamic finance. Building on previous forums, the Seventh
Harvard University Forum will focus on a variety of challenges facing this
industry: regulation, standardization, transparency, and related issues of
Sharia
compliance. The industrys response
to challenges in these areas will no doubt go far in determining the shape of
its future expansions, and the degree to which it becomes part of the global
financial mainstream.
From the Sixth Forum onwards, the Project
has changed its policy from one of publishing the full conference proceedings to
publishing a book of selected papers. Islamic Finance: Current Legal and
Regulatory Issues (ISBN 0-9702835-5-5), based on the Sixth Forum, is due for
publication in Spring 2005. In view of the new policy, prospective authors
are recommended to put as much time as possible into developing their topics and
editing their papers in order to have a better chance of inclusion in the final
publication. For reference, kindly
refer to the standards as set out by Harvard
Universitys
official publications, such as the proceedings from past forums which can be
purchased online at http://www.ifp.harvard.edu.
Papers
are sought in the following areas:
REGULATION: ADVANCEMENTS, CHALLENGES, AND
IMPLEMENTATION
Advancements in the principles, rules, or laws designed to control
and govern the conduct of Islamic financial institutions. The challenges faced in formulating and
implementing such regulation of financial institutions (bank and non-bank
alike), and how these were overcome.
Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
- Precedents
in Islamic and conventional finance worldwide in the development of
regulation
- Challenges
posed by Islamic finance products and corporate structures in formulating and
implementing regulation
- Regulation
of offshore and cross-border Islamic financial activity
- Innovation
and implementation of risk management in Islamic finance
- Challenges
of accommodating Islamic finance within established
regulations
STANDARDIZATION AND TRANSPARENCY
Efforts
to establish commonly agreed upon standards of practice by Islamic financial
institutions, including product development, accounting, corporate governance
and Shari`a
compliance challenges, pitfalls, and shortcomings in the pursuit of such
standardization and transparency.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Analysis
of particular international and domestic efforts at standardization and/or
transparency
- Analysis
of transparency and related corporate governance issues
- Gauging
the demand and need for standardization
- Benefits
and drawbacks of Shari`a
standardization
- Historical
and future trends in Shari`a
standardization and auditing
SHARI`A
COMPLIANCE
The
latest advancements in the understanding of Shari`a
with regards to financial products, services, their regulations and
implementation. Potential topics
include, but are not limited to:
- History,
sociology and politics of Shari`a
compliance.
- Degree
of overlap between goals of Shari`a
compliance and the demands of modern regulatory frameworks
- Impact
of Shari`a
standards on standardization and transparency of products, services, and
institutions
- Shari`a
perspective on the development and future of the industry
- Dynamics
of Shari`a
consultation and supervision
CURRENT ACADEMIC RESEARCH:
As
in the Sixth Forum, a section will be devoted to advanced graduate students in
Islamic finance, economics, and law.
They are encouraged to submit their work for consideration. Preference shall be given to those
falling within the themes of this year s conference.
GUIDELINES
Potential presenters are requested to e-mail, in a Word document
or as PDF, the following to [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
- Biographical
sketch up to 200 words
- Single-page
list of related publications
- 150-word
abstract of the proposed paper
Papers
must be original and written exclusively for presentation at the Seventh Harvard
University Forum on Islamic Finance; papers substantially similar to those
already presented elsewhere shall not be accepted.
Papers on issues not
listed above but relevant to other issues in sharia and conventional law in
Islamic finance or governance and regulation in Islamic finance may be submitted
for review.
All papers, abstracts, and supporting material accepted for
the Forum become the property of the Islamic Legal Studies Program at
Harvard
Law
School
and may not be reproduced in any form or submitted elsewhere without prior
written permission. No submissions
will be returned.
DEADLINES
Paper
title, 150-word abstract, and bio August
1, 2005
Draft
of Paper
October
15, 2005
Final
Paper
January
15, 2006
CONTACT
DETAILS
Seventh
Harvard
University
Forum on Islamic Finance
1350
Massachusetts Avenue,
850 Holyoke
Center
Cambridge,
MA
02138,
USA
Tel:. (617)
496-2296, Fax: (617)
496-2373, Email:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
