Deloitte to base Islamic finance centre in Bahrain

Consulting giant Deloitte has opted to site its new Islamic Finance Knowledge Centre (IFKC) in Bahrain to take advantage of a sector that has averaged a 15-20 percent annual growth rate over the last five years.

“Global Islamic Finance assets are estimated by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) to exceed $260bn and expected to grow to $1 trillion by 2016,” said Omar Fahoum, chairman and chief executive of Deloitte in the Middle East.

“Currently around 60 percent of those assets are shared by ME countries, while 80 percent of the top 50 Islamic banks worldwide are located in the Middle East region.”

The IFKC is designed to help Deloitte’s clients tap into the Islamic finance field by providing experts who will support the firm’s Middle Eastern audit, tax, consulting, risk and financial advisory employees.

Deloitte has named the experienced Dr Hatim Tahir, who has 20 years of experience in the Islamic Finance field, as a director in the IFKC.