With an audience of 650 during the two-day event, IFN Europe 2011 instantly became the largest annual event on European shores. The Issuers & Investors concept saw the first day focusing on and targetimg the issuer community, whilst the second day was for the investors. A break-out session on Russia was organized by ASSAIF.

The one -day training programme on Islamic trade finance offered expert advice and training to those interested in Islamic finance with a major focus on conventional institutions offering Islamic financial products.

These two full-time days of face-to-face teaching offered a comprehensive investigation of Islamic economics and law related to the financial sector, with peculiar attention to the emergence of an economic and legal pluralism in Europe. The programme saw the contribution of the IRTI, ASSAIF, ERM Academy and Norton Rose.

IABS 2011 – hosted by the Union of Arab Banks and Associazione Bancaria Italiana – gathered to showcase the impact of the Arab spring on the EU-MENA partnerships and cross-border business relations.

More than 300 million Muslims live as minority communities and Russia has more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined. This translates to immense opportunities for halal products and shariah compliant products such as Islamic finance in these markets. Islamic finance is also gaining acceptance where it is seen as an ethical alternative to the conventional system bridging the gap between socialism and capitalism.