Faheem Ahmed has diverse experience with international consulting agencies in USA & Middle East. He has also held senior positions with local industrial and financial groups. In 1994, he established Vital Information Services (Pvt.) Limited, which is a leading capital market research house. VIS has the largest data bank of corporate Pakistan. His major research work includes copyrighted F&J financial strength rankings, Musharaka Variable Income Securities and stock market indices. VIS group includes JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited and News-VIS Credit Information Services (Pvt.) Limited, the first private credit bureau of Pakistan. He obtained his B.S in Civil Engineering from NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi. He also has Masters Degrees in Engineering and Business Administration from USA. His research work has been published in various international journals.

2. Milly Leong

Chief Rating Officer
MARC

Milly Leong is the Chief Rating Officer in charge of the overall responsibility for the rating operations of MARC. Milly’s career in ratings began in 1992 when she was attached to Rating Agency Malaysia Berhad. She joined MARC in 1996 as a member of its pioneer analytical team. In 2002, Milly left MARC to undertake freelance consulting and pursue an MBA degree. She rejoined MARC in July 2005. Over the years, Milly has been instrumental in developing MARC’s technical rating capability as well as developing analytical criteria, mostly for corporate debt ratings, project finance, government related-issuer ratings, financial institution and insurer financial strength ratings as well as country risk assessments. She is also overseeing the development and refinement of rating methodologies including that of Islamic rating products. Milly currently serves as a member of Association of Credit Rating Agencies in Asia’s (ACRAA) Best Practice Committee. She is a member of the Australian Society of CPAs and holds a Bachelor of Economics (Accounting) degree from Monash University, Clayton, Australia and an MBA degree from Deakin University, Australia.

3. Sabeen Saleem, CFA

Acting CEO
IIRA

Her profile can be seen under the management team

Mr. Hafizan Haron is the Vice President of Ratings at Malaysian Rating Corporation (MARC) responsible for ratings research, including updating rating methodologies and reviewing MARC’s internal rating process, assisting in developing new rating products and contributing regularly towards various publications to create awareness of MARC’s role and achievements in Islamic capital markets as well as its Sukuk rating methodology. Hafizan has an instrumental role in the development of MARC’s recently launched Islamic Financial Institution Governance Rating product. He previously headed a rating portfolio of corporate debts covering the automotive, transportation, oil and gas, plantations and industrial products (including timber and pulp & paper) sectors for four years in MARC before assuming his current role in 2009. Prior to joining MARC in 2000, Hafizan was attached to a local merchant bank for about four years in the Corporate Finance and Corporate Banking functions. Hafizan holds a Bachelor of Science (Hon) Degree in Economics from the University of Hull, United Kingdom.

Sheikh Esam Mohamed Ishaq graduated from McGill University, Montreal, Canada in 1983. He studied Shari’a in a various study circles in the traditional manner in various Masjids with different scholars and teachers. He is currently an instructor in Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence), Aqeeda (Islamic Technology) and Tafseer (Quranic Exegesis). He also conducts different courses in various Islamic centers and Masjids under the supervision of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs in Bahrain. Sheikh Ishaq is a member of many societies and Shari’a Boards. To name a few, he is currently a director and Shari’a advisor of Discovery Islam, Bahrain; chairman of Shari’ Supervisory Boards of Seera Investment Bank (Formerly known as United International Bank), & Investment Dar Bank, Bahrain; chairman of Shari’a Supervisory Board of EcoBank, Kyrgyz Republic; chairman of Shari’a Supervisory Board of First Global Investments, Sri Lanka; member of Shari’a Supervisory Board of Arcapita Bank, Al Baraka Islamic Bank, & First Investment Bank, Bahrain; member of Shari’a Supervisory Board of Gulf African Bank, Kenya; member of Shari’a Supervisory Board of Al-Hilal Islamic Bank, U.A.E.; member of Shari’a Supervisory Board MunicheRe and ReTakaful, Malaysia; and a member of Auditing and Accounting Board of AAOIFI (Auditing and Accounting Organization of Islamic Financial Institutions), Kingdom of Bahrain.

Mr. Adel Al Mannai has been associated with IIRA since 2007 as an external member of the rating committee. He has a 23 year banking and finance career with a number of well established and renowned financial institutions. Currently he is the Deputy General Manager of the Bahrain office of The Arab Investment Company. Before that he was associated with Investors Bank, Shamil Bank, Khaleej Finance and Investment Company, Mashreq Bank, ABN AMRO Bankm Arla Bank International and Al Bahrain Arab African Bank. He has an MBA from University of Glamorgan Wales U.K. and has attended numerous workshops and training programs during his professional career.

Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq is the Head of Centre for Islamic Finance at Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF). He received PhD in economics from University of Tennessee (USA) and was a post-doctoral research fellow at University of California,Berkeley. His teaching and research interests are economic development, financial markets and institutions, history of economic thought, and Islamic economics/finance/banking/Law. His research is focused on the field of Islamic economics/banking/finance, especially with the emphasis on the roles and mechanisms to interface Islamic finance with development, poverty alleviation and the real sector of the economy. Furthermore, his works also include important areas, such as Shariah, Fiqh, hadith and Islamic jurisprudence. As an expert, trainer and researcher, he has made valuable contribution to training and education in Islamic finance. His works have been published in several refereed journals. He also regularly contributes to other professional publications. He presented paper at the Harvard Islamic Finance Forum in April 2008. Among his most recent works is a book Toward Our Reformation: From Legalism to Value-Oriented Islamic Law and Jurisprudence (2011), published by International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).