Shabnam Mokhtar

Shabnam spearheads research and development activities at SHAPE®. Some of the projects that she managed include:

• Review and enhancement of Fatwa on Credit Guarantee Scheme delivered by a Scandinavian development fund in Somalia.
• Research for a bankruptcy case in the US and a criminal case in Canada related to Islamic Finance Service providers. Support the delivery of expert witness analysis for each case.
• Analysis of Islamic ETF and Islamic structured product to develop an Islamic hedge fund product for a hedge fund manager based in GCC.
• Review and enhancement of Fatwa on Carbon Trading for a global energy trading firm’s London operation.
• Product development for a multilateral Islamic trade finance firm in GCC.
• Shariah compatibility analysis of a revenue based financing platform in Australia.
• Global survey of Islamic and conventional home finance tools to recommend innovative housing finance solution for a multilateral client in Saudi Arabia.
• Business analysis and review for US based start-ups in housing, electronic waste recycling, and business platform management.
• Review various digital solutions in the market and provide recommendation on digital strategy implementation.
• Islamic Window Launch Advisory in Oman and Nigeria

Besides analysis to develop novel Islamic Finance products in different markets, Shabnam also manages strategic and business plan formulation for launching of Islamic businesses. She also structures and delivers customized trainings for clients covering full spectrum of Islamic Finance activities. Training footprint covers Islamic banking, Sukuk & Islamic Securitization, Islamic derivatives, Islamic funds, risk profile of Islamic products, front line training and financial reporting for clients in ASEAN, GCC, Africa, US and Europe.

With a global clientele experience, Shabnam brings implementation knowledge taking into account the business context, regulation and Shariah views in different markets.

Formerly, she was heading the capital markets research for the International Shariah Research Academy (ISRA). Her focus area was case study based research projects in the Sukuk market. Her prior positions include adjunct professor of finance at both Depaul University (Chicago) and IE Business School (Madrid) as well as lecturer of accounting, finance and bank management at University Putra Malaysia.