Author Description

A New Financial Dawn examines the global economic crisis in the context of how western markets influence Islamic financial innovation. Joseph DiVanna, author and Managing Director of Maris Strategies, and Antoine Sreih, CEO of Europe Arab Bank, discuss how market conditions are creating a fertile seedbed for the next generation of innovation in Shariah-compliant financial services. The authors also consider the rising discourse that Islamic finance could be a replacement for capitalism. The book explores how Islamic finance differs from conventional finance by reviewing the early results from banks at the vanguard of product development. DiVanna and Sreih argue that financial institutions provide a nation with social financial cohesion, the economic glue that holds a society together by facilitating the commercial needs of business and making possible the wide variety of lifestyles enjoyed within a nation. Posing the question Does Islamic finance provide new ethically based economic cohesion to the vast underserved Muslim communities?, this book examines how Islamic banking has capitalized on innovation over the past two decades to fulfil its promise of equality and fairness by rebuilding trust in banking and financial services. Setting the stage for future research, DiVanna and Sreih explore rising issues such as Islamic monetary union, alternative forms of currency and a host of factors that are shaping this new industry.