Reims Management School to offer Islamic Banking and Finance course

May 2009. Reims Management School (RMS) will offer “Islamic Banking and Finance” as a specialized elective to students enrolled in its Masters in Management program. Taught entirely in English, the course aims to provide an understanding of the fundamentals of Islamic finance and of its most recent applications.

Enrolled students will acquire knowledge in the fundamentals of contracts according to Islamic law, or sharia, and the different applied techniques used by Islamic financial institutions. They will also learn how Islamic funds function and about Islamic bonds. At the end of the 45-hour course, students will have acquired the principles and rules which govern the functioning of Islamic banks and insurance.

“Growth in the sector of Islamic finance is advancing at 15 to 20 percent per year throughout the world. At a time when the conventional financial model is discredited by the crisis, the model of finance called ‘Islamic’ is emerging and gaining strong interest,” said Ghassen Bouslama, professor of finance at RMS, and coordinator of the program.

According to the latest estimations, the value of assets in Islamic banks and assets managed on the basis of the precepts of Islamic finance are close to one trillion dollars. The increase in the number of Islamic banks in the Gulf States and in Europe and the increase in sharia-compliant products in conventional international banks (UBS, HSBC, Calyon, BNP Paribas, Société Générale, etc.) are only accelerating the demand for specialists in this sector.

Because of these opportunities, “Islamic Banking and Finance” will bring an undeniable advantage to a sector increasingly valued by large international banks. Various professionals and specialists will be participating in the RMS Islamic Finance class, including Valéry Fousse, associate at KPMG Financial Services and Islamic finance correspondent at KPMG France; and Anouar Hassoune, vice-president and Senior Credit Officer at Moody’s.

According to Professor Bouslama, “Islamic finance is starting to gain ground in the international financial landscape and many advances have recently been made so as to accelerate its development in France. Implementing this course responds to a strong demand for professionals looking to supplement their skill set.  It’s a good complement for those who will be working in a financial environment more and more open to this type of finance.”

Sup de Co Reims, RMS’ prestigious Grande Ecole program, is considered one of Europe’s leading Masters in Management. In 2008, the program was ranked 26^th in the Masters in Management Financial Times ranking. Sup de Co Reims benefits from a particular renown in the finance sector, being the French pioneer in preparing for the CFA®, a programme allowing access to work in high-level finance which is now an international standard.

About Islamic finance

The principles of Islamic finance derive from the precepts of Islamic law (sharia). Islamic finance is based upon a number of interdictions: no interest (riba) whatever the nature may be (conventional or usurer, simple or complex, at a fixed or variable rate); no incertitude (gharar); no monetary idleness (Al Iktinaz); no speculation (maysir); no strongly uncertain transactions (Bai’a Al Gharar) and no investments in illicit sectors (deemed detrimental or harmful on a sanitary, social, moral or environmental level.) Islamic finance is attached to the fair character of contracts by instituting the obligation to share profits and losses between contractual parties. It is also strongly linked to the real economy by imposing the principle of support against all financing of a real and tangible asset. The outstanding bills in Islamic finance are estimated at nearly one trillion dollars. Britain has 10.4 billion dollars of sharia-compliant assets.

Press contact: Natalie Kettner at Noir sur Blanc

Tel. +33 (0)1 41 43 72 78 / E-mail: nkettner@noirsurblanc.com

About Reims Management School (RMS)

Established in 1928, the Reims Management School Group includes four post-degree business schools - the Sup de Co Reims Grande Ecole, Sup’TG, Cesem and Tema. Added to these four schools are three MSc degrees, six Specialized Master programs (accredited by the Conférence de Grandes Ecoles), two MBA programs (full-time and part-time), an executive education program and a PhD. Three specialised part-time Masters programmes, the executive MBA and continued education are now brought together in the Paris Executive Campus, a joint venture created in 2009 between Rouen Business School and Reims Management School dedicated to executive education. Accredited by EQUIS (the European Quality Improvement System) and AMBA (The Association of MBAs), RMS is ranked in the Top 10 business schools in France and the top 26 in Europe. Each year RMS trains more than 3600 students, 900 of which are international. A network of 131 partner universities in 45 countries and more than 20,000 alumni from around the world means RMS is a recognised international skill centre for higher education in management.