Partner Arman Berdalin participated in a meeting of the Advisory Council on Islamic Finance (ACIF) under the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC)

The first meeting of the Advisory Council on Islamic Finance (ACIF) under the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) was held on 2 March 2017 in Izumrudniy Business Centre, Astana.   Sayat Zholshy & Partners was represented at the meeting by Partner Arman Berdalin.

To ensure a great degree of efficiency and professional competence ACIF includes leading international experts with a highly reputable level of expertise and experience in the field of Islamic finance.

The meeting focused on the following issues:

• challenges for lawyers to grapple with when dealing with Islamic financial transactions in light of recent international court rulings including the interplay between common/civil law and Shariah law;
• business development opportunities for broadening existing client base across all finance-related practice areas across geographies.

The objectives of the AIFC are to attract investment into the economy through the establishment of an attractive environment for investment in the financial services, to develop local capital markets, to ensure their integration with the international capital market, and to develop markets for insurance and banking services and for Islamic financing in the Republic of Kazakhstan