Omar Mustafa Ansari is the Secretary General of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) – global Islamic finance standard setter. Previously, he was Partner – Assurance & Head of Islamic Finance (Pakistan & Afghanistan) at Ernst & Young Ford Rhodes Sidat Hyder – A member firm of EY. He is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP). At AAOIFI, he is responsible primarily for leading the process of development of accounting, auditing, governance and ethics standards for the global Islamic finance industry, besides managing the overall affairs of the institution as the organization’s head. Omar’s key areas of expertise include assurance and advisory services to Islamic financial institutions, including Islamic accounting advisory, audits, Shari’ah Audits, corporate finance advisory, structuring of Shari’ah compliant transactions, accountancy and financial reporting, Islamic finance training, financial modelling, risk management & development and review of manuals and systems. He has authored several books and contributed several articles in various newspapers and journals and presented papers in conferences. He is also a regular trainer and speaker on various forums on topics related to Islamic finance. Besides he has served on several regulatory / standard setting boards / committees.
Hatem Masri is professor of business analytics and dean of the college of business administration at the university of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bahrain. He received a PhD in management science in 2004 and Master in operations research in 1999 from the university of Tunis, Tunisia. His research interests include business analytics, supply chain management, financial engineering, and Islamic finance. He published more than 30 articles and 6 books among them a textbook on Islamic business administration. Hatem is president of the African Federation of Operational Research Societies, founder of the INFORMS Bahrain International Group, general secretary of the Tunisian Decision Aid Society, member of INFORMS and IEEE and volunteer/mentor with the AACSB. He initiated the research center in Business Analytics and Responsible Management in Bahrain and the research center in Sustainable Islamic Business and Finance jointly with AAIOFI.