Sohail Zubairi

Senior Advisor

Sohail Zubairi currently serves as a Senior Advisor with Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) which was established in December 2013 under the supervision of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, to transform Dubai into the capital of Islamic economy (iedcdubai.ae).

He is the former Founding CEO of the international award winning ‘Dar Al Sharia Islamic Finance Consultancy’, established by him in 2007 in Dubai as the subsidiary of Dubai Islamic Bank.

Zubairi holds 4 decades of rare combined conventional and Islamic banking experience at senior executive and CEO positions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He holds professional educational background in both financial systems i.e. conventional and Islamic.

He has strong command over the wholesale, retail, trade finance, treasury, capital market and asset management products and services offered by both conventional and Islamic banks. In his illustrious career, Zubairi also effectively headed the risk management functions in reputable conventional and Islamic banks. He has transformational and result-oriented leadership style with pleasant manners. He has held successful track record in engineering and fruitful implementation of business plans, including his brainchild concept of starting and running Dar Al Sharia highly successfully for a decade.

Zubairi is commerce graduate from Karachi University and successfully pursued Institute of Bankers Diploma as his post graduate studies. In Islamic finance, Zubairi is the AAOIFI accredited Sharia Advisor & Auditor (“CSAA”).

At Dar Al Sharia, Zubairi supervised the firm’s consultancy and advisory practice in providing over 50 ground breaking products and services to the Islamic banking and finance industry for retail, corporate, treasury, capital market, wealth/asset management and Islamic insurance (Takaful), conversion of conventional banks into Islamic banks, structure memorandum and documentation for Sukuk (Islamic bonds), syndication and fund transactions, Sharia audit, Sharia training, IT compatibility verification for solutions, and day to day Sharia guidance to various Islamic banks and financial institutions (Please see Annexure).

Under Zubairi’s leadership, Dar Al Sharia won over 2 dozen international awards for being the best Islamic finance consultancy and advisory firm – notably the most coveted Dubai Global Islamic Economy Summit Award 2016 and Dubai Chamber’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Award 2016 besides twin IFN Malaysia Awards for the best consultancy and advisory firm for 8 years in a row (2009-2016).