Dubai, United Arab Emirates – May 7, 2012

With three times the population of all the Gulf countries combined, Bangladesh is the sleeping giant of the Islamic finance world. A burgeoning urban middle class, an active microfinance sector, and strong support from regulators gives Islamic finance an historic opportunity to shine in this country. And with only an estimated 14,000 bankers currently serving the Islamic finance sector, the demand for a locally-available, globally-recognized certification is now at its highest.

Enter Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance. Now in 44 countries, the Dubai-based institute is the most heavily-enrolled Islamic finance certification institute in the world with over 20,000 paying users in more than 100 institutions. What makes the Ethica launch in Bangladesh especially significant is that their training and certification platform is fully AAOIFI-compliant and accessible from any corner of Bangladesh online, requiring only 4 months to go from newcomer to advanced. So whether training Grameen’s microfinance specialists in remote villages, or the entire staff of a bank such as Ethica did at Mashreq Bank in Dubai with 1,000 bankers, the training is ideally suited to a country with a vast network of remote branches.

Last month Ethica launched subsidized pricing for developing countries, so Bangladesh residents now pay half the standard rate. Yousuf Sultan, Managing Director at Aljadeed, Ethica’s licensed reseller in Bangladesh, said, “Ethica helps fill the gap in Bangladesh for highly trained and globally certified professionals. We now rapidly train the existing generation of bankers and also address growing demand from new professionals.”

About Aljadeed (www.aljadeed.co)

Aljadeed Islamic Consultancy Services is an independent advisory body consisting of Islamic finance scholars and banking experts. Based on AAOIFI Shariah standards, Aljadeed’s advisory services address the gap in the Bangladesh market for bank advisory and training. Yousuf Sultan, Managing Director at Aljadeed, leads the team having previously been a major TV personality for his knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and an Islamic finance teacher at Darul Uloom. Aljadeed is licensed to distribute Ethica’s training within Bangladesh using Ethica’s award-winning online platform. To learn more about Ethica's training programs in Bangladesh, please call +880-17-1511-4543 or e-mail at info@aljadeed.co.