Smart Money? Faith, Ethics, Finance in Globalised World
From left to right: Dr Mohamed Shaban, Prof Surinder Sharma, Associate Prof Linda Ralphs, Dr Atul Shah, and Associate Prof John Williams
On Thurday 11th May 2017, the Unit for DICE and the School of Business co-hosted a lecture exploring the function of faith, ethics and ancient wisdom in the modern world of finance.
Our speaker Dr Atul Shah presented the accumulation of thirty years’ research within the Jain community unravelling the secrets to their wide and sustained success in finance. This was followed by a lecture about the role of Islamic Finance within Small and Medium enterprises financial structure by Dr Mohamed Shaban. The presentations was followed by a Q & A session.
Linda Ralphs, School of Business Associate Professor, said: "The world is becoming ever more fast paced, nowhere is this more evident than in the world of globalised financial markets. "This lecture offered us time to reflect on the lessons we can learn from both Islamic and Jain wisdom as to how we as a globalised society can harmoniously create wealth and understand each other’s different perspectives better."
Professor Surinder Sharma, co-Director of DICE, said: “This lecture examined the way in which faith and people's beliefs have shaped not only their personal lives and their own finances but very successful financial dealings with others, over many centuries and across the globe. The presentations explored how these models are very different from the way society and finance is organised today.”
This event was part of Responsibility and Sustainability in Business Practice events series organised by the School of Business. You can find our more about their events by visiting their page at https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/business/news-and-events/responsibilityandsustainabilityevents.
About the Speakers
Dr Atul Shah
Dr Atul K Shah is Senior Lecturer at Suffolk Business School and a global innovator in relating timeless Jain wisdom to the contemporary world. He holds a PhD from London School of Economics. Dr Atul K. Shah is also an author of ‘Jainism and Ethical Finance’, ‘Celebrating Diversity’ and ‘The Politics of Risk, Audit and Regulation – A Case Study of HBOS’. He has spoken all over the world about the importance of ethical business and finance and is also a BBC broadcaster who in 2010 went on a 1500 mile ‘Masala Tour of Britain’ to showcase the best of Indian wisdom in Britain. Leicester was central to this tour.
Dr Mohamed Shaban
Dr Shaban is the co-founder and the Vice President of the International Finance and Banking Society (IFABS); and the co-founder of UK Efficiency, Productivity and Innovation Network UKEPIAN. Currently he is the Coordinator of the EURO Working Group on Efficiency and Productivity Analysis. His major research fields are international banking, corporate finance, SME’s lending and governance where he published a number of research papers in these areas. Mohamed is currently leading a major research project in the area of SMEs finance in collaboration with researchers from BPK and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI).