an economist and academician with considerable contribution in the field of islamic economics, finance and banking. dr abbas started his academic career in 1968 with university of alabama, in the united states of america as a professor of economics and later at the florida institute of technology. in 1984, he joined the imf in washington dc as an economist before serving as the organisation's executive director and dean of its executive board. he completed his term at the imf in 2008. dr abbas is also the recipient of several awards from several governments and from the islamic development bank, he received the annual prize for research in islamic economics in recognition of his service in advancing the knowledge in islamic finance. he has published books and research articles on a wide range of areas including microeconomic theory, mathematical economics and islamic economics. during his tenure at inceif, dr. abbas will also engage in research and consultancy in on islamic finance, including guiding academic research and supervising dissertations and theses of inceif students. he will also present lectures abroad organised by inceif as part of the efforts to strengthen the international alliances that have been established with inceif from other centres of learning in other parts of the world. his appointment as the inaugural holder of inceif chair of islamic finance would certainly give inceif the opportunity to raise its capacity to become a world class learning institution dedicated to islamic finance. dr abbas valuable knowledge and insights and his extensive experience in both academia and at the imf, will benefit and enhance the knowledge and expertise of inceif graduates as well as the academia and financial community. since its establishment in 2006, inceif has grown from strength to strength and has been recording a steady increase in the number of students for its three programmes, the chartered islamic finance professional or the cifp, masters in islamic finance and phd in islamic finance. the first batch of cifp graduates received their scrolls in february 2009 and all 32 have gained employment or have continued their studies further. this year, inceif will see the first batch of masters in islamic finance graduate and next year will see the first batch of students to graduate from the phd programme. this is indeed a significant milestone for inceif that is achieved in such a short period of time. as the chancellor of inceif, it is my hope that the setting up of the inceif chair of islamic finance will contribute to the development of expertise of the academic faculty and students at inceif in addition to expanding further understanding

fully reactivating the financing of households and firms. for some time we have been proposing initiatives along these lines, with scope for public - sector participation. we are working together with the government to design them, in compliance with the european rules on state aid. a discussion that we hope will be rapid and constructive is now under way with the european authorities. in 2014 the large increase in italian banks ’ capital ratios, with the average core capital ratio rising to 11. 8 per cent from 10. 5 per cent the year before, was achieved mainly with the capital increases carried out, at our prompting, in the first half of the year ; the contribution of self - financing was negative for the system as a whole. in order to recoup profitability, banks can curb costs further and expand their sources of income. more than a few banks, especially medium - sized ones, are evaluating mergers and acquisitions, including in response to recent regulatory innovations. there are sizeable potential bis central bankers ’ speeches benefits of these operations but they cannot be taken for granted ; they require vigorous action at the organizational level, in rationalizing distribution systems, risk management and technology uptake. the revision of international prudential standards aims to protect the integrity of the banking system as a fundamental infrastructure for the functioning of a modern market economy. the new rules on capital, leverage and liquidity and the establishment of crisis resolution mechanisms will make the system more stable and lessen the possible effects of bank crises on the economy and the public finances. at the same time, they will result in a reduction of banks ’ capacity to take risks and a structural reduction in the return on capital invested in them. the granting of loans will become more selective ; the development, within a welldefined regulatory framework, of alternative forms of financing necessary to avert a shortage of resources for the real economy will have to be stimulated. looking ahead, the shift of a part of the intermediation process from banks to markets will benefit both firms and households, allowing the former to expand their sources of financing and the latter to diversify their savings to a greater extent. banks will continue to play a central role in the financial system if they prove able to accompany this evolution by expanding their activity in the field of services and assisting firms in direct capital raising. a trend of this kind is under way in many countries, but here in italy the transition will not be easy. the underdevelopment of the italian capital market reflects the characteristics of the