Global Islamic Finance Outlook 2026
Growth trends, challenges, and opportunities
Islamic finance has grown significantly driven by rising demand for Shariah‑compliant instruments, an expanding issuer base, and strong investor appetite across key markets such as the Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and other key markets.
As we look ahead to 2026, the industry faces a shifting landscape shaped by evolving market dynamics and evolving regulatory landscape, geopolitical developments, and developing sustainability priorities.
In this webinar Moody's analysts discussed:
- What is the outlook for the Sukuk market and sovereign issuances?
- How are Islamic banks positioned to perform versus conventional peers this year?
- What are the latest trends in Green/Social/Sustainability Sukuk, Takaful, and asset managers?
Speakers
Alexander Perjéssy
Vice President - Senior Credit Officer, Sovereign Risk
Moody's Ratings
Mohammed Ali Londe
Vice President - Senior Analyst, Financial Institutions
Moody's Ratings
Abdulla Al Hammadi
Assistant Vice President - Analyst, Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Ratings
Aziz Al Sammarai
Assistant Vice President – Analyst, Corporate Finance
Moody's Ratings
Chong Jun Wong
Assistant Vice President - Analyst, Financial Institutions
Moody’s Ratings
Jing Li Yim
Assistant Vice President, Sustainable Finance Assessments
Moody's Ratings
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Alexander Perjéssy is Vice President – Senior Credit Officer at the Moody’s Sovereign Risk Group.
Based in Dubai, he has lead analyst responsibilities for a number of sovereigns in the Middle East, including most of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states and several regional multilateral institutions.
Prior to joining Moody’s in November 2017, Alex worked for two years as economist at the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Before relocating to the Middle East, Alex spent more than 12 years covering macroeconomic developments and sovereign risk assessment in the emerging markets of the EMEA region for AllianceBernstein and The Rohatyn Group, both US-based asset management firms in New York, as well as for Goldman Sachs in London.
Alex holds an MA in Economics from the University of Maryland and a BA in Economics from Middlebury College.
Mohammed Ali Londe is an Vice President – Senior Analyst within Moody’s Insurance Group, based in Dubai. He is responsible for Moody’s insurance ratings in the Middle East. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2013, Mohammed worked in the Planning and Performance Management department of Zurich International Middle East. Mohammed’s past experience also includes working with Chartis Middle East (AIG) and as an auditor, within the insurance department of Deloitte Bermuda where along with performing numerous insurance and reinsurance audits, he was seconded to work with Endurance Specialty Insurance Ltd.Mohammed Ali holds a BSc from Oxford Brookes University, UK.
Abdulla Al Hammadi serves as an Assistant Vice President with Moody's Financial Institutions Group. He is based in Dubai, where he oversees a portfolio of bank credit ratings across the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries, with a particular emphasis on Islamic financial institutions.
Abdulla joined Moody’s in 2024. Prior to his tenure at Moody's, Abdulla was an Associate Director at Fitch Ratings, covering financial institution ratings in the Middle East. Before Fitch Ratings, he was with the Central Bank of Bahrain, handling prudential supervision for wholesale banks.
Abdulla is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and earned a First-Class Honours degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Bahrain. He authored a book titled "Principles of Financial planning, Investment & Trading" aimed at providing comprehensive overview on passive style investment portfolio.
Aziz Al Sammarai joined Moody’s Corporate Finance in April, 2018. Aziz is based in Toronto office where he covers a portfolio of U.S. and Canadian based companies mainly in the paper and plastic packaging and forest products industry as well as Canadian based airlines and homebuilders. Prior to joining Moody’s, Aziz held multiple roles in the credit rating industry in Toronto. Previously, Aziz worked in external audit roles for KPMG.
Aziz has a Master’s in Finance from the Queen's University and a B.Sc. in Finance from the University of Bedfordshire Oman.
CJ Wong is an Analyst with Moody’s Financial Institutions Group.
Based in Singapore, CJ covers a portfolio of banks and non-bank financial institutions in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Vietnam
Prior to joining Moody’s, CJ worked as a research analyst in the Dividend Forecasting team at IHS Markit, where he was responsible for providing estimates on financial institutions and corporates in Australia and Singapore.
CJ holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) from the University of Sydney, majoring in Finance and Economics. He is a CFA Charterholder.
Jing Li is an AVP with Moody's Sustainable Finance team, based in Singapore. She has produced Second Party Opinions for green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked frameworks for clients across various sectors, including financial services, real estate and energy. She has also supported the development of supplementary opinions for Moody’s SPOs on regional taxonomies and standards, such as the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy, Australian Taxonomy and Hong Kong Taxonomy.
Prior to joining the Sustainable Finance team, Jing Li was with the Sovereign Risk Group, where she supported the coverage of credit ratings of a portfolio of sovereigns, multilateral development banks and sub-sovereign entities in Asia Pacific. Before joining Moody's, Jing Li worked at an infrastructure indices provider, where she led a team of analysts covering infrastructure projects and markets across Europe and Asia Pacific. She also has prior experience in audit and accounting, covering firms in several sectors including energy, real estate and technology.
Jing Li holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance) from the University of Queensland and is a CPA.