Islamic banking solution

Islamic Finance

Supporting the Islamic finance or Shariah-compliant financing

Bespoke Support on Islamic Finance

Islamic finance is one of the fastest-growing segments in the global financial industry. It gained significant prominence after the 2008 financial crisis, simply because Islamic banks were more resilient than conventional peers. With the COVID-19 pandemic likely to affect the global economy in a number of ways, demand for Islamic finance products looks set to continue to rise as more investors call for increased transparency and ethical decision making from their financial institutions.

With a presence in over 80 countries, Islamic finance has not only become systemically important in Islamic countries such as those of the GCC, Malaysia and Indonesia, but has also gained prominence in non-Islamic countries and global economies such as the UK and the US.

Automation and workflow management platforms

How we are different

Comprehensive functional knowledge with extensive experience in working with leading investment banks and advisory firms in the Middle East

Expertise across a broad range of sectors with sector-focused SMEs

Technology-enabled research and analytics

What we have done

Support for Consulting and Corporate Firms
Corporate finance and capital markets support to a UAE-based bank
What we are proud of

3,000

Over hours of work delivered

> 25%

more client and pitch review time

In the News

International Banker
“Can Investment Banking successfully embrace digitalization?”
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eFinancialCareers
“The company hiring 1,200 people to help junior bankers in 2021”
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Meet our experts

Pankaj Bukalsaria

Director, Investment Banking

Pankaj has over fifteen years of experience in investment banking. He oversees multiple client engagements on front office research and analytics support across Corporate Finance / M&A, Capital markets including Islamic products, and Restructuring & Debt advisory. He has significant experience in working on Oil & Gas, Metals & Mining, Fintech and FIG sectors. A significant aspect of his work involves white boarding client requirements, proposing solutions and onboarding and managing client relationships across the globe, with focus on the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Prior to Acuity, he worked with UBS IB offshore team in India, where he led the set up and transition of Global Energy team for UBS and subsequently went on to lead the Media & Telecom team. A father to two lovely kids, Pankaj is an avid reader and enjoys watching movies in his spare time. He holds an MBA from IMT, Ghaziabad and is a Bachelor of Commerce from the Delhi University.

Pankaj Bukalsaria
Anish Ailawadi

Managing Director, Head of Investment Banking

Anish has been with Acuity Knowledge Partners for over 13 years and presently heads the Investment Banking vertical. He is based out of our Gurgaon office and oversees delivery teams and client engagements for various bulge-bracket banks, mid-size banks, regional banks, advisory and boutique firms across M&A, Industry Coverage, Debt Capital Markets, Equity Capital Markets, Loan Syndications and Leveraged Finance. During his tenure, he also set up a shared services center for one of his clients in India. Anish is a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and has done his Bachelors in Commerce from Delhi University.

Anish Ailawadi
Chetan Majithia

Head, North America, Business Development for Private Markets, Investment Banking and Consulting; Co-Head - Commercial Banking and Corporates

Chetan has over 20 years of experience across the financial services sector’s markets, geographies and asset classes. At Acuity Knowledge Partners (Acuity), he spearheads Business Development for multiple strategic business units (IB, Private Markets, Consulting, Corporates, and Banking). During his almost seven years journey at Acuity, Chetan has been responsible for partnering with clients in these segments to transform and build business efficiencies through tailor-made and proprietary solutions, enabling them to save millions of dollars.

Prior to Acuity, Chetan was on the Board of Directors at CRISIL US, an S&P company, and Director and Head of Financial Research, Business Development, Americas. In his 13+ years 'journey at CRISIL, Chetan managed multiple roles, including setting up and leading the Equities practice in Indian markets, wherein he successfully launched India’s first independent equity research service provider, and setting up and heading CRISIL’s first international offshore operations in Argentina. Prior to CRISIL, Chetan worked with ING Bank and Citibank in multiple roles. He has featured consistently in media including on CNBC-TV18 and Bloomberg, and his views on Indian stock markets are covered widely by all leading financial publications.

Chetan is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (the equivalent of a CPA) with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and holds an MBA in Finance from NMIMS, India. He is also a Company Secretary (with a degree in Corporate Law) with the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He passed CFA Level 2 examinations.

Chetan Majithia
Balaji Ramakrishnan

Managing Director, Head of Business Development EMEA

Balaji Ramakrishnan leads Europe and Middle East business development for Acuity. Having spent his formative years in core banking technology operations, he brings a deep understanding of credit processes and the ability to make analytics-driven decisions. He works closely with senior client stakeholders as a trusted partner, shaping the business case for scaled efficiencies through centralisation, standardisation and intelligent automation within Commercial Lending and Asset Management verticals.

Balaji has established long-term partnerships with banks, asset managers and insurance firms across a number of front and middle office transformation initiatives over the past 20 years. Prior to Acuity, he worked at Accenture and Oracle, serving European financial services clients. He holds an MBA from the London Business School.

Balaji Ramakrishnan
Kaushik Biswas

Director, Business Development, Middle East

Kaushik Biswas is a Director with Acuity Knowledge Partners, managing strategic client relationships and exploring new opportunities across the Middle East region. He joined the business in 2005, and is based in our London office with frequent travels to the region.

He has been with Acuity for over 14 years in a variety of roles. His last role within the firm was heading the Global Account Management function with teams across New York, London and Hong Kong. He has been part of the Corporate Development team looking after M&A and Integration as well as managed multiple large sized delivery teams based in India.

Before Acuity, Kaushik worked in the Sales and Business Development team for Ford and Toyota before joining the Analytics team for GE Capital International Services where he worked until 2005.

Kaushik Biswas
Neha Agrawal

Assistant Director

Neha Agrawal has over 13 years of experience in investment banking and consulting. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, she leads various Middle Eastern Investment Banking engagements supporting across Capital Markets, Islamic Finance, Strategy, and proprietary investments. During her tenure with Acuity knowledge partners, has worked with consulting firms, boutique advisory firms and leading investment banks across the US, Middle East and Africa. Previously she worked with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where she handled various roles across the investment banking division. Neha holds an MBA from ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad and is a Graduate in Science (Hons).

Neha Agrawal
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