The Big Four consultancies — big fish in a small pond? (By IFN)

The Big Four consultancies — big fish in a small pond?

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GLOBAL: The latest high profile departure from one of the ‘Big Four’ beckons the question as to whether or not Islamic finance is a viable business for these global players. Despite the growing size of the industry and a seemingly more vibrant capital market space, it is safe to say from an observer’s perspective that the big four — Ernst & Young, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC — have over the last few years, lost a few good men. Neil Miller, global head of Islamic finance at KPMG, has announced that he will be leaving the firm to join law firm Linklaters as its global head of Islamic finance at the end of this month; making him the most recent addition to the fraternity of industry stalwarts who have jumped ship. The other figureheads, Daud Vicary Abdullah, previously global head of Islamic finance at Deloitte has joined the Malaysia-based INCEIF; while industry veteran Mohammed Amin, chose to leave his post as UK head of Islamic Finance at PwC to start his own consultancy. Mohammed Faiz Azmi, previously global head of Islamic finance at PwC has also been promoted to executive chairman at the same firm; relinquishing his duties as former global head to Ashruff Jamal in Dubai. Currently constituting a relatively small percentage of the global financial market, Islamic finance has yet to become a priority for most major firms and consultancies worldwide. And although many have injected resources into growing their Islamic finance efforts and with a handful studying the prospects of setting up a business solely dedicated to the industry, their efforts have yet to bear fruit. Perhaps it is the nature of the industry where most major businesses particularly in the Gulf are family-owned and transparency, disclosure and corporate governance are still a new concept to many; thus creating little need for major consultancy firms to dive headfirst into the business. As the industry grows, it will be interesting to observe how these firms evolve and carve a niche for themselves.