Sheikh Ismail Syed is a Shariah scholar and Islamic jurisconsult (Mufti) based in London, UK. He has been involved in the areas of Islamic Finance and has many years of experience. He is a former banker for a leading financial institution (HSBC Europe) working in the capacity of business and compliance specialist in all major areas of banking including Islamic banking. He completed Alimiyyah in Islamic Sciences from Institute of Islamic Education in Dewsbury and Jamia Darul Uloom Deoband, India in 1997 as well as completed Takmil Ifta/ Mufti qualification in Shariah Law & Jurisprudence in 1999 from the latter. Currently, Sheikh Ismail Syed is a Shariah compliance advisor working as an independent compliance professional under his consultancy name "Independent Shariah Compliance", providing services to corporate, government and private institutions including SMEs. He undertakes contracting work as both compliance professional and independent Shariah compliance advisor, for financial institutions, asset management firms and various governmental institutions/governments either directly or through contracted consultancies and law firms across Europe, Middle East and Asia. He is also a lecturer/and or adjunct professor at a number of academic institutions and teaches/previously taught Shariah Law and Hadith studies at higher education institutions in UK, including Safar Academy, Darul Uloom Ford Square in association with Middlesex University, Ebrahim College and University of Kent. He writes articles and maintains blogs on Shariah Affairs. He writes op-eds/columns on current affairs for newspapers/business journals. He also attends as a speaker or delegate/contributor when invited at various Islamic Finance and current affairs events.