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Accounting firms are more than what they seem

Having learned a great deal about the continual expansion of Islamic finance in Europe, and its growing presence here in Canada, I wanted to know if any real opportunities existed here in Toronto. Fortunately, I was invited to attend a seminar which was organized by a start-up financing firm specializing in Islamic finance. I was surprised to learn that the event had been sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

At the event, the speakers addressed a variety of issues ranging from opportunities in this field and challenges in making it compatible in the existing environment, to future outlooks of the industry. Many of their concerns surrounded Canadian laws regarding double taxation, but there is no need to delve into that further. After all the speakers had shared their concerns and visions for the industry, I had the opportunity to mix and mingle with the corporate representative from PwC. He had been living in Europe for many years prior to coming to Canada. The question on my mind was why they were sponsoring this particular event, considering that Islamic finance industry in Canada is currently very small and comprised of only a few start-ups. The answer was simple. When the industry becomes large, they want a piece of the action by becoming the auditors of these companies in the future.

It was interesting to discuss his experiences in Europe. He mentioned that Canada is very far behind Europe, and that the government should be making it easier for the industry to grow by relaxing existing laws. I also learned that despite the small size of the industry in Toronto, there are still ways of gaining significant exposure to Islamic finance.

We are all aware that among the many advantages of pursuing the CA career path is the option to travel and audit in different parts of the world for different industries. For those interested in learning more about Islamic finance, CA firms can provide the opportunity to travel to places where this type of financing is largely in practice. The knowledge through such an experience proves valuable here, where few people have enough insight to put it in action.

It seems it is a matter of time, patience, and hard work for all those entrepreneurs hoping to make it big someday. Despite the challenges, I am glad to know that action is being taken by different stakeholders. The largest eye opener for me was seeing CA firms under a different light; much different from the standard view we see at Schulich. I guess this goes to show that CA firms are much more diverse than we often believe them to be.

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