Oman's late introduction to Islamic finance will work in the favour of the country's bank, as they can learn from the examples of others, says HE Hamood Sangour Al-Zadjali, governor of the country's central bank.

Sabih Al-Masri, the new chairman of Arab Bank, talks about his plans for the lender, the benefits of cross-border activity and his vision to help the Arab world grow.

Ongoing regional instability has taken its toll on Jordan’s banks, which are feeling the impact of a sharp slowdown in the real estate and construction sectors. But with the central bank receiving praise for its response to the crisis, what are the country’s prospects for recovery?

Iraq's banking sector is struggling to put its ever-increasing assets to work, a situation not helped by the fact that it is dominated by inefficient state-owned institutions. Can an influx of foreign banks – and the technology and expertise they bring – help transform the sector, or will development hinge on the state-owned banks' ability to reform?   

The Arab Spring uprisings have brought change on an unprecedented scale to north Africa over the past couple of years, but what impact have these changes had upon the region's appetite for Islamic finance?

Islamic finance is increasingly being viewed as a credible alternative to conventional finance, but Hussain Al-Qemzi, group chief executive of Dubai-based Noor Investment Group and chief executive of Noor Islamic Bank, recognises that Islamic institutions must work together if they are to compete with conventional banks.

Despite holding core values of social and economic development, questions remain about how beneficial Islamic finance has been for the majority of the Arab world. Could the emergence of crowd-funding platforms help to generate a more equitable distribution of wealth?

Four experts in Islamic finance discuss the issues affecting the industry at present, and look at what the key opportunities within it are likely to be in the coming years.

The financial centres of Bahrain, Dubai and Qatar dominate the Gulf's economic sphere and despite some major regulatory changes, the region as a whole is becoming more attractive to international asset managers in search of investable wealth.

Arab banks offset the turmoil of the Arab Spring and offered a robust performance in 2011 with impressive growth across the key financial indicators. And with minimal exposure to the eurozone crisis, the region's banks are expected to continue their recovery from the global financial crisis.