At Deloitte, we place a premium on experience, industry knowledge, integrity and unlimited commitment to the business community. Our financial services industry practice throughout the Middle East has been a pioneer for decades in providing professional services to the financial industry sector for companies of all sizes and all business segments. As a result, our clients list among the largest domestic, regional and universal banks offering conventional or Islamic services and products, insurance companies and asset management and securities houses.
Our financial services team in the Middle East consists of over 400 practitioners with extensive experience in the banking and securities, insurance and wealth management sectors and supported by Deloitte's global financial services industry practice with dedicated teams in 40 countries. On a global level, Deloitte serves over 80% of the financial service companies listed on the Fortune Global 500.
In response to the overwhelming development and advancement records achieved by Islamic finance institutions throughout the region - which account for over 80% of the global Islamic finance operations, in the second half of 2009 we consolidated our proficiency in this area to launch a knowledge center for thought leadership and specialized expertise led by a renowned expert in the field. This center will provide a strong support to our financial services group across the region and globally.
Across the financial sector generally, recent market developments have led to the competitive and regulatory landscape evolving at unprecedented speed. As such, financial services organizations now have to consider tackling a more complex matrix of organizational challenges and market discipline practices with more focus on governance and risk management, and with a trend to revert back to basics in the foreseeable future as a principle rule for doing business.
At Deloitte, our specialist, market knowledge and industry expertise enables our manpower of highly skilled professionals to deliver tailored solutions to help clients address these new challenges, maximize market opportunities and create a competitive edge. Our service offerings and value propositions to the financial services industry include: