19 Sep 2012
Prominent Islamic banker Iqbal Khan has been announced as the second recipient of the prestigious Royal Award for Islamic Finance (The Royal Award). He received the Award from His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Almu’tasimu Billahi Muhibbuddin Tuanku Alhaj Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah ibni AlMarhum Sultan Badlishah, the King of Malaysia, during a Gala Dinner here tonight.
The Royal Award is presented to Iqbal Khan for his dedication, drive and extraordinary leadership in accelerating the global growth and accessibility of Islamic finance. The award recipient was selected by a panel of seven independent international jurors. A total of 32 nominations were received, comprising influential leaders with various backgrounds in the Islamic finance industry from the Middle East, Europe, Africa, North America and Asia Pacific.
The award selection criteria focused on both qualitative and quantitative aspects to honour an individual’s exceptional contribution to the global development of Islamic finance, in the areas of financial innovation, exceptional leadership and vision, serving as an inspiration and influence towards future progress and development in this arena.
Commenting on the recipient of The Royal Award, Jury Chairman Tun Musa Hitam said, “The Jury went through a very stringent and rigorous selection process on the nominees’ merits and achievements, which resulted in several rounds of deliberations, followed by a very robust discussion on the critical and objective assessment of the shortlisted candidates before arriving at a final decision. The Award recognises
Mr Iqbal Khan’s contribution towards the development of Islamic finance that serves as an inspiration for the next generation.”
Iqbal Khan has had a prominent role in the course of facilitating, promoting and innovating Islamic finance on a global scale. His passion in providing ethical, community-based financial services has led him to drive further interest among international financial institutions, regulators and academia towards Islamic finance.
Iqbal Khan was instrumental in establishing a number of institutions and initiatives in the Islamic finance industry, including Citi Islamic Investment Bank, the Islamic Finance Project at Harvard University, Meezan Bank, HSBC Amanah and most recently Fajr Capital, of which he is Founding Board Member and Chief Executive Officer.
He also had an important role in innovating and promoting global sukuk as a mechanism to raise capital by sovereign governments. With his leadership and dedication, Iqbal Khan motivated the push for global sovereign sukuk and led the Shariah thought-process towards greater understanding of the concept of foreign currency global sukuk. Successfully proven in creating the evolutionary move from basic banking and finance to more sophisticated product structures, global sovereign sukuk have today become the mainstream fund raising instrument for sovereigns.
In his acceptance speech, Iqbal Khan said, “I am greatly honoured to receive this distinction, but our work has just begun. The Islamic finance industry has to create role model institutions and economies to create a demonstration effect across the world. Giving capitalism a moral compass is a vision we can all commit ourselves to.”
Apart from helming Fajr Capital Limited, Iqbal Khan is also presently Chairman of the Executive Committee and board member of Jadwa Investment in Saudi Arabia.
In 2006, he received the Euromoney Award for Outstanding Contribution to Islamic Finance, and was nominated and voted by the Islamic Financial News as the Best Individual Islamic Banker for 2005. He was also recognised by the United States House of Representatives in 2000 for his contribution in the field of finance and economics. In the same year, he won the LARIBA Award for Excellence in Islamic Banking Practitioner’s Division.
The Royal Award was spearheaded by the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) initiative and supported by Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission Malaysia. The recipient of The Royal Award was selected by an independent and international jury comprising prominent individuals with diverse background, namely Tun Musa Hitam as Jury Chairman, Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad, Professor Dr. Volker Nienhaus, Professor Dr. Abbas Mirakhor, Dr. Mohamed Ali Elgari, A. Riawan Amin and Dr. Yahia Abdul-Rahman.
The first recipient of The Royal Award for Islamic Finance in 2010 was Dallah Albaraka Group Founder Shaikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel of Saudi Arabia.
For more information on The Royal Award, please visit www.theroyalaward.com
SECURITIES COMMISSION MALAYSIA
On behalf of the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) Initiative
