Non chex systems bank and Rants

Malaysia’s AmBank Group chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim was honoured with the “Lifetime Achievement Award”, at the Fourth Annual Islamic Business and Finance Awards 2009 here, recently.

Also flying the Malaysian flag high was CIMB Islamic Bank which clinched awards in two categories, the Best Islamic Investment Bank and Best Islamic Retail Bank.

Gulf-based institutions and individuals scooped more than two-thirds of the trophies, or 19 awards.

The top prize of Best Islamic Bank went to the United Arab Emirates’ Dubai Islamic Bank for the second time. The bank had won this award in 2007.

Mohammed Sulaiman Al-Omar, chief executive of Kuwait Finance House, was named “Islamic Banker of the Year”.

Besides Malaysia, other winners were drawn from Pakistan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Luxembourg.

“The astonishing growth of the global Islamic finance industry is mirrored by the increasingly stiff competition for these awards,” said Nigel Rodrigues, chief executive of CPI Financial, publisher of Islamic Business & Finance.

The globally recognised awards were launched in 2005 and in response to the phenomenal growth of the Islamic finance industry, currently estimated at around US$840 billion in value and expected to pass US$1 trillion in 2010.

Held on Monday, the awards ceremony brought together around 300 distinguished regional and global industry professionals from around the world.