Al Rayan Bank appoints new chief financial officer
Al Rayan Bank has confirmed the appointment of Amir Firdaus as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The role will be based at the Bank’s Operational Headquarters in Birmingham.
Amir, who has been Interim CFO since December 2018, has been promoted to his new position with immediate effect. Prior to this, he served as Treasurer, after joining the UK’s largest Islamic bank two and a half years ago.
Since 2016 Amir has helped to lead Al Rayan Bank through several important developments for Islamic finance in the UK. In 2017, he worked with the team to support the Bank’s receipt of an Aa2 rating from Moody's Investors Service – the first time that an Islamic bank in the UK has received a public credit rating from the credit rating service.
In February last year, Amir led the team that implemented the first ever public Sukuk (Islamic bond) in a non-Muslim country; the £250m Tolkien Funding Sukuk No.1 Plc was also the largest ever Sterling Sukuk to be issued and was 1.5 times oversubscribed.
Amir has over 15 years of experience in the finance sector in the UK and South East Asia, having worked for challenger banks including Aldermore Bank and Sainsbury’s Bank, as well as BinaFikir and UEM Group in Malaysia.
Commenting on his appointment, Amir Firdaus said: “Al Rayan Bank is the pioneer of Islamic finance in the UK. I’m honoured to have been able to play a part in its success so far and am looking forward to working with the other members of the Bank’s Executive Management Team, as well as the Board to build an enduring British banking brand.”
Founded in 2004 as the first Islamic retail bank in Europe, Al Rayan Bank currently serves more than 85,000 customers and has a current asset book of almost £2bn.
ENDS
Created on behalf of Al Rayan Bank by Citypress.
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Sarah Daniels
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Notes to editors
Background on Al Rayan Bank
Al Rayan Bank is the oldest and largest Islamic bank in the UK. Founded in 2004, the Bank is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority and is a member of the FSCS. In 2019, Al Rayan Bank is celebrating its 15th anniversary. The Bank currently serves more than 85,000 customers throughout the country. The Bank is the only Islamic bank in the UK to receive a public credit rating. Citing Al Rayan Bank’s sound asset risk profile, robust capitalisation and sufficient liquid resources as credit strengths, Moody’s assigns the Bank baa2 baseline credit assessment (BCA), an a2 adjusted BCA, Aa3 long-term deposit ratings, as well as a Counterparty Risk Ratings (CRR) of Aa2/Prime-1 and Counterparty Risk Assessment of Aa2/Prime-1. Al Rayan Bank is an open and inclusive bank which welcomes customers of any faith. The Bank currently estimates that more than a quarter of its customers are not of the Muslim faith. This is much higher in certain product groups. For example, more than 80% of all fixed term deposit customers are believed to be non-Muslim.
Sarah Daniels
Assistant Account Executive
Citypress
T: +44 (0)203 051 9440
M: +44 (0)7516 483931
