Muhammad Al-Jasser, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), who took over at the Saudi central bank earlier this year, won the “Outstanding Contribution by a Regulator to Islamic Financial Services” Award at the 2009 London Sukuk Summit Islamic Finance Awards, which was held last Thursday evening at the Radisson Hotel in London.
The awards, organized by ICG-Events, recognizes the achievements, progress and effort by individuals and institutions in the Islamic finance space. Altogether eight Saudi or Saudi-based institutions and individuals were recognized by the awards organizer.
Ahmad Mohamed Ali, president of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), was recognized for his “Outstanding Leadership in Islamic Finance”. Ali has been at the helm of the IDB for almost 30 years, save a few months when he became secretary-general of the Muslim World League, based in Makkah.
On his watch, the IDB has become an important multilateral development bank of the Muslim world, and has fostered the development of member country economies and promoted policies aimed at poverty alleviation, private sector development, the promotion of Islamic finance globally, and promoting intra-Islamic trade and investment. Currently intra-Islamic trade stands at almost 14 percent of the total trade in the 57 Muslim countries.
Another prominent award “Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Islamic Capital Markets” went to Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, chairman of the Securities Commission of Malaysia, the securities regulator, who since 2006 has played a vital role in expanding the role and depth of the Malaysian Islamic capital markets and promoting Islamic capital markets in regional and international bodies such as International Organization for Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
Other Saudi winners recognized included The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), a member of the IDB Group, for the “Most Innovative Islamic Financing Transaction” for the Djibouti container terminal financing.
The IDB also won the “Most Innovative Sukuk Structure/Deal” Award for its RM1 billion medium term notes facility issued in for Malaysia. Ayman Sejiny, CEO of Unicorn Bank in Saudi Arabia, whose major shareholder is Dar Al-Arkan Real Estate Development Company (DAAR), was named “Islamic Banker of the Year”.
DAAR itself was recognized for the “Best Sukuk Structure by a Private Corporate Issuer” for its recent SR750 million Sukuk. Similarly, National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia won the “Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Global Islamic Finance” Award, while Siraj Capital was named the “Best Islamic Wealth Management Service Provider”.