ISLAMIC FINANCE REVIEW | DECEMBER 2015
ISFIRE REPORT the UK. However, the winner of the Best Islamic Investment Bank award is none other than Venture Capital Bank, Bahrain, which established itself as a prudent investment house during the recent global crisis when many Islamic investment banks in the country faced problems. The credit for this success goes to Mr Abdullatif Janahi, the CEO and a Board Member. “It is an honour to have won the Best Islamic Investment Bank 2015 award, which coincides with the bank’s 10th anniversary,” said Mr Janahi after receiving the award. During the past decade, VCBank has developed a successful track record for superior deal flow and strong placement capability. Over the least year, it was able to successfully conclude three new transactions, which have further strengthened and diversified its investment portfolio.
Suk Al Sila is now the leading commodity murabaha platform offering a Shari’a compliant alternative to the LME’s offerings in this respect. It was the leadership role of Bursa Suk Al Sila, which was recognized by GIFA Awards Committee that unanimously voted it to receive the Best Islamic Exchange Award for 2015. “Bursa Suk Al Sila is pleased to receive this recognition from the international financial community. The consistent double-digit growth since its inception in 2009 has been encouraging as we observe more interest coming from the MENA and Asia regions. As an exchange, our focus remains to build on the greater depth and diversity to our marketplace, especially in Shari’a-compliant products and services that would appeal to both the institutional and retail audience,” said Dato’ Tajuddin Atan, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia.
Best Islamic Savings Product 2015
Best Islamic Project Finance House 2015
National Bonds
National Commercial Bank – NCB When it comes to Islamic project finance, there is no other bank that does it better than NCB. The project finance team led by Dr Mansoor Durrani is arguably the best in Islamic project finance. “It is a great honour to have been chosen for this prestigious award. This is reflection of the leadership position that NCB have been able to carve out in the space of project finance in general and Islamic project finance in particular,” said Dr Mansoor Durrani after the Awards Ceremony.
Best Islamic Exchange 2015 Bursa Suk Al-Sila, Bursa Malaysia If there is any exchange in the world, which has challenged near monopoly of London Metal Exchange (LME) in the commodity murabaha transactions, it is Bursa Suk Al-Sila platform of Bursa Malaysia. Bursa
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Path Solutions has also previously won the same award in 2011 and 2014. A pioneering IT company led by Muhammed Kateeb has been at the forefront of Islamic finance technology, and has won numerous awards and accolades for its products and services. Its clientele comes from all over the world, from Africa to Europe, making it the strongest Islamic finance technology business in the world.
Best Islamic Microfinance Institution 2015 Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) won the Best Islamic Microfinance Institution award three times in a row. The award was presented to AIM for its continuous endeavor to alleviate poverty from Malaysia by way of developing a new breed of entrepreneurs in the rural communities.
Best Islamic Finance Technology Provider 2015 Path Solutions
National Bonds is a unique Islamic savings product that have popularized the concept of sukuk on a retail level. Led by Mohamed Qasim Al Ali, the CEO, National Bonds Corporation has gone from strength to strength, making National Bonds as the preferred choice of all in the UAE – both the locals and the expatriates. The product has also attracted a significant number of investors from other countries. This is one of the reasons that National Bonds have won GIFA in this category for the last three consecutive years.