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.