Maybank Islamic named Best Global Islamic Financial Instituition

On top of the world: Giarraputo (left) presenting the award to Mohamed Rafique in Washington.

WASHINGTON: Malaysia and Asean’s largest Islamic bank in terms of total assets, Maybank Islamic Bhd has won the Best Global Islamic Financial Institution award, its first ever, at the Global Finance Awards 2017 ceremony, held here last Saturday.

The bank was also recognised as the Best Global Sukuk Bank and Best Global Provider of Shariah-Compliant Short-Term Investments – its second consecutive wins in both categories, said Maybank Islamic in a statement.

It was also named the Best Islamic Financial Institution in Asia Pacific, and also clinched the country awards for Malaysia and Singapore.

The awards ceremony took place at Washington DC’s National Press Club during the annual IMF/World Bank meeting.

Maybank Group head of Islamic banking and Maybank Islamic CEO Datuk Mohamed Rafique Merican was present at the ceremony to receive the awards.

“We are honoured to have been recognised as the World’s best Islamic financial institution, after having won the best in Asia Pacific four times since 2012 – a recognition of the commitment and capability demonstrated by the Maybank Group and Maybank Islamic in pursuing its global Islamic banking leadership aspirations,” he said.

He also attributed the adoption of the Islamic First strategy by the group which has led to Maybank Islamic being recognised globally as one of the leading financial institutions in the industry.

“Winning such a prestigious international award will spur us to improve further our service delivery to our customers, our contribution to the community and the Islamic banking industry. Our gratitude and appreciation goes to all our customers and stakeholders for their continuous support in making Maybank Islamic a leading player within the industry,” said Mohamed Rafique.

This is the sixth consecutive year Maybank Islamic has won the Best Islamic Financial Institution Award in Malaysia since 2012, and also the fourth time it has been named best in Singapore from Global Finance, the official media partner of the IMF/World Bank 2017 annual meetings.

Global Finance publisher and editorial director Joseph Giar-raputo said in a statement that the winners of this year’s awards are those firms that contributed to the growth of Islamic finance and successfully met their customers’ needs for syariah-compliant products and services.