Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
After completing an MSc in Financial Economics from Cass Business School in London in 1992, I joined the Commercial Bank of Qatar’s corporate banking business. Six years later I was offered for a position with BNP Paribas and joined their regional head office in Bahrain, responsible for their corporate finance businesses. After eight years with BNP Paribas, I joined Samba Financial Group in Riyadh, as the head of investment banking. Then I was appointed as the deputy CEO of Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB) and subsequently as CEO in December 2010.
What does your role involve?
The bank is now three years old and I joined the bank from day one. The task of building an institution, which we started at the height of the financial crisis in 2008, required many sacrifices along the way.
Our challenges were not simply limited to assuring the regulators that we were doing the right thing: we also had to gain the trust of our shareholders (more than 1,200 GCC-based individuals and institutions) and develop modes of communication to reassure them that the investment they made in this start-up institution was secure amid market turmoil.
Since the inception of QFIB, the market has and is still experiencing unprecedented volatility and uncertainty. Despite the challenges, we have managed to put in place an excellent management team. We managed to break even from year one and turn a profit in the second year of operations. As the third year of operations comes to a close, we are poised to record good growth.
What is your greatest achievement to date?
I have worked with many well-established larger banks, but the experience of being part of the start-up team of QFIB, with all the challenges that we faced, tops all my other experiences.
Which of your products/services deliver the best results?
Our star business line is principal investments. We are fortunate to have been well capitalized from the start. Our paid up capital is US$430 million, and we have used our capital resources wisely to invest in key economic growth sectors that are delivering excellent returns.
What are the strengths of your business?
Our greatest strength is our team. We have one of the best investment banking teams across the GCC region. They are supported by an efficient support services machine that allows them to pick the right opportunities and make the most of them. We have an excellent internal control environment and our corporate governance standards are among the highest in the industry.
What are the factors contributing to the success of your company?
Success in any organization starts with having the right team in place. Banking is a people business and without the right team we would not have been able to achieve whatever we have achieved. In addition, Qatar is a great place to do business and will have a positive GDP growth next year.
What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
The biggest challenge that we are facing today is market conditions. QFIB was established in late 2008 and since then markets have not had a steady run for any length of time.
The rules of the investment banking industry are constantly changing since the onset of the financial crisis. Such market conditions have made it very difficult for the investment banking industry (especially for a start-up operation like ours) to plan ahead and to deploy resources in a meaningful, predictable way.
Where do you see the Islamic finance industry in the next five years?
The only way is up for the Islamic finance industry for many reasons. This industry has demonstrated that it is able to develop products, services and structures that can become perfect substitutes for their conventional equivalents. The industry has also shown above average resilience in the face of financial turmoil.
Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance.
I believe that most Islamic bankers would like to see some standardization of fatwas. We believe that the industry can be put on a higher growth trajectory if fatwas and Shariah compliant structures can be standardized across the industry, by doing away with the current system where every institution is obligated to obtain its own individual fatwas from their own individual Shariah committees.