UAE: Dubai welcomed 281 Islamic finance leaders from across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia last evening at the prestigious annual Islamic Finance news Awards ceremony recognizing the exceptional achievements and contributions of industry participants in 2016.
Differentiated by its independence, breadth and rigorous selection process, the IFN Awards are recognized worldwide as the leading accolade for the global Islamic finance industry. A total of 150 awards from 53 categories were handed out to winners of the IFN Deals of the Year (DOTY), IFN Best Banks, IFN Service Providers and IFN Law Awards.
Some of the biggest winners of the evening include Dubai Islamic Bank which took home 12 awards including Best Overall Islamic Bank and Best Islamic Bank in the UAE; Allen & Overy which also bagged 12 awards; Clifford Chance won 11 awards, Standard Chartered seven; Emirates NBD six; and Al Baraka Banking Group which was recognized as the Best Islamic Bank in four different countries. For a full list of winners, click here.
The accomplishments of the illustrious IFN Award winners are a testament to the resilience, creativity and agility of Islamic financial institutions in navigating a particularly difficult year underscored by major geopolitical shakedowns, turbulent financial markets and weak global growth.
The industry’s perseverance and remarkable performance are captured in the series of IFN Awards which continues to grow from strength to strength. The IFN DOTY welcomed an unprecedented number of environmental and social impact transactions showcasing for the first time that Islamic finance players and their customers are demonstrating a more clear and systematic focus on doing well for the planet and for the people; the IFN Best Banks Poll received one of the best responses ever with over 26,000 votes from around the world; the IFN Law Awards received a record number of nominations from firms across 13 hotly-contested categories, with a diverse range of submissions reflecting complexity, breadth and visibility of the work undertaken by the legal fraternity; and the IFN Service Providers Poll, now in its 11th year, once again received an exceptional response, highlighting the importance of these players to the ongoing functionality of the Islamic finance industry.
The ceremony was attended by leading industry stalwarts, corporate leaders and dignitaries including: Dr Adnan Chilwan, CEO of Dubai Islamic Bank; Mian Muhammad Nazir, CEO of Dar Al Sharia; Dr Makarem Batterjee, the vice-chairman of Middle East Healthcare Company; Ahmad Thani Al Matrooshi, the managing director and board member of Emaar Properties; Saleh Al Ateeqi , CEO of Boubyan Bank; Mohammed Kateeb, group chairman and CEO of Path Solutions; Mohammad Reza Fayyad, the Iranian ambassador to the UAE; Sharifi Mahmudzoda, the Tajikistan ambassador to the UAE; Dr Sa’ed Radaideh, the Jordan consul-general for the UAE; Tsutomu Kobayashi, the chief representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jordan office); Abdullah Zubair, the deputy managing director of Noman Group; Mohammad Ahmed Al Qahtany, the managing director of ABWAB Capital; Zeinab Hashim, CEO of ADIB Capital; Raj Jit Singh Wallia, deputy CFO of DP World; Papa Dieng, CEO of Sonacos; Ashraf El-Ghamrawy, CEO of Al Baraka Bank-Egypt; Sampath Kulatunga, CEO of Trillion Securities; Krishan Thilakaratne, the group head of Islamic finance of Al-Falaah, the Islamic business unit of LOLC Finance; Stephen Charles Walters, CFO of Axiom Telecom; and Ahsan Ali, the head of Islamic origination of Standard Chartered Bank, among many other distinguished guests.