Wasim Saifi started his career in India with American Express and Mashreq Bank before moving to Standard Chartered Bank. He has also held senior positions with Dubai Islamic Bank and Tamweel PJSC. He is currently based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
After brief stints with American Express and Mashreq Bank in Mumbai, I joined Standard Chartered Bank in 1986, and until 2003 held various positions at its offices in Mumbai, Dubai and Colombo, including the role of CEO for Sri Lanka. In 2003 I resigned from Standard Chartered and joined Dubai Islamic Bank in Dubai. In 2008, I was appointed as the CEO of Tamweel, one of the largest Islamic home finance companies in the Middle East. In January 2011, I rejoined Standard Chartered as its global head of Islamic banking for consumer banking, and July this year I was also appointed CEO for Standard Chartered Saadiq in Malaysia.
What does your role involve?
In my global role, I have oversight of the Islamic banking business for consumer banking covering Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, UAE and Bahrain. In my local role in Malaysia as CEO of Standard Chartered Saadiq, I am involved in the management and growth of our Islamic business both in the consumer as well as the wholesale bank.
What is your greatest achievement to date?
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Creating a strong Islamic customer value proposition in Standard Chartered Saadiq.
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Working closely with my former colleagues in Dubai Islamic Bank and Tamweel to restructure Tamweel, and position the company to re-enter the Islamic home finance business in the UAE.
Which of your products/services deliver the best results?
In Malaysia, some of the areas that Standard Chartered Saadiq has been most successful in are:
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Bringing international issuers to tap the Malaysian Sukuk market — we have already managed three issuances so far this year and have several more in the pipeline.
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Providing Islamic personal finance and home finance solutions to our consumer banking customers.
What are the strengths of your business?
Our international footprint — over 70 markets for the bank including 45 markets for consumer banking. We also have an independent Global Shariah Supervisory Committee which advises our Islamic banking team and approves all Standard Chartered Saadiq products. The committee comprises three of the world’s most renowned and respected scholars of Islamic banking: Dr Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah, Sheikh Nizam Yaqubi and Dr. Mohamed Ali Elgari.
What are the factors contributing to the success of your company?
We have the geographic coverage to support our push for our Islamic finance agenda. We have a big presence in the Muslim world, with at least 16 countries with a Muslim majority population, hence a substantial business base for Standard Chartered Saadiq already exists. While the Islamic finance world has some very strong local and regional banks, we are probably one of the two global banks that have an end-to-end Islamic proposition covering both the consumer and wholesale banking side.
What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
I believe for the whole industry, education across the Muslim world is essential to the growth of Islamic banking. Lack of knowledge is a big barrier to the expansion of Islamic finance. In addition, while there is clearly a demand for Islamic banking, the pace of conversion for Muslims from conventional to Islamic banking is in my view not fast enough. We also see a shortage of skilled Islamic professionals in the industry.
Where do you see the Islamic finance industry in the next five years?
I remain extremely bullish on the growth prospects for Islamic banking. We are an industry which is improving year-on-year in every respect; in the products and solutions we create, in the franchise/network that we are building, in the technology that we access, in the talent that we develop, and in the customer base that we are building. By 2020, I would expect to see Malaysia penetration at 35-40%. In the Middle East, markets like UAE, Bahrain and Qatar will probably be in the 30-40% range while Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will be much higher. Even markets like Indonesia and Pakistan should see penetration rates of between 20-25%.
Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance.
In my view we are still in the early stages of our journey in Islamic finance. Through this journey there are many things we will change, not because there is something wrong with them, but more because every day we learn something new, and realize that we can do better. It is this challenge that makes our industry so interesting.