King to confer Islamic finance award tomorrow

KUALA LUMPUR: The Who's Who of global Islamic finance will gather in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow for the award of a global accolade to recognise one deserving individual's extensive contributions to the industry.

The Royal Award for Islamic Finance (The Royal Award), to be given for the second time by the King, aspires to be the benchmark for global recognition in Islamic finance.

A total of 32 nominations were received for the Royal Award.

The recipient is selected by an independent jury chaired by former deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam, who is now chairman of the World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation.

"The Royal Award recipient is selected by an independent seven-member jury that is made up of syariah scholars, academicians and Islamic finance practitioners from Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the US.

"With this framework, The Royal Award is increasingly being regarded as a global benchmark in identifying exceptional individuals who have shaped and facilitated the growth of the global Islamic financial marketplace," Musa said.

Commenting on the selection process, he said: "The jury assesses both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the nominees' contributions, reach and impact in global Islamic finance. These include financial innovation and pioneering work, exceptional leadership, adoption and acknowledgement of their contributions within the industry, and inspiration and influence towards future progress and development.

"I am glad to say that a majority of the submissions are within the parameters that we have set. They are prominent individuals within the fields that they represent.

"The ones that not only fall within the objectives and criteria but are influential as well, obviously are the ones whom we have shortlisted.

"Our panel of jurors was highly impressed with the record of sterling achievements of the nominees. We are happy to have selected the individual who best epitomises the high ideals of The Royal Award, which will be announced on Wednesday," he added.

The Royal Award will be presented during tomorrow's gala dinner held in conjunction with the third Global Islamic Finance Forum (GIFF) 2012, a high-level event that brings together regulators, scholars and financial industry players who are key drivers in the global development of Islamic finance.

The global search for outstanding individuals in Islamic finance started in 2010 when The Royal Award for Islamic Finance was established by the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) initiative and supported by Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission Malaysia.

The Royal Award focuses on an exceptional individual's record of global achievements in Islamic finance.

Nominees for the The Royal Award were drawn from the Middle East, Europe, Africa, North America and the Asia Pacific, indicating the global reach and acceptance of Islamic finance.

Reflecting on the diversity of Islamic finance today, the nominees had come from various stakeholder groups, including syariah, academia, market practitioners, financial institutions, research institutions, government agencies and non-governmental organisations , cutting across race, gender and religion barriers.

The recipient of The Royal Award will serve as a role model to inspire others to contribute to the advancement of the industry.

For more information on The Royal Award, please visit www.mifc.com/award