IslamicFinance.de

The World’s oldest Islamic bank has strengthened its leadership to provide sharia-compliant products and services to an even broader market. Simpler, better, faster. These three key words form the cornerstone of a strategy that is seen to propel Kuwait Finance House Malaysia from its present level to a stronger position in the region. Thanks to fundamental adjustments that demonstrate efforts of Kuwait Finance House to grow its Malaysian subsidiary, the outlook for KFH Malaysia has never been better. “After making changes to the management structure in Kuwait, we came to bring the Malaysia arm in line with the group and to make sure that we drive forward to become the dominant player in Southeast Asia,” CEO David Power said.
Groomed as the regional hub for KFH in the Far East, KFH Malaysia had 18 vacant management positions when Power took over. Within a short period, he took steps to make sure that the bank had the right people on board who could assess the problems and come up with short-, medium- and long-term solutions.
KFH is preparing to dominate the most populated Muslim countries. Supporting this vision, KFH Malaysia is relying on its strengthened leadership and its parent’s heritage of ethical finance to provide sharia-compliant products and services to an even broader market. While it is not KFH Malaysia’s stated aim to be the largest bank in Asia, its objective is to be the primary provider of Islamic banking to customers whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims.
According to Power: “More than 70% of all Islamic banks worldwide have branches in Malaysia, so there’s a huge market where we already have a lasting presence”. With its large Muslim population, China is also a favourable market for expansion. “This will be the year for KFH Malaysia’s resurgence,” Power said. “We plan to be the largest, purest Islamic bank in the world as opposed to others with only Islamic windows.”