Stronger leadership guiding KFH Malaysia towards resurgence as leading Islamic bank
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 (KFH Malaysia) from its present level to a stronger position in the region.
Thanks to fundamental adjustments that demonstrate efforts of Kuwait Finance House (KFH) to grow its Malaysian subsidiary, the outlook for KFH Malaysia has never been rosier.
“After 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,” says CEO David Power.
Groomed as the regional hub for KFH in the Far East, KFH Malaysia had 18 vacant management positions when Power took over.
We plan to be the largest, purest Islamic bank in the world as opposed to others with only Islamic windows
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.
As the world’s oldest Islamic bank, 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.
“More than 70 per cent of all Islamic banks have branches in Malaysia, so there’s a huge market where we already have a lasting presence,” Power says. With its large Muslim population, China is also a favourable market for expansion.
“This will be the year for KFH Malaysia’s resurgence,” Power says. “We plan to be the largest, purest Islamic bank in the world as opposed to others with only Islamic windows.”
