azmat rafique

I am a senior Islamic banker and a financial consultant with twenty-three years of significant experience in the GCC and Pakistani financial sector.

My key areas of expertise are in Islamic finance consultancy, corporate / commercial banking, fintech and entrepreneurship. I have assisted AAOIFI (Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions) as a consultant to develop new governing standards. I am also a visiting faculty member of Karachi University Business School (KUBS) and have just finish work on an Asian Development Bank (ADB) capacity-building project for Central Asian Republics, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Recently, I was associated with Bank AL Habib as Deputy General Manager in Islamic Banking Division where my work focused on various initiatives in the areas of organization structure, business segment extension, operational efficiency and training.

Prior to this, I was leading ‘Al Yusr Islamic Banking’ of Oman Arab Bank in Oman as Head of Islamic Banking. Before this responsibility, I was managing Islamic Financial Services Group (IFSG) of Ernst & Young - Qatar with complete team management and Profit & Loss responsibilities. In this position, I actively led engagements on business strategy, institutional design, operational excellence, internal audit, corporate governance, Shari'ah audit and product structuring. During my career with EY I served renowned financial institutions in Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, KSA, Switzerland, and Sudan.

Earlier, I worked almost ten years in the credit & business departments of Islamic, Corporate and Commercial Banking Groups of MCB Bank. My banking experience with the bank was quite enriching and I had the opportunity to work in various capacities such as Credit Manager, Relationship Manager and Team Leader both in conventional and Islamic banking segments.

I have done MBA from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi. In 2003 I was awarded Bank of England's Scholarship and subsequently completed MSc. in Islamic Economics, Banking, and Finance from Loughborough University, UK. Recently I have acquired “Certificate in Entrepreneurship” from The Wharton Business School (online). I have also completed “Certificate in New Venture Leadership” from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2017. In 2020, I completed MicroMaster in Digital Leadership from Boston University. I have also successfully passed PMP certification from PMI in the year 2021.