The growing Islamic finance and Islamic banking industry has produced a wide variety of new Shariah-compliant products and structures. The global Islamic finance industry, which has made tremendous developments over the last few years, is now worth more than $1 trillion and is growing rapidly. This has increased the number of Islamic banking and financial institutions, and also a variety of Islamic financial services products. Read More...

Jamelah Jamaluddin is the first woman to head an Islamic bank anywhere in the world. As the managing director of RHB Islamic Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia’s fourth largest banking group, she is giving some of her male counterparts in the industry something to think about.

An acknowledged expert on Islamic capital markets and investment products, her appointment in 2008 as the new managing director of RHB Islamic Bank replacing Khalid Bhaimia did raise some eyebrows. These were largely of her male colleagues, some of whom still have gender issues to sort in their emotional makeup.

Malaysia of course leads the sector in the empowerment of women. Of course the two most important regulators in financial services in Malaysia are also women — Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz is the globally respected governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank, and Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar who is the chairman of the Securities Commission of Malaysia, the securities regulator. Read More...