An international adviser with extensive background and experience in Islamic economy, governance, business development, international investment, family businesses, and Islamic Waqf. 

Expertise & International Engagements

• An expert in Islamic economy, international investment, management and development of family businesses and their charitable activities.

• Secretary General of Al-Baraka Forum for Islamic Economy, since its establishment in 2020.

• Chair and Member of various committees for development, auditing, reviewing, revising corporate governance in many organizations.

• Vice President, OIC Arbitration Center since 2021 and President of Executive Committee.

• Member of the Board of Trustees in various international organizations, including but not limited to the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions in Bahrain (AAOIFI).

• Chairman of Border Management & Consulting Company (BMC).

• Established many of Islamic investment portfolios and funds.

• Published several books on investments, family businesses, civilization and Islamic endowments/Waqf.

• Delivered many lectures around the world in his areas of expertise and participated in dozens of international conferences.

Omar is the Managing Director of the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI).

A Chartered Accountant by profession, he specialises in ethical/responsible finance, Islamic finance and private equity. He has extensive experience in financial services and has advised multiple governments and regulators as a leading advocate for sustainable and Islamic finance and specialises in ecosystem building. His background includes working with EY London where he qualified as a CA and was the former Head of Islamic finance.

Through his work he has established a number of initiatives including the Path to COP, finance for nature project and SDG Financial products platform with UNDP which promotes innovative financing structures for the SDGs, the Global Islamic Finance and UN SDGs Taskforce launched with UK Government and IsDB and the award winning interfaith Edinburgh Finance Declaration the world’s first shared values approach to finance between Islamic finance and the Church.

Rafe Haneef is the Group CEO of MBSB Berhad that comprises MBSB Bank and MIDF group. He was previously the CEO of Group Transaction Banking at CIMB from 2019 to June 2023

Rafe began his banking career in 1999 with HSBC Investment Bank in London. Over the past 25 years, he has held various leadership roles at HSBC Middle East, ABN Amro UAE, Fajr Capital UAE and CitiGroup Malaysia. He was then appointed as the CEO of HSBC Amanah Bank in 2010 and subsequently joined CIMB as the CEO of CIMB Islamic Bank in 2016. He also served as CIMB’s Group Chief Sustainability Officer and the CEO of CIMB Foundation, where he was instrumental in positioning the sustainability agenda as a key strategic driver for CIMB Group.

Rafe read law and Islamic law at the International Islamic University Malaysia and then pursued his Master of Laws at Harvard Law School.

Dr. Al-Suwailem is currently Acting Director General of the Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI), the Islamic Development Bank Group, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Before joining Institute in 2004, Dr. Al-Suwailem managed the Research and Development Center at Al-Rajhi Bank, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He worked at the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, Virginia; Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois, USA; and King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Al-Suwailem held membership in several professional committees, including the Technical Committee of the Islamic Financial Services Board; Economic Committee of Awqaf at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs in Riyadh; Academic Committee in Islamic Fiqh Academy of Muslim World League; Liquidity Risk Management Working Group at IFSB; and Task Force for Islamic Finance and Global Financial Stability at IsDB, among others.

He obtained his M.A. from Southern Illinois University in 1990, and his Ph.D. from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, in 1995. He authored many books and published several papers on Islamic economics and finance.

Tan Sri Azman Mokhtaris currently the Chairman of the Malaysia International Islamic Finance Centre (MIFC) Leadership Council, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), and the Chairman of INCEIF University (The International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance). Between June 2004 and July 2018, he was the Managing Director of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Malaysia’s strategic investment fund (“Khazanah” with AUM of approximately USD40bn then), and between December 2021 and December 2023, he was the Chairman of Lembaga Tabung Haji Malaysia (Hajj Pilgrims Fund Board with AUM of approximately USD20bn).

Other current affiliations include as a member of the Global Future Council on Investing of the World Economic Forum (Davos), the Steering Committee of the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI), Edinburgh, the Advisory Board of the University of Oxford Technology and Management Centre for Development and the Investment Advisory Council of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Azman is also a Development Leadership Dialogue Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, a member of the Board of Governor of the Malay College Kuala Kangsar, an Advisory Board member of the College of Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar and a board member of MERCY Malaysia, an international humanitarian NGO. Between 2019 and 2022, Azman was the Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Centre of Development Studies, University of Cambridge and a Bye-Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge.

Omar is working at the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) – global Islamic finance standard setter, as its Secretary General. Previously, he was Partner – Assurance & Head of Islamic Finance (Pakistan & Afghanistan) at Ernst & Young Pakistan. He is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP).

At AAOIFI, he is responsible for managing the overall affairs of the institution as the organization’s operational head, as well as, leading the process of development of accounting, auditing, governance and ethics standards for the global Islamic finance industry and coordinating with and supporting its technical boards.  

Omar’s key areas of expertise include regulations and standards related to Islamic finance, banking and Takaful, as well as, assurance and advisory services to Islamic financial institutions, including Islamic accounting advisory, audits, Shari’ah Audits, corporate finance advisory, structuring of Shari’ah compliant transactions, accountancy and financial reporting, Islamic finance training, financial modelling, risk management and development / review of manuals, SOPs and systems.

His published books include:

• Managing Finances - A Shariah Compliant Way;
• Islamic Microfinance Bank: Working Model (in Urdu);
• IFRS and Shari'ah based reporting: a conceptual study;
• Textbook on Islamic finance and capital markets (for the Institute of Capital Markets, SECP – Pakistan);

AAOIFI’s CIPA program study texts (in the capacity of chief editor and reviewer) comprising 4 volumes on (i) Accounting and Financial Reporting; (ii) Shari'ah Standards and Shari'ah Governance; (iii) Audit, Assurance and Ethics; and (iv) Business and regulatory environment.

He was also the team leader and editor for translation of AAOIFI Shari’ah standards in Urdu.

Omar is a member of Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s (SECP) Shari’ah Advisory Committee (SAC) and had earlier been a member of SECP’s Shari’ah Board and part of its committee for revision of Takaful Rules, besides being part of several committees and task forces of the State Bank of Pakistan. Omar is a member (ex-chairman) of ICAP's working group / committee responsible for development of Islamic financial accounting standards for Pakistan and also a member of ICAP’s Insurance Committee leading the accounting regulations development for Takaful. He has also worked as an advisor to Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA) on Shari’ah issues concerning IFRS adoption.

He has contributed several articles in various newspapers and journals, and papers in conferences and is the founder and managing editor of AAOIFI’s Journal for Islamic Finance Accountancy (JOIFA). He is also a professional trainer and regular speaker on various forums on topics related to Islamic finance including international events and conferences, universities and professional bodies.

With over two decades of experience in the digital and payment industry, Fernando is an accomplished industry expert with a proven track record of driving growth in high-growth, fast-paced businesses. Throughout his career, Fernando has navigated the digital and payment industry at all levels, from startups to large corporations. He has held senior leadership roles at reputable organizations such as Lloyds Banking Group, Vodafone Group, Emirates Group, Al Rajhi Bank, and Arab National Bank.

In his role as Chief Digital Officer at ADIB, Fernando is leading the digital strategy & execution across the Group on retail banking, Corporate and Business banking, subsidiaries and international presence.