INCEIF Appoints New Board Members To Help Strengthen Global Islamic Finance Education

Kuala Lumpur, 19 Oct 2021 – The Global University of Islamic Finance – INCEIF announced the appointment of three new board members effective 12 October 2021.

The new board members are Dato’ Mohd Izani Ghani, Managing Director of UEM Group Bhd; Siti Kamariah Ahmad Subki, CEO of Wanita Berdaya Selangor (Selangor government’s umbrella body for women empowerment’s initiatives); and Dr Aamir A. Rehman, Partner of Princeton Stone House Capital and Senior Advisor, UNDP.

As a postgraduate university focusing on Islamic Finance studies, INCEIF is honoured to have these experienced professionals and industry experts onboard as they join current INCEIF board members including the recently appointed Chairman of INCEIF, Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar. 

Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar said, “The new board members bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience as INCEIF moves forward to further strengthen its involvement and impact on the global education industry; and ensuring an inclusive, equitable and sustainable future – be it through our curriculum, applied research and collaborations,” Tan Sri Azman added.

Dato’ Mohd Izani has nearly 30 years of investment and management experience and prior to joining UEM Group, he was the Executive Director, Investments at Khazanah Nasional Berhad where he oversaw its Turkey Regional Office.

He was formerly Khazanah’s Chief Financial Officer where under his leadership, the Malaysian Government’s strategic investment arm issued many landmark sukuk transactions including exchangeable and Social Impact Sukuk. He had also previously served at Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd and Renong Group. He graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science, with Bachelor of Science (Economics) specialising in Accounting and Finance.

He subsequently pursued his professional accounting qualification from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and was admitted to Fellowship in 1998. He is also a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). 

A Chartered Accountant by qualification, Siti Kamariah started her career in 2004 as a Management Accountant with Hudson in Sydney, Australia (listed on NASDAQ), before returning to Malaysia to join PricewaterhouseCoopers.

She then worked for Khazanah, and was later seconded to the United Nations in New York as Economics, Finance and Private Sector Advisor to serve at the UN World Humanitarian Summit and Secretariat for UN High-Level Panel for Humanitarian Financing, with a focus on the adoption of Islamic Social Finance for humanitarian action. She has a Master in Commerce, majoring in Accounting and Finance, from The University of New South Wales, Australia. She is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand and MIA.

An American national, Dr Rehman is a partner at US’s Princeton Stone House Capital, a strategic investment firm based in New Jersey. He is also an Advisor at Dubai’s Fajr Capital, a private equity group of which he was a co-founder and managing director.

In addition to his work in investment management, Dr Rehman is Senior Advisor to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a Consultant to the World Bank Group’s Finance and Markets Global Practice.

He is Senior Fellow at the Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy at Columbia University. His contributions to the Center focus on investors’ ESG considerations and the public aspects of private investments.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, a Master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree from Columbia University.

INCEIF also benefits from the largest pool of Islamic finance experts under one roof with faculty members coming from academia and industry. With a faculty of such strength, INCEIF has provided its students and graduates with value added insights and skills, bridging the gap between academic rigour and industry’s needs.

Beyond textbooks and classrooms, INCEIF students are provided with the opportunity to be mentored and work with leading industry experts and policymakers on topical issues, familiarising them to the wider financial community.

Today, INCEIF alumni are spread all over the globe making meaningful contribution through their involvement as policy makers, advisors, researchers, academicians and business owners in the public and private sectors.

About INCEIF

INCEIF was set up by Bank Negara Malaysia in 2005 to develop human capital and knowledge leadership for the global Islamic finance industry.

Apart from its academic programmes, which are PhD in Islamic Finance, Industrial PhD, MBA (Sustainable Business), Masters of Islamic Finance Practice, Executive Masters in Islamic Finance, MSc in Islamic Finance and Professional Certificate in Islamic Finance, INCEIF also offers customised executive training programmes and industry-focused applied research in line with its vision to be the knowledge and thought leader in Islamic finance, through its research management centre ISRA (International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance) and consulting subsidiary ISRA Consulting.  

INCEIF syllabus is structured with inputs from industry players to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and industry experience. INCEIF faculty members, who are globally respected among the Islamic finance academia and industry, have a combined wealth of experience and diversity.

The faculty, coupled with continuous support from the industry, provides INCEIF students with strong mentoring relationships and opportunities for professional development. 

In 2019, INCEIF was ranked Very Competitive (5-Star) by the Ministry of Higher Education’s Malaysian Quality Evaluation System for University and University College Excellence or SETARA for short. SETARA measures the quality of all private and public universities and university colleges, including foreign branch campuses. 

In November 2018, INCEIF received full accreditation from AACSB International, joining the top 5 per cent of business schools in the world to be accredited. It is the only Islamic finance university in Malaysia to receive this international accreditation.  

For more information, please visit www.inceif.org.