Al Rayan Bank

Al Rayan Bank CEO awarded OBE




Sultan Choudhury, CEO of Al Rayan Bank PLC, has been awarded an OBE for his services to Islamic finance.

Mr Choudhury has been fundamental to the success of Al Rayan Bank, the UK’s largest Islamic bank.

He played a key part in the founding of the management team that obtained western Europe’s first authorised Islamic banking licence and helped to ensure that British Muslims could carry out their banking needs without compromising their faith. 

Al Rayan Bank now has more than 75,000 customers throughout the UK and provides the largest sharia-compliant product range in the UK. 

Not all its customers are Muslims – the bank is open to anyone of any faith.

Al Rayan Bank estimates that 28% of its customers are non-Muslim.

Mr Choudhury said: "It is a great privilege to receive this honour from Her Majesty the Queen.

“The last 13 years represent a tremendous, but sometimes difficult, journey to establish Islamic finance as an alternative to conventional finance in the UK.

“Islamic finance is based on ethical and faith-based universal values, which are good for society, embodying social justice, transparency and the equitable sharing of risk and reward.

“These values ensure that Islamic finance appeals, not only to Muslims, but to people of all faiths and none.”

Mr Choudhury is part of the board of advisers for the RFI Foundation – the industry body responsible for the finance sector – and sits on the Islamic finance advisory board of the University of East London.

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