Arsalaan (Oz) Ahmed has more than 18 years of experience in wholesale and retail banking and is recognised as a leader in Islamic finance. He has held several senior management roles with international exposure in the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and other parts of Asia. He distinguished himself early in his career by innovating Islamic finance solutions across various jurisdictions and has advised governments on Islamic finance regulations.

He is credited with material contributions to the development of the Global Sukuk market, including the debut UK Sovereign Sukuk. In 2018, he oversaw the issuance of the awardwinning and world-first United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Sukuk issuance and represented a Malaysian mission to the UN General Assembly to discuss Islamic finance and its role in realising the UN SDG.

In recent years, Oz has established himself as a thought leader in the social and environmental impact sectors within the Banking and Value-Based Intermediation (VBI) community. VBI is an initiative for Malaysian Islamic banks to refocus operations from bottom line to triple bottom line, incorporating social and environmental impact considerations along with economic returns. Oz is considered an expert in sustainability within banking. He is also a mentor to fintech companies internationally.

Oz has a bachelor’s degree from University College London, a master’s degree from the University of Bristol and received an MBA with distinction from London Business School’s
Executive MBA program. He also holds a Corporate Director Certificate from Harvard Business School, and certificates for sustainability from both schools.

Prior to becoming the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of alrajhi bank Malaysia, Oz was the CEO of HSBC Amanah. He is also the Chair of the Malaysian Financial Services Joint Committee on Climate Change (JC3) Sub-Committee 5 on Bridging Data Gaps and Treasurer of the Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia. He is also a founder of a multi-award-winning UK fintech company, mmob, specialising in Open Banking and Open Finance technology infrastructure.