Saeed bin Ahmed Al Lootah, the founder of Dubai Islamic Bank, was presented with the Ethical Finance and Innovation Challenge Awards (EFICA) Lifetime Achievement Award on Tuesday for his crucial role in developing the global Islamic banking industry.

The award, sponsored by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) and Thomson Reuters, was presented during the Global Islamic Economy Summit in Dubai.

“His Excellency Saeed bin Ahmed Al Lootah was the founder of the modern Islamic banking industry,” said ADIB CEO Tirad Al Mahmoud.

“His foresight in responding to demand for an alternative form of banking has led to an industry with nearly a trillion dollars in assets that is still growing at tremendous pace. Leading by example, he put ethics firmly at the centre of the industry, helping to build a sustainable and increasingly popular model of financing.” 

Al Lootah founded Dubai Islamic Bank, the world’s first Islamic bank, in 1975. Active in the areas of education, he is the chairman of the Supreme Council of the World Al Lootah University and founded the UAE’s first college of medicine.

“His Excellency Saeed bin Ahmed Al Lootah has demonstrated ethics in finance, but also ethics in life,” said Dr Sayd Farook, head of Islamic capital markets at Thomson Reuters.

The Ethical Finance and Innovation Challenge Awards have been created to reward and encourage ethical practice in the financial industry and innovation in Islamic finance. – TradeArabia News Service