Hong Leong Islamic Bank Appoints Islamic Banking Veteran Prof. Dr. Rusni binti Hassan as Chairman of Shariah Committee
Kuala Lumpur, 2 June 2020
Hong Leong Islamic Bank (‘HLISB’ or ‘the Bank) has appointed Prof. Dr. Rusni binti Hassan as the Bank’s Chairman of its Shariah Committee, effective 1 April 2020.
Dr. Rusni is stepping up from her role as a HLISB Shariah Committee member, a position she has helmed since February 2017. In her new role as Chairman, Dr. Rusni’s key strategy is to position HLISB as a leading digital Islamic bank in the country through innovative Islamic banking products and services. This strategy champions the Bank’s digital at the core strategy in future-fitting Islamic banking towards the evolving customer needs of the digital era.
A professor at the IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance and an influential veteran in the Islamic finance and banking industry locally and internationally, Dr. Rusni holds numerous Shariah advisory and committee member roles.
From 2010 to 2016, she was a member of the Shariah Advisory Council Bank Negara Malaysia, the highest legal body that ascertains Islamic law for the purposes of Islamic financial business in the country. She is a registered Shariah Adviser of the Securities Commission Malaysia and also a Shariah committee member of the Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) as well as for the Housing Development Finance Corporation Maldives.
Apart from being an advisor to various Islamic finance and banking associations, Dr. Rusni is also a well sought-after speaker on various Islamic finance and banking issues, and publications spanning topics from takaful, corporate governance of Islamic financial institutions to Islamic banking cases and commentaries.
Her works and contributions to Islamic finance has also been recognised internationally including being listed in the prestigious Top 10 Most Influential Women in Islamic Business and Finance 2019 and Top 50 Most Influential Women in Islamic Finance 2018 by Cambridge IFA; and Women of Distinction in Islamic Finance and Law by Venus International Women Awards 2016. She was also awarded the National-Recognition for Outstanding Contribution of Females to Develop and Sustain Islamic Finance Industry in Maldives by the Maldivian government.
Dr. Rusni graduated with a LLB (Honours), LLB (Shariah) (First Class), Master of Comparative Laws (MCL) and Ph.D in Law from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).
Dr. Rusni will be joining the current committee member Tuan Hj. Imran Mohammad Khayat and Associate Prof. Dr. Amir Shaharudin, Dean of Centre for Post Graduate Studies of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), a new member of the HLISB Shariah Committee effective 1 April 2020.
