The founder and group chairman of boutique Shariah advisory firm Amanie Group, Datuk Dr Mohd Daud Bakar has been appointed as the Shariah board chairman of the First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), one of the largest banks in the Middle East.

Dr Daud, one of Malaysia’s prominent Shariah scholars, is also chairman of the Shariah Advisory Council of Bank Negara Malaysia, Securities Commission Malaysia and the Labuan Financial Services Authority. 

He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Malaysian Business, Malaysia’s premier and oldest business magazine.

FAB is the result of merger between First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, resulting in the combined entity with assets worth US$186 billion (RM796.08 billion) as at end-March 2017. 

Headquartered in Khalifa Business Park, Abu Dhabi, the bank’s international network spans over 19 countries. It is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also the United Arab Emirates National Security advisor and Royal Group chairman. 

On his part, Dr Daud also currently sits on the Shariah board of number of other banks – including the National Bank of Oman (Oman), Noor Bank (Dubai), Amundi Asset Management (France), Morgan Stanley (Dubai), Bank of London and the Middle East (London), BNP Paribas (Bahrain), Bank Al Khair (Bahrain), Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (New York) and SEDCO Capital (Saudi Arabia).