Sultan Ahmed Choudhury OBE ( bn, সুলতান আহমেদ চৌধুরী) is an English banker, chartered accountant and was the chief executive officer of

Al Rayan Bank Al Rayan Bank PLC (لمصرف الريان formerly known as Islamic Bank of Britain) is a commercial bank in the United Kingdom, established in August 2004 to offer Sharia compliant financial service products to customers of any faith. The ban ...

(formerly Islamic Bank of Britain).

Early life

In 1994, Choudhury graduated with a BA (Hons) in Economics and Econometrics from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

. His interest in Islamic finance began at this time. In 2001, he graduated with distinction in MBA from Aston Business School. After qualifying as a chartered accountant, his desire to enter the field of Islamic finance became clear when he went on

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

(the largest Islamic pilgrimage to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

) in 2002.

Career

From July 1994, Choudhury worked in Assurance and Advisory Practice at

Deloitte & Touche Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

. From September 1998 to December 2003, he was Director of brokerage operations at Charles Schwab Europe and

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

Private Bank. In January 2004, Choudhury joined the founding management team of the Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB), the first dedicated Islamic bank in the West. He was appointed Commercial Director in June 2007. He set up the Islamic Bank of Britain's Head Office Operations and Branch Network and has led the development and implementation of the bank's product range and service delivery channels. In 2014, he was appointed CEO. He left the bank in April 2019. Choudhury is a member of various Community and Government advisory groups and has contributed to the development of Islamic Financial Services in the United Kingdom. He is a Chartered Member of the

Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) is a global professional body for those in the financial and investment profession. It offers a range of qualifications and resources for professional development, as well as setting sta ...

(for whom he sits on the Employer Panel for the Islamic Finance Qualification). Choudhury is a Trustee of the National Zakat Foundation, a British charity which distributes

zakat Zakat ( ar, زكاة; , "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal , "zakat on wealth", or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is ne ...

to those living in poverty as well as granting funding to community organisations and initiatives. As of 2019, Choudhury has taken on a number of Board positions, including Advisor at Precept Finance, a sharia-compliant finance brokerage service. Choudhury is also the Executive Chairman of Waqfinity, an endowment trust focussed on charitable giving. In 2019, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' published an article titled "Female Circumcision is like clipping a nail, claimed speaker". The article featured a photo of Choudhury beside the headline, leading some readers to incorrectly infer that Choudhury had made the comment. Choudhury lodged a complaint with the

Independent Press Standards Organisation The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) is the regulator of the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK. It was established on 8 September 2014 after the windup of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), which had been the main ind ...

and sued ''The Times'' for libel. In 2020, ''The Times'' issued an apology, amended its article and agreed to pay Choudhury damages and legal costs.

Honours

Choudhury was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

for services to the UK market for Islamic finance.

References

External links

Sultan Ahmed Choudhury
on ''

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

''
An Interview with Sultan Choudhury, Islamic Bank of Britain
''New Horizon''. 19 May 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Sultan 1972 births Living people English Muslims English people of Bangladeshi descent English bankers English accountants People from Birmingham, West Midlands Alumni of the University of Nottingham Alumni of Aston University Officers of the Order of the British Empire