Waheed Qaiser
Founder & Executive Chairman
Full title
Founder, Executive Chairman, Chair of Investment Committee, and Chair of Executive Committee
Biography
Waheed is a seasoned financial services executive with over 30 years of experience in global financial centres, specializing in investment banking, Islamic banking, M&A, asset and wealth management, and corporate finance. A pioneer of Islamic banking in Europe, he played a key role in promoting Islamic banking as head of first Islamic window of a British bank and also in founding the first Islamic bank in the UK in 2004. He contributed to significant policy changes, including the abolition of double stamp duty on Islamic mortgages, through his work as a founding member of the Bank of England working party for Islamic mortgages.
Waheed has held leadership roles at prominent institutions such as UBS, HSBC, Citigroup, IIBU, IBB, QCC, and Pairstech. He is a founding member of the UK technical group for Islamic Finance Qualification at CISI and has chaired global banking training programs and conferences. Co-author of a book; Islamic Retail Banking – Global Challenges, Waheed’s contribution to Islamic finance is widely recognized. He has also been honoured as an honorary professor by the EuroAsian Economic Club of Scientists and serves as a global advisor and moderator at international platforms like G-Global and frequent moderator at the Astana Economic Forum.