Sultan Choudhury

Sultan Ahmed Choudhury, OBE (Bengali: সুলতান আহমেদ লতিফ) is an English banker, chartered accountant and was the Chief Executive Officer of Al Rayan Bank[1] (formerly Islamic Bank of Britain).

Not to be confused with Sultan Ahmed Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi politician.

Sultan Choudhury

OBE
সুলতান আহমেদ লতিফ
Born
Sultan Ahmed Choudhury

Birmingham, West Midlands, England
NationalityBritish
EducationBA Economics and Econometrics, Master of Business Administration
Alma materUniversity of Nottingham
Aston Business School
OccupationBanker, chartered accountant
Years active1994–present

Early life

In 1994, Choudhury graduated with a BA (Hons) in Economics and Econometrics[2] from the University of Nottingham.[3] His interest in Islamic finance began at this time.[3] In 2001, he graduated with distinction in MBA[2] from Aston Business School.[4]

After qualifying as a chartered accountant, his desire to enter the field of Islamic finance became clear when he went on Hajj (the largest Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia) in 2002.[3]

Career

From July 1994, Choudhury worked in Assurance and Advisory Practice at Deloitte & Touche. From September 1998 to December 2003, he was Director of brokerage operations at Charles Schwab Europe[3] and Barclays Private Bank.[3]

In January 2004,[2] 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.[3] In 2014, he was appointed CEO. He left the bank in April 2019.[5]

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.[4] He is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (for whom he sits on the Employer Panel for the Islamic Finance Qualification).[2]

Choudhury is a Trustee of the National Zakat Foundation,[6][7] a British charity which distributes zakat to those living in poverty as well as granting funding to community organisations and initiatives.[7][8]

In 2019, The Times 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 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.[9]

Honours

Choudhury was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to the UK market for Islamic finance.[10][11]

References
  1. "Latest news | Al Rayan Bank". www.alrayanbank.co.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  2. "Sultan Choudhury, Islamic Bank of BritainBack to Speakers". Fleming Gulf. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  3. "An Interview with Sultan Choudhury, Islamic Bank of Britain". New Horizon. 19 May 2012. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  4. "Interview with Sultan Choudhury, Managing Director, Islamic Bank of Britain". Aston University. 22 March 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  5. Monk, Sam. "Al Rayan Bank CEO to step down". Specialist Banking. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  6. "Birmingham CEO Named in Muslim Power 100". BQ. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  7. "National Zakat Foundation". National Zakat Foundation. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  8. "Charity Details". Charity Commission. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  9. "The Times publishes apology to Sultan Choudhury OBE and agrees to pay damages". News Anyway. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  10. "No. 61962". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2017. p. B10.
  11. Gripper, Ann (20 June 2017). "Queen's Birthday Honours 2017: Full list of great and the good awarded for services to their country". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
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