KUALA LUMPUR – Rafiza Ghazali has been appointed as KAF Investment Bank Bhd’s new chief executive officer (CEO) designate to lead its upcoming Digital Islamic Bank.
A Bernama article reported that Rafiza will be joining the KAF as part of the team handling their digital bank project.
The consortium led by KAF Investment Bank had recently been awarded one of the five digital banking licences from Bank Negara Malaysia. The consortium received the award under the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (IFSA) along with the tripartite collaboration between AEON Credit Service (M) Bhd, AEON Financial Service Co. Ltd (AFS) and Moneylion Inc. (MU).
KAF’s deputy CEO Thariq Usman Ahmad was quoted saying that the bank is happy to have Rafiza on board to lead the digital banking team due to her vast experience covering the private and public sectors.
“Her extensive background in banking and her involvement in innovation, especially within the Malaysian financial technology (fintech) community will be a tremendous asset in developing KAF’s digital banking partnership platform,” he added.
Another win for inclusivity
Rafiza is the second woman to be appointed the CEO designate of a digital bank following the appointment of Lai Pei Si who is currently leading the GXS Bank Pte Ltd – Kuok Brothers Sdn Bhd consortium, also one of the awardees of the digital banking licence.
Prior to this, Rafiza served as the group CEO of Cradle Fund (Cradle) since June of 2020. Cradle is an agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI) that was established in 2003 with the purpose of aiding early start-up companies in the country. As of 2020, Cradle’s website reports that they had supported over 900 tech-based startups spanning over multiple sectors.
She has almost 30 years experience in finance, audit, investment, strategy, and business development from different industries ranging from banking, energy, plantations, property, healthcare, automative, industrial, media, and consumer-goods.
Her leadership roles in the private and public sector covers the implementation of technology-based innovations, corporate startup partnerships and even organisational transformation and restructuring.
The Bernama article also highlighted Rafiza’s roles in Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Bhd and RHB Investment Bank Bhd where she had previously supervised aspects relating to information technology, investment operations, corporate planning, finance, and treasury settlement.
In Bank Negara Malaysia, she served as the Finance Director and her role as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Valesto Energy Bhd had impacted the company positively as Valesto had a successful turnaraound and transformative exercise which led to their profitability after four years.
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