Azmeer promoted as MD/CEO at Amana Bank

Mohamed Thowfeek Mohamed Azmeer has been appointed as the Managing Director and CEO of Amana Bank PLC with effect from 27 April 2022.

Mohamed Azmeer

Previously he functioned as the CEO. Mohamed Azmeer took over the leadership of the Bank in June 2014. Prior to that, as the Bank’s Chief Operating Officer, he was overseeing the business functions of the Bank’s Consumer, SME, Corporate and Treasury divisions. 

Before joining Amãna Bank, Azmeer had gained significant exposure to conventional and Islamic banking through his illustrious career, both locally and internationally, which spans over 30 years.

Having commenced a career in banking at Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Azmeer’s leadership progression and banking intuitiveness was a result of his overseas experience, primarily at Citibank, UAE, where he had gained the unique experience of both business and risk aspects of banking, having overseen such operations at senior levels. During such tenure, he also carried out many short overseas assignments to countries such as UK, India, and Kenya, where he acquainted himself to the different dynamics and challenges specific to each business and region. 

At the culmination of his career at Citibank he held the position of Vice President – Risk, for UAE and Oman. Azmeer’s experience also includes ‘start-ups’ where he was a founder member of the erstwhile Dubai Bank which was established at the direction of the Dubai Government.

Azmeer’s journey towards Islamic banking was a result of him wanting to have this nascent but people friendly concept accepted and embraced by a wider audience. In the field of Islamic banking, Azmeer’s track record involved holding senior positions at Al-Rajhi Bank Saudi Arabia, the largest and leading Islamic Bank in the world and Sharjah Islamic Bank, a pioneering bank in UAE and the first Islamic bank in the world to fully convert its operations from being a conventional entity, in which he was an Executive Vice President.

Azmeer has served on the Boards of Sri Lanka Banks’ Association (Guarantee) Ltd., LankaClear, the national payment and clearing association of Sri Lanka, and was the Chairman of the Financial Ombudsman Sri Lanka (Guarantee) Ltd. Azmeer holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Leicester, UK.