KUWAIT Finance House (KFH) and its subsidiary, Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Bhd (KFH Malaysia), started the new year with wins in four categories of the annual Islamic Finance News Awards - Best Banks Poll 2006.

In a statement in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, KFH said it was voted the world's second best Islamic bank in Islamic Finance News' Best Islamic Banks Poll, while the bank also won country honours as the best Islamic bank in Malaysia and Kuwait.

Malaysia's first foreign Islamic bank, KFH Malaysia, was simultaneously voted the best new Islamic bank and its managing director K. Salman Younis capped off the honours when he was voted best individual in Islamic finance.

"These great achievements are testament of the hard work and commitment of all our employees and the support rendered by our customers," said KFH general manager and chief executive officer Mohammed Sulaiman Al-Omar.

"The awards recognise the milestones that KFH Malaysia has achieved within such a short span of time," said KFH Malaysia chairman Jassar Al-Jassar.

"We intend to act as a catalyst in our efforts to position Malaysia as a centre of excellence for Islamic banking," he added.

K. Salman said KFH is committed to offer a new range of products and services in Malaysia and the region.

"We will continue to work closely with all business segments, not only to serve their financial needs, but also in helping to bring foreign direct investments into Malaysia and this part of the world," he said.

KFH is one of the largest Islamic banking institutions in the world with a diversified range of products and services.

For the awards, Islamic finance issuers, investors, non-banking financial intermediaries and government bodies from around the world were invited to participate in the poll. - Bernama