By Roslan Rusly
GOMBAK, 6 January 2020: In an effort to support the talent development in the rapidly expanding Islamic banking and finance industry, Noor Bank, through the IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IIiBF), has taken the initiative to set up a special sub-endowment under the IIUM Endowment Fund, namely the œNoor Endowment in Islamic Banking and Finance.
Noor Bank is one of the leading Shariah compliant banks in the United Arab Emirate (UAE).
The endowment amounting to the UAE Dirham (AED) 2,500,000.00 shall be from the funds managed by Noor Bank in its fiduciary capacity on behalf of its customers. This will form the basis of cash waqf with the return on the endowment to be utilised for the benefit of the students and staff of the IIiBF.
A fixed proportion of the endowment returns will be reinvested annually to help the endowment grow overtime with a view of increasing the availability of funds for the intended purposes.
With the setting up of the Noor Endowment in Islamic Banking and Finance, 50 per cent of the return from the endowment will be allocated to the œNoor-IIiBF Ummatic Scholarship in Islamic Banking and Finance, to pay for the tuition fees of students enrolled in the postgraduate programmes of the IIiBF.
In a collaborative spirit, the IIUM Endowment Fund has pledged to award one scholarship to Malaysian student for every three scholarships awarded to the international students.
A maximum of 15 per cent of the return from the endowment will be allocated to œNoor Research & Development (R&D) in Islamic Banking and Finance to support research, publication and training plans of the IIiBF faculty.
Also included in the plan is the creation of a Chair in Islamic banking and finance at the IIiBF in future, to be named œNoor Chair in Islamic Banking and Finance, to commence only when the endowment has reached sufficient level of returns to afford the cost of maintaining the Chair in a sustainable manner.
The International Islamic University Malaysia and the IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance have recorded their utmost appreciations to Noor Bank Dubai for the support and facilitation of this noble initiative.
Present at the MoA signing ceremony today were IIUM Finance Executive Datuk Haji Zailan Shaari, Deputy Rector (Internalisation and Global Networking), Prof Dr. Nor Faridah Abdul Manaf, who led the delegation to Dubai, IiBF lecturers, and also IIUM top management officials. ***