Malaysia’s Islamic Finance: Key Trends and Themes
Navigating credit and global shifts
Malaysia remains a global leader in Islamic finance, supported by a strong sovereign profile, a deep sukuk market, and a resilient Islamic banking system. As geopolitical and credit dynamics reshape capital flows and investor sentiment, the sector enters 2026 at a critical turning point.
Join our analysts and industry experts as they examine the outlook for sovereign credit and sukuk issuance, assess Islamic banking growth drivers, and explore how global geopolitics is shaping Islamic finance solutions for corporate and ESG issuers.
Discussion topics include:
- What is the outlook for Malaysia’s sovereign credit profile and sukuk issuance in 2026?
- What are the drivers of growth for Malaysian Islamic banks and their outlook for this year?
- How are global geopolitical challenges influencing Islamic finance solutions for corporate and ESG issuers?
Speakers
Christian de Guzman
Senior Vice President - Manager, Sovereign and Sub-Sovereign Risk
Moody's Ratings
Abdulla Al Hammadi
Assistant Vice President - Analyst, Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Ratings
Aziz Al Sammarai
Assistant Vice President – Analyst, Corporate Finance
Moody's Ratings
Muhammad Ibrahim
Associate Lead Analyst, Sustainable Finance
Moody’s Ratings
Clarabelle Tan
Analyst, Financial Institutions
Moody's Ratings
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Christian de Guzman is a Senior Vice President with Moody’s Sovereign and Sub-Sovereign Risk Group. Based in Singapore, he covers a portfolio of sovereigns and multilateral development banks in Asia Pacific, including Japan, India and a number of Southeast Asian credits, while also managing the team responsible for sub-sovereign ratings in Asia ex-China.
Christian joined Moody’s in 2009, after working as a Senior Economist for the Monetary Authority of Singapore, covering ASEAN economies. He has also held various positions with the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, and Procter & Gamble in Singapore.
Christian was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate in Economics and Political Science at the University of Georgia and received his M.A. in International Economics and Southeast Asian Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
Abdulla Al Hammadi serves as an Assistant Vice President with Moody's Financial Institutions Group. He is based in Dubai, where he oversees a portfolio of bank credit ratings across the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries, with a particular emphasis on Islamic financial institutions.
Abdulla joined Moody’s in 2024. Prior to his tenure at Moody's, Abdulla was an Associate Director at Fitch Ratings, covering financial institution ratings in the Middle East. Before Fitch Ratings, he was with the Central Bank of Bahrain, handling prudential supervision for wholesale banks.
Abdulla is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and earned a First-Class Honours degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Bahrain. He authored a book titled "Principles of Financial planning, Investment & Trading" aimed at providing comprehensive overview on passive style investment portfolio.
Aziz Al Sammarai joined Moody’s Corporate Finance in April, 2018. Aziz is based in Toronto office where he covers a portfolio of U.S. and Canadian based companies mainly in the paper and plastic packaging and forest products industry as well as Canadian based airlines and homebuilders. Prior to joining Moody’s, Aziz held multiple roles in the credit rating industry in Toronto. Previously, Aziz worked in external audit roles for KPMG.
Aziz has a Master’s in Finance from the Queen's University and a B.Sc. in Finance from the University of Bedfordshire Oman.
Ibrahim works as Associate Lead Analyst, Sustainable Finance at Moody's Ratings and is primarily responsible for conducting external reviews on the frameworks of Green, Social and Sustainability-labelled financial instruments. Ibrahim has worked on issuing more than 30 Second Party Opinions covering sovereigns and issuers across APAC and Europe. His research coverage mainly includes the banking, real estate, commodities, and utilities sectors.
Prior to Moody's, Ibrahim was a lead researcher at NUS Business School's Centre for Governance and Sustainability, publishing ESG indices covering APAC markets. He has co-authored numerous industry reports in corporate governance, sustainability, and family business domains and has been a regular speaker promulgating good governance and responsible investing in the region.
Ibrahim holds a Master of Business Administration (Strategy) and a Bachelor of Business Administration (Accountancy), both from the National University of Singapore. He is a Chartered Accountant (CA) of Singapore, as well as a CFA Charterholder.
Clarabelle Tan is an Analyst with Moody’s Financial Institutions Group.
Based in Singapore, she is responsible for Moody’s portfolio of banks and non-bank financial institutions in Indonesia and Philippines.
Prior to joining Moody’s, Clarabelle was a Senior Associate with PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore in the Financial Services Assurance team, covering clients in the asset wealth management, venture capital and banking industries.
Clarabelle holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (Honors), Accountancy from the National University of Singapore.