There is little to choose between the two Malaysian Islamic banking leaders, CIMB Islamic and AmMerchant, but CIMB comes out on top for the second year running because of the breadth and volume of its Islamic finance activities. CIMB Islamic is a bank within a bank and is responsible for CIMB Group’s Islamic finance business onshore and off. CIMB Islamic’s focus is on Islamic debt and equity capital markets, private equity, private banking, asset and fund management, and corporate finance. The bank’s head, Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, says the key to its success is the quality of its staff.