News

Bank of Khyber Opens Islamic banking Branch

The bank of Khyber opened an Islamic banking facility in the city, raising the number of such branches to 17 across the country. Bilal Mustafa managing director of the bank inaugurated the new branch. The branches dedicated to Islamic banking are functioning in Abbott bad, Mansehra, Bannu, Bathkela, Charsadda, Hangu, Hayatabad, Nowshera, Tank, Timerrgara, Faisalabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Quetta, cloth market Karachi, and site Karachi. Speaking on the occasion, Bilal Mustafa said all BoK conventional branches would have an Islamic banking counter to cater the banking requirements of the customers. He said BoK assets had reached Rs. 35 billion which showed stability of the bank. He said BoK's branch expansion plan for 2009 is under way and its total network would go up to 41 branches.

Double digit growth for Islamic banking assets in 2009

Assets held by fully Shariah-compliant banks or Islamic banking windows of conventional banks rose by 28.6 percent to $822bn from $639bn in 2008, according to The Banker's "Top 500 Islamic financial Institutions" survey.

In contrast London-based magazine found in a survey that the world's conventional banks posted annual asset growth of just 6.8 percent.

Editor Brian Caplen said, "A conservative approach to risk and a Close link between the financial sector and real assets has helped shield the sector from the worst of the credit crisis." "But finding improved ways to manage liquidity at Islamic banks, as well as harmonizing Shariah and Prudential compliance between institutions and markets, remains significant hurdles."

World Bank to help Islamic Finance evolve binding rules

The World Bank plans to support standard-setting bodies of the Islamic finance industry in turning their voluntary standards into binding banking regulations, a bank official said. The fledgling Islamic finance industry is governed by a patchwork of national banking regulators, its own standard-setting bodies and rulings of scholars interpreting Shariah, or Islamic law. Bodies such as AAOIFI – the Bahrain- based accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions – are providing standard to Islamic banks but they have been adopted by only few national regulators.

Germany's First Islamic Bank to Open in Early 2010

Germany's first Islamic bank, a unit Kuveyt Turk bank of Turkey, is to open its doors in 2010 in southern city of Mannheim, an executive confirmed Under Islamic banking principles, interest on loans is forbidden and money cannot be lent to enterprises that flout Shariah law. Instead, borrowers must offer collateral and lenders receive a share of business profits. The unit will open in Mannheim, a factory city with a large-ethnic Turkish population, Istanbul-based Kuveyt Turk bank said. It would seek a full local banking license for Germany.

The bank executive, who asked not to be named, said Kuveyt Turk Bank intended to establish further branches in Germany, then in other European nations. Some German retail banks offered banking advice in Turkish, but walk-in branches with Islamic products would be new in the country.

In German, 5 per cent of the 80-million-strong population has Muslim background, according to Berlin government data.

Emirates Global Islamic Bank lead arranger of the Rs 660m Sukuk Al Musharaka for Al Razi Healthcare Pvt. Ltd.