Qatar Islamic Bank to set up Asian Finance Bank
Web posted at: 10/20/2005 3:15:55
Source ::: The Peninsula

Doha: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) is all set to start operating an Asian Finance Bank and finalise necessary procedures for establishing a European Finance House, the QIB General Manager, Salah Al Jaidah said yesterday at a news conference.

"We have already obtained the licence and are just in the process of setting up the Asian Finance Bank which will be operational by the first half of next year", he said.

Al Jaidah said the bank in which QIB will represent 70 per cent of shareholders will be a full fledged Islamic bank dedicated specifically to the Malaysian market, but opportunities available in the neighboring countries, such as Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei would also be explored.

He said that while the Asian Finance Bank will have its client base and would provide consumer, corporate and investment banking, the European Finance House will provide a purely investment banking and operate as a services provider for financial institutions in the region.

The European Finance House to be based in London is to provide the advantages of Islamic structure of products and is to be dedicated to the money market for Islamic financial institutions. It will also be operating as trade financer and trade related support. For financial institutions intended to trade in the European market.

Al Jaidah also said that the European Finance House would eventually create alliances with leading European banks, thus providing an Islamic structure unit to serve their Islamic client base.

Referring to QIB financial results for the third quarter of this year, he said the adoption of a successful financing and investment strategy, the expansion of its banking and investment services, benefiting from the highly favorable economic environment and the availability of good foreign opportunities, in particular in the field of property portfolio have contributed to the bank's record results.

Al Jaidah pointed out that QR37m out of the bank's total income came from the selling and liquidation of domestic and foreign property investments, adding that the amount is not reflected in the third quarter's profits.

He also expected the bank to receive further payments recovered from the outstanding amount from the Bank of Credit and Commerce under the settlement made by the BCCI liquidators.

QIB is to witness important developments with the implementation of new restructuring plan, the inauguration of three new branches and the launch of new batch of sophisticated e-banking and new retail and corporate banking and financing products, said Al Jaidah.

He said that in the next three months the bank's organization will be restructured with sub-divisions being regrouped and also draw a business plan for the coming five years which is to be submitted to the board of directors.

The move, he said, would allow the bank to have a different perspective of market and the way the market is changing.