Saturday, Nov 03, 2012
(This story was originally published on Thursday.)
BEIRUT (Zawya Dow Jones)--Ithmaar Bank (ITHMR.BH), a Bahrain-based Islamic retail lender, on Thursday said it will convert Faisal Private Bank, its fully-owned Swiss unit, into a family office.
This move will allow Ithmaar to focus on developing its core retail and commercial banking operations, Mohammed Bucheerei, Ithmaar's chief executive, said in a statement posted on the Bahrain Bourse website.
"Ithmaar Bank is committed to maintaining a presence in Switzerland in a format to be approved in due course by the Swiss financial services regulator, Financial Market Supervisory Authority," Mr. Bucheerei said in the statement.
Ithmaar, whose total assets stood at $7.05 billion at the end of June, said in the same statement that its shareholders approved last month a plan to merge it with its Bahraini affiliate First Leasing Bank.
In 2010, Ithmaar converted from an investment bank into a retail Islamic bank, after a comprehensive reorganization with its wholly-owned local unit Shamil Bank.
Write to Shikrallah Nakhoul at shikrallah@zawya.com
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-11-12 0705GMT
