Dubai: Dubai Holding on Sunday launches Noor Islamic Bank (NIB) to tap the region's growing oil wealth and meet the increasing needs of Sharia-compliant products.
Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of the Dh3.67 billion ($1 billion) Islamic lender, will unveil the details at a press conference today, followed by the opening of its first branch tomorrow.
NIB, the new Sharia-compliant bank in which Dubai Holding is a shareholder, plans to hire 1,200 people in the first year of operations, a company spokeswoman said.
The bank has hired 400 staff before its launch tomorrow. Noor will start functioning with a network of six branches in Dubai.
Noor is the sixth Islamic bank in the country but aims to become a global player in its category. Other UAE banks that follow Islam's ban on interest are Dubai Islamic Bank, Dubai Bank, Emirates Islamic Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.
Shareholders in the bank include Investment Corporation of Dubai, the investment arm of the Dubai government whose holdings include companies such as Emirates airline, Dubai Aluminium and DP World.
Noor will become "the world's ultimate Islamic bank," says chief executive officer Hussain Al Qamzi.
Goal
"Our goal is to be the most recognised Islamic banking brand," he said on the bank's website.
The company is not saying much about its business plans before the official launch, which comes after more than a year of preparations.
Capitalised at about $1 billion, the bank is expected to be a strong player in the Gulf's fast-growing Islamic finance sector.
"In this period of petro-liquidity, size matters and Noor Islamic Bank's launch is timely," said Rushdi Seddiqi, global director of Dow Jones Islamic Market Indices.
He said the bank should not turn into "a private equity play" by funding only infrastructure and real estate deals or "some acquisitions here and there."
"I hope that Noor Bank begins the process of consolidation in the Islamic finance area," Seddiqi said.
The bank's Sharia advisory board is headed by Mohammad Ali Elgari, an expert in Islamic jurisprudence at the Organisation of Islamic Conference and a professor at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah.
Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah, an academic and a member of the Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah, and Mohammad Daud Bakar, a member of the Central Shariah Advisory Council of Malaysia's central bank, are the two other members on the board.
By Shakir Husain
© Gulf News 2008
