Al Baraka to offer Islamic Banking know-how in new geographies

Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C. recently announced yet another plan to expand the footprint of Islamic Banking into new geographies, this time in the Kyrgyzstan Republic. The Banking Group signed an MoU on July 26, 2018 with the reputed BTA Bank to cooperate with each other and work towards the development of Islamic financial services in Kyrgyzstan.

This is yet another step from the Islamic multinational towards spreading its knowhow and experience in the domain of Islamic Financial Services.

“The choice of BTA Bank for our cooperation is but natural, given their experience in Kyrgyzstan, and collectively with Al Baraka’s 40 years’ experience in this domain, we hope to eventually set up a full-fledged Islamic bank in Kyrgyzstan in due course.”, stated the President & Chief Executive, Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif.  

Mr. Yousif further stated that with the Group’s pioneering work in the Islamic Banking domain and in-depth foray in 16 countries, spanning three continents, Al Baraka is ready to support BTA Bank in implementing Shari’a banking services, setting up the required IT infrastructure, developing regulatory instruments, setting policies, processes and procedures, training its workforce as well as raising general awareness on Islamic finance on the importance of adhering to ethical principles of the Shari’a.

The Muslim-majority market of six million is all poised to receive a Shari’a compliant financial system.

The BTA Bank delegation, during their visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain on July 24-26,2018, had meetings at the Central Bank of Bahrain, AAIOFI, and the BIBF. The BTA delegation was engaged with branch visit and had meetings with the senior managers of the Bahrain subsidiary Unit, Al Baraka Islamic Bank.

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Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C. (“ABG”) is licensed as an Islamic wholesale bank by the Central Bank of Bahrain and is listed on Bahrain Bourse and Nasdaq Dubai stock exchanges. It is a leading international Islamic banking group providing its unique services in countries with a population totaling around one billion. It is rated A+ (bh) (long term) / A2 (bh) (short term) on the national scale by Islamic International Rating Agency and by Standard & Poor's at BB (long term) / B (short term).

Al Baraka offers retail, corporate, treasury and investment banking services, strictly in accordance with the principles of the Islamic Shari'a. The authorized capital of ABG is US$ 2.5 billion.

The Group has a wide geographical presence in the form of subsidiary banking units and representative offices in 16 countries, which in turn provide their services through over 700 branches. Al Baraka currently has a strong presence in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, Bahrain, Pakistan, South Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, in addition to one branch in Iraq and two representative offices in Indonesia and Libya.

© Press Release 2018