Ahlibank to go fully Islamic (By IFN)

Ahlibank to go fully Islamic

Daily Cover

OMAN: Ahlibank which has an Islamic banking window, Al Hilal Islamic Bank, has stated that it intends to convert its operations from conventional to Islamic; beginning with its retail banking services as early as this month. Abdullah al Jabri, deputy general manager and head of Al Hilal Islamic Banking services told the Muscat Daily that the bank is looking to convert all its branches to Islamic banking “very soon”. He added: “We plan to switch all our retail banking services to the Islamic banking system, starting with branches in Ibra, Nizwa and Sur, and this might happen in the coming month.” The bank’s Islamic banking subsidiary, Al Hilal Bank, which is fully owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Council has also just announced this week that it will be paying out a 4.36% dividend on its flagship fund Al Hilal Global Sukuk Fund which was launched in March 2012. The fund, which invests in globally-diversified Islamic fixed-income securities issued by sovereign, quasi-sovereign and corporates is advised by Malaysia-based CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management, and had registered returns of 6.5% in its first nine months. Lim Say Cheong, head of Investment Banking at Al Hilal said: “The fund has delivered an attractive return and payout through a relatively low risk investment product, thus satisfying our clients’ requirements.” Fitch Ratings in a recent report said that it expects Omani banks to grow more aggressively this year as they compete for a share of the Islamic banking market following the royal decree allowing for Shariah compliant banking and financial services in the sultanate. However, asset-quality concerns, particularly related to real estate sector still ranks high on the list of possible setbacks to the growth of the country’s banking sector.