Meethaq, IDB and IRTI collaborate on Islamic banking push in Oman

68 days to go Wednesday 9th July 2014 Meethaq, IDB and IRTI collaborate on Islamic banking push in Oman Daily Cover OMAN: Meethaq, the Islamic banking subsidiary of Bank Muscat, has contracted an MoU with the IDB and the Islamic Research and Training Institution (IRTI) with the aim of jointly supporting business opportunities in the Islamic banking sector across the sultanate. As a result of a mutual desire to work together in various fields of Islamic banking, the tripartite agreement was signed by Sulaiman Al Harthy, the group general manager of Meethaq Islamic Banking; Dr Abdulaziz Al Hinai, IDB’s vice-president for finance; and Professor Azmi Omar, the general manager of IRTI. Commenting on the MoU, Sulaiman highlighted: “The sultanate of Oman is witnessing substantial growth in [the] Islamic banking industry and we consider our partnership with the IDB and the IRTI a great advantage to maximize favorable opportunities and thereby expand our coverage. In addition to that, it will support the position of the Meethaq Group in the Islamic banking industry. Meethaq is working to strengthen its operations in the sultanate by expanding the branch network and offering innovative products and services in compliance with the Shariah law." The MoU provides both a general and broad understanding of the common interests of the respective institutions and signifies the desire to work together for the mutual benefit and the greater common good of the Islamic finance industry in Oman. All parties will work together to offer various Islamic finance products to the market. Earlier last month, Meethaq signed a similar treaty with Al Salam Bank Bahrain and BMI Bank to pool expertise, technologies and resources and work together across a range of Islamic banking activities including Islamic syndications, treasury transactions, liquidity management and Islamic trade finance transactions. The Islamic banking arm of Muscat is also in the process of obtaining regulatory approvals for the issuance of a dual currency Sukuk under its OMR500 million (US$1.29 billion) Islamic debt program. Today’s IFN Alerts UAE: Emirate of Sharjah considers entering international bond market with Sukuk as early as September, according to reports KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait raises funds in preparation for conversion to fully-fledged Islamic bank TURKEY: Turkiye Finans establishes SPV to issue Sukuk TURKEY: Location of IFN Turkey Forum 2014 changed to Bogazici University MOROCCO: Islamic finance could create new opportunities for SME funding in Morocco, according to industry player QATAR: Qatari Islamic banks outperforms conventional peers with 46% growth in domestic financing, according to central bank data UAE: Emaar Properties growth plans subject to the danger of market overcapacity according to Moody’s SAUDI ARABIA: Gulf International Bank launches trial period in Saudi Arabia for non-traditional Shariah compliant banking services under new brand US: Azzad Asset Management’s Shariah compliant funds now available to investors via LPL Financial’s mutual fund platform MALAYSIA: CIMB Islamic positive that new regional technology upgrade will boost Shariah business by 20% AUSTRALIA: Expert suggests establishing a coalition of community-based brokers to launch Takaful insurance in Australia SRI LANKA: Amãna Takaful introduces mobile application for Apple and Android devices SAUDI ARABIA: Bank Albilad announces net profit of US$54.46 million for the second quarter of 2014 SAUDI ARABIA: Growth in core banking activities boosts Alinma Bank’s half-year net profit by almost 30% SAUDI ARABIA: Arab National Bank reports 7.27% increase in net profit for the first six months of the year UAE: Jebel Ali Free Zone’s strong performance gains Fitch rating upgrade to ‘B+’ OMAN: National Bank of Oman receives upgrade to ‘BBB+’ EGYPT: Arab Orient Takaful appoints new CEO UAE: Dubai Financial Services Authority’s board of directors undergoes restructuring under the directive of the deputy ruler of Dubai KENYA: Barclays Bank of Kenya names Molu Halkano as head of Islamic banking Latest Roundtables June 2014 May 2014 Dubai Islamic Economic Roundtable Series 2014-2 Dubai Islamic Economic Roundtable Series 2014-1 Events IFN Global Forum 2014 15th - 16th September 2014 by REDmoney events IFN Kuwait Forum 2014 29th September 2014 by REDmoney events IFN Sri Lanka Forum 2014 13th October 2014 by REDmoney events IFN Africa Forum 2014 4th November 2014 by REDmoney events IFN Turkey Forum 2014 6th November 2014 by REDmoney events IFN Saudi Arabia Forum 2014 17th November 2014 by REDmoney events IFN Egypt Forum 2014 1st December 2014 by REDmoney events Training Advanced Sukuk & Islamic Securitization 19th - 21st August 2014 (Istanbul) by Islamic Finance training Structuring Islamic Retail Banking Products 25th - 27th August 2014 (Muscat) by Islamic Finance training Structuring Corporate Banking Solutions 8th - 10th September 2014 (Dubai) by Islamic Finance training Islamic Treasury and Risk Management Products 22nd - 24th September 2014 (Kuala Lumpur) by Islamic Finance training Islamic Fund and Asset Management 25th - 26th September 2014 (Kuala Lumpur) by Islamic Finance training Advanced Sukuk & Islamic Securitization 10th - 12th November 2014 (Kuala Lumpur) by Islamic Finance training Advanced Sukuk & Islamic Securitization 8th - 10th December 2014 (Dubai) by Islamic Finance training © Copyright policy: No part of IslamicFinancenews.com may be reproduced in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical (including photocopying, recording or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. 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