KUALA LUMPUR, 23 June 2005 — A new international Islamic bank is to begin operating by early next year and aims to become a major player in international finance and investment, officials said yesterday.
Saleh A. Kamel, a prominent Saudi businessman and chairman of the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions, said the council was currently holding talks about which organizations would take stakes in the bank, to be known as Emaar International Group.
“We expect to finalize these details by September or October this year and thereafter hope to start operations by early 2006,” he told the official Bernama news agency.
However Kamel, who is also the president of the Bahrain-based Al-Baraka group, said Al-Baraka would take a 10 percent stake in Emmar International — which would have paid-up capital of $1 billion.
The Islamic Development Bank, an arm of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference, is also expected to take a stake, he said. Bank Islam Malaysia has also agreed to participate as a founding partner, Kamel added, speaking on the sidelines of a forum on a 10-year master plan for the Islamic finance sector.
Kamel said the bank was designed to be an Islamic bank with sufficient clout to tap international investment funds effectively. Five countries were vying to have the bank headquartered in their countries, he said.