DUBAI, 22 October 2006 — Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB) signed an agreement last week with the Bahrain-based Albaraka Banking Group to strengthen their relationship and providing more integrated Islamic financial services.
Officials from both parties say the partnership is in mutual interest for both banking majors who are spearheading Islamic banking services in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain respectively.
“This new agreement will allow us to increase the awareness of the Islamic world’s financial products and develop new ways to market them,” said Emirates Islamic Bank CEO Ebrahim Fayez Al-Shamsi.
Albaraka Banking Group CEO Adnan Ahmed Yousif said both parties would operate on various areas of banking that would be mutually beneficial by providing customers better and more integrated Islamic financial services.
Emirates Islamic Bank and Albaraka Banking Group will work together in different areas, including exchanging deposits in different currencies, organizing the investment of surplus liquidity, clearing funds, underwriting, drafts, payments against letter of credit, and providing support for investors in securities.
Emirates Islamic Bank is already a major player in Islamic banking services across the UAE. A Shariah board comprising several prestigious scholars of Islamic law oversees the bank’s activities to ensure halal banking practices.
The Bahrain based Albaraka Banking Group offers retail, corporate and investment banking services. The bank recently became the first organization from Bahrain and the first Islamic banking group in the GCC region to announce the listing of its shares on the Dubai International Financial Exchange.