JEDDAH, 24 May 2006 — Prince Muhammad Al-Faisal Al-Saud, chairman of the board of directors of the Faisal Islamic Bank and Dar Al-Maal Al-Islami Group, said he hoped the Kingdom would allow his bank to open branches. He said he was optimistic because the Kingdom was trying to attract foreign investment and granting new licenses to foreign banks.
“We have 200 branches all over the world,” Prince Muhammad said in an interview to Arab News — his first since winning the Islamic Development Bank Prize for distinguished service to the cause of Islamic banking.
The prince said the most distinctive feature of an Islamic bank is that it considers its depositors as partners while an ordinary interest-based bank does not accord such a privilege to its customers.
Referring to the cut in domestic oil prices ordered by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah recently, Prince Muhammad said the king’s decision had a soothing effect that benefited the people in the Kingdom. “His decisions, which also demonstrate a deep understanding of the needs of the people, aim at their welfare in the final analysis,” he said.
Referring to his education, the prince said he went to the United States where he completed his higher education in business management after his secondary education in Taif.
After a brief period in the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, he explored new avenues of Islamic banking business.
He also studied various aspects of investment contracts in the light of Islamic law with the cooperation of several researchers, scholars and friends.
It was in 1972 that he got two licenses to start Islamic banks in Sudan and Egypt. Since then it has been a story of hard work and matching success and growth.
“With our headquarters in Bahrain we have established 70 branches in Pakistan which is the highest number in a single country. We also have branches in Senegal, Bangladesh and Niger.”
Prince Muhammad said the $500 billion Islamic banking market registered a healthy but strong competition between more than 400 Islamic banks in addition to the Islamic funds attached to ordinary banks. “We are very keen to diversify our investments. That is why you see us pumping capital into industrial, agriculture, architectural, amusement and other projects.”
He added that the bank had undertaken a multimillion riyal project in the Kingdom. He noted that the number of shareholders in Islamic banks is on the increase. With regard to the expansion of the Faisal Islamic Bank he said: “We have already established a new $700 million bank in Bahrain and we aim to launch several ambitious schemes which will add profit to our projects. Commenting on the upheavals in the Saudi stock market the prince said: “The current situation is reasonable although in the recent past it witnessed an unreasonable wave of volatility resulting in financial losses to a large number of people. I feel real pity for the share market subscribers who jumped into the market without knowledge or experience.”
