Islamic Bank Awards 2011: By Region

Regional Awards

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Kuwait Finance House

Kuwait Finance House was the first Islamic bank established in Kuwait. It is now a market leader in the GCC and beyond, offering a wide range of shariah-compliant products. KFH has followed a strategy of tightening spending, maintaining asset quality and expanding its role in the financing of major projects. The bank plans to participate significantly in the Kuwait government’s plans to outsource some projects to the private sector. Through its Liquidity Management House subsidiary, KFH has arranged more than $4 billion of sukuk deals. KFH has established independent banks in Turkey, Bahrain and Malaysia. It has also been approved to set up an Islamic bank in Germany. KFH-Bahrain recently introduced a 25-year home-financing product, 13 years longer than the previous term available through murabaha. KFH Malaysia was the first Islamic bank to offer sukuk in the Japanese market, a $500 million issue for GE Capital.

 

Mohammed Sulaiman Al-Omar, CEO

www.kfh.com

 

Non-GCC Middle East/Africa

Absa Islamic Banking

Absa Islamic Banking is part of the Absa Group, one of the largest financial services companies based in South Africa. The group also has equity holdings in banks in Mozambique and Tanzania, and representative offices in Namibia and Nigeria. Absa is a subsidiary of Barclays Bank, which acquired a 55.5% stake in 2005. Absa launched a full Islamic banking service in South Africa in March 2006. Its diversified Islamic product range includes savings and checking accounts, auto financing, insurance, travelers checks and term deposits. Barclays estimates the earnings contribution from its African operations will rise from the current 16% to about 25% in five years. In July 2011, the head offices of Absa Africa and Barclays Africa will be operationally combined in Johannesburg.

 

Maria Ramos, group CEO Amman Muhammad, managing director

www.absa.co.za

 

Asia

CIMB Islamic

CIMB Islamic is the global Islamic finance franchise of CIMB Banking, Malalysia’s second largest financial services group, with some 12 million customers. Launched in 2003, CIMB Islamic provides shariah-compliant commercial and investment banking services, plus a full range of personal banking services, asset management, private banking and takaful. In Indonesia, Bank CIMB Niaga offers conventional and shariah-compliant banking products through its network of 610 branches. CIMB Islamic’s coverage extends across the Southeast Asia region, and the bank also is represented in major financial centers such as Hong Kong, London and New York. In October 2010, the Kuala Lumpur office signed a 12-year, $100 million shariah-compliant facility with Hewlett-Packard Multimedia, the largest Islamic term financing to date.

 

Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, executive director and CEO

www.cimbislamic.com