IslamicFinance.de

Al Baraka Bank (Pakistan) and Burj Bank have successfully merged operations under the name of Al Baraka Bank (Pakistan). The amalgamated entity will operate with a combined network of 224 branches and net assets in excess of 120 billion. Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, Chairman of Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) said that the merger was part of the group’s strategy to expand its reach in Pakistan and strengthen the global footprint of Islamic Finance. This merger will further catalyze the growth by establishing Al Baraka as an even stronger institution in the Islamic Banking sphere. The substantial increase in combined capital and branch network will help to reach out to a broader customer base with a full range of Islamic Banking services.

On Saturday, the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) and the National Commercial Bank (NCB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). The purpose of the Memorandum is to encourage the export in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia. According to the agreement, the signatories are to cooperate on finding solutions for the funding problems of SMEs. The agreement was signed under the auspices of JCCI's Chairman, Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel.

Al Baraka Banking Group announced an increase of 11% in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the net income achieved in the first quarter of 2010. Total assets increased by 3%, total financing and investments by 1%, deposits including equity of investment accountholders by 2% as at the end of March 2011 as compared with the end of December 2010.
Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, Chairman of Al Baraka Banking Group, stated that the operations of banks were affected because a number of Arab countries have witnessed during the first quarter of 2011 large political and social shifts that have had temporary implications on the environment of the banking sector in those countries.

Bahrain will establish the world's biggest Islamic bank within the next 6 to 12 months. The creation of a planned Islamic investment megabank is in "fairly advanced stages" and it will likely be launched in the next 6 to 12 months, an executive at a firm advising on the project said this week, Barcelona News wrote.