IslamicFinance.de

Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has agreed to deliver a keynote address, via teleconferencing, at the three-day Sarajevo Halal Fair. Bosna Bank International's CEO Amer Bukvic announced that the fair would begin on the 27. of September and he invited more Malaysian companies to set up business in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bukvic added that the country aims to become Europe’s halal hub and they need help from Malaysia. The Sarajevo Halal Fair is jointly organised by Bosna Bank International, Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank Group Business Forum and supported by Malaysia’s Halal Industry Development Corporation.

Bosna Bank International's net profit increased to 6.4 million marka ($3.5 million/3.3 million euro) last year from 5.6 million marka in 2015. Net interest income grew 22.5% year-on-year to 22.3 million marka in 2016, while net fee and commission income rose to 10.9 million marka from 9.6 million marka. The bank's total assets stood at 895.4 million marka at the end of 2016.

Sarajevo's stock exchange launched an Islamic index, a first for the Balkans region. Director of the Sarajevo stock exchange, Tarik Kurbegovic, said the SASX-BBI Index includes 25 Bosnian firms which respect Islamic teaching and was set up in cooperation with Bosnia Bank International (BBI), founded by Gulf countries. BBI director Amer Bukvic said that with this index investment in Bosnia by Gulf countries would grow in a significant way during the next three to five years. In the last few years, Gulf businessmen have invested significantly in tourist and residential real estate in Sarajevo and the surrounding region. The goal of the Islamic index is to direct new investment towards the sectors of agriculture, tourism, metallurgic industry and energy.

Bosna Bank International announced its first-half net profit jumped to 3.2 million marka ($1.8 million/1.6 million euro) from 1.4 million marka in the same period last year. The lender's net interest income increased 31.5% to 10.9 million marka through June, while net fee and commission income rose 12.9% to 5.1 million marka. The bank's total assets stood at 768.7 million marka at the end of June.

Curtis Law Solicitors were one of the lead sponsors for the Srebrenica Memorial event held at Blackburn Cathedral earlier this month. It aimed to remember the victims of July 11 1995, when 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed. Earlier this year, Noordad Aziz, a councillor and head of finance at Curtis Law Solicitors, visited Bosnia and paid witness to the, still devastating effects of the Srebrenica genocide. This trip fuelled Noordad with a passion to raise awareness and recognition of this modern tragedy in Britain. Following Noordad’s trip, Curtis Law Solicitors worked in partnership with Hyndburn Borough Council on organising an event to demonstrate the official ‘Remembering Srebrenica’ historic memorial programme.

The European Association for Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance (EUIEBF) and the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) is organizing Sarajevo's third Islamic Finance Conference. The conference will take place in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina from 20-21 November 2014. This conference aims to gather Islamic banking, economics, and finance experts and students to discuss a wide range of topics and fill this gap in research. It will continue the development and acknowledgment of Islamic banking's increasing role in the world. Papers about relevant areas in Islamic economics and finance can be submitted for this conference. Please find detailed information in the attached document.

Bosna Bank International (BBI) was established in 2000 as the first Islamic bank in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the first bank of this kind in Europe. The bank resulted from a greenfield investment by Islamic Development Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank. BBI had to overcome challenges like compliance with both Islamic banking principles and State Law on Banks, and the lack of awareness among Bosnians. Additional challenges were the education of workforce and how to overcome the market challenge. Today, BBI offers all types of commercial banking products which are all in compliance with Islamic principles and competitive to other banks’ offers. For more information see the attached document.

The founders of Bosna Bank International (BBI), the first bank in Bosnia and Herzegovina to do business based on Islamic principles, are to inject an additional 15 million euros to its capital stock to ensure business growth, according to the bank's director Amer Bukvic. The Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Dubai Islamic Bank and the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank had decided to inject fresh capital into BBI to the amount of 30 million convertible marks (EUR 15.3m). The fresh capital will be used to reinforce the bank's position in the medium-sized banking segment on the Bosnian banking market. BBI's assets will amount to 500 million convertible marks (EUR 255.7m) after the capital increase. Moreover, Bukvic announced that the bank would be releasing loans to the value of 300 million convertible marks (EUR 153.4m).

The formation of a single board of trustee including all donors and the establishment was advised to the Boards of Trustees of the Funds (BTF) of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Niger.
Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, Chairman of the OIC BTF, held the OIC BTF meeting.