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Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) has signed an agreement with Bahrain Bourse for a murabaha financing framework using a Sharia-compliant lending service. The underlying asset is Ijara sukuk provided by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). Adding this Murabaha service introduces a new underlying asset to the bank’s existing commodity murabaha facility structure, currently conducted via local and international brokers. This further diversifies the structure and enhances its framework given that it is actioned via a digital system which decreases the processing time exponentially.

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) launched the Tejoori Instant Finance service allowing customers to obtain instant finance within 5 minutes. According to BisB Chief Retail Banking, Dalal Al Qais, customers can get instant finance on amounts ranging between BD 200 and BD 2,000, which will be credited to their Saving or Current Account in less than 5 minutes. Customers will be required to pay upfront fees that vary between BD30 and BD70, depending on the required amount. They can choose a minimum tenor of three months up to a maximum tenor of 12 months to repay the amount with no profits. The monthly instalment will be deducted directly from the customer’s Tejoori account.

The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) has acquired a 78.8% controlling stake in Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB). The offer which initially opened on 18 December 2019 was launched by NBB in a bid to develop its Islamic banking activities. NBB’s CEO Jean-Christophe Durand said that the two banks would remain independent and BisB would remain listed on Bahrain Bourse. The Islamic bank will continue to operate under its normal course of business as well as maintain its operations as a subsidiary of NBB. The settlement of the offer is expected to take place on 22 January 2020.

The National Bank of Bahrain, which owns a 29% stake in Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB), has made an offer to acquire the entire Islamic lender. Lower oil prices over the past five years are forcing Gulf lenders to consolidate for scale and to better compete in a crowded market. Subdued credit growth, competition for deposits, higher cost of funds and deteriorating asset quality are driving consolidation in the regional banking sector. In the UAE, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank merged with Union National Bank and the combined entity acquired Al Hilal Bank, creating a banking group with AED 423 billion in assets in May 2019. Similarly, in Saudi Arabia, National Commercial Bank is in the process of merging with Riyad Bank to create the Gulf’s third-largest lender with $193 billion in assets.

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) announced the launch of open banking services starting from 1st of July 2019. This is the result of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and its directive to integrate all retail banks in the Kingdom with FinTech companies. The open banking services features two types of services. The Account Information Service grants customers access to their bank account data from different banks through a single unified platform. The second service entails transfers between different accounts through a single application. According to BisB CEO Hassan Jarrar, Open Banking is a game changer, offering new online payment channels without the need for credit cards or debit cards.

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BISB) has announced its partnership with the Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB). As the first dedicated FinTech hub and corporate incubator in the Middle East and Africa region, it will be located in the Arcapita building overlooking Bahrain Bay. The venue comprises state-of-the-art facilities, co-working spaces and a variety of other shared infrastructure. BISB CEO Hassan Amin Jarrar said that with the strong support provided by the Government and the Central Bank of Bahrain Bahrain FinTech Bay would further strengthen the Kingdom’s financial position. Bahrain FinTech Bay aims to develop and accelerate financial technology in the region by creating a platform to fuel the growth of the industry.

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BISB) has issued a statement denying its reported intention to issue a Sukuk. The statement, signed by BisB CEO Hassan Amin Al Jarrar, said that the bank would not consider such an approach, at least not within the coming 12 to 18 months. The report about the bank was published Tuesday 19 September 2017 in AlBilad’s press release. The bank affirmed the rest of the report, namely, the rise of the bitcoin industry, applying the value added tax, and the bank’s preparedness towards digital and mobile payments.

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BISB) has successfully closed a debut $101 million one-year Syndicated Murabahah Financing Facility. The Facility will be used for general funding purposes. Initially it was launched for $50 million and following strong interest BISB decided to utilise the significant over-subscription to increase the Facility size to $101 million. A total of eight banks from the GCC and Europe participated in this transaction. They include Bank ABC Islamic, Boubyan Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates Islamic, Sharjah Islamic Bank, National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah, The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, Federated Project and Trade Finance Tender Fund, and Federated Project and Trade Finance Core Fund. Sole Bookrunner and Coordinator was the Bahrain-based Bank ABC, which expressed its delight with the closure of the transaction and wished Bahrain Islamic Bank continued growth in the future.

Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) has reaffirmed ratings of Bahrain Islamic Bank (BIsB) at BBB/A2 on the national scale and BBB-/A3 on the international scale. IIRA added that the bank’s rating outlook is constrained by the macroeconomic environment and tougher industry conditions for banks in the Gulf. Given the presence of external, regional concerns, the outlook on international scale ratings is assessed as Negative. Impairment in recent financings remains minimal, indicating improvement in the bank's business underwriting capability. However, overall asset quality concerns remain notable. IIRA has assigned BIsB a Fiduciary Score of 71-75, which signifies that the rights of various stakeholders are adequately protected.

Bahrain Islamic Bank is seeking to sell about 82m dinars (£166m) of unproductive assets such as land and shares as part of a five-year plan to boost growth. The lender sold 14m dinars-worth of these assets in the first half and plans the sale of a similar amount in the remainder of the year. S&P Global Ratings downgraded Bahrain in February because its vulnerability to slumping oil prices has increased since 2009. Fitch Ratings expects Bahrain’s general government debt to rise to almost 80% of GDP this year, from 62% in 2015. According to CEO Hassan Jarrar, Bahrain Islamic Bank plans to boost revenue by 20 to 25% annually, achieve a return on equity of 15% to 16% and cut its cost-to-income ratio to mid-40% from 60% over two years.

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) has announced the appointment of Nada Ishaq Abdul Karim as Executive Secretary to its Board of Directors. The appointment of the first Bahraini woman in this position comes within the Bank's strategic plans in line with the "Ishraq" Initiative- Back to Basics 2016. CEO Hassan Amin Jarrar said this shows the bank's continuous support for qualified Bahraini women and promotion of Bahraini personnel.

The next big thing in the GCC's Islamic insurance industry appears to be the bancaTakaful model.
After last week Qatar Islamic Bank distributed Damaan Islamic Insurance Company's Takaful products, retail Islamic bank, Bahrain Islamic Bank (BISB) communicated that it had signed an agreement to distribute Bahrain-based Takaful International's products to its customers.

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BISB) and Al Salam Bank have appointed KPMG Fakhro for their planned mega merger.
The proposed merger between the two is considered a litmus test for the Gulf region after the last attempted merger, between two Qatari banks, failed.
If this will result in a success, it would be the first for two Gulf-based Islamic banks.