Islamic banks in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations need to expand abroad to maintain their pace of growth in the future, according to Al-Baraka Banking Group, which operates in 15 countries from the Middle East to Asia. Expansion of market share for Shariah-compliant lenders within the six-member GCC may be limited as conventional banks constrain the pace of growth. Thus, lenders need to consider consolidating, and to target corporate business deals to gain market share. A point of maturity has been reached in some markets and this is why Islamic finance needs to reach out to a new market segment and continue to identify new innovations to help it grow further.