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Mr. Ayman Sejiny, the CEO of The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and Mr. Satesh Khemlani, the Managing Director of Finterra, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to achieve sustainable business growth. Both organizations have common beneficiaries and share similar social impact development goals. The collaboration with Finterra is based on its highly powered blockchain solutions for Islamic social finance under the names of SadaqahChain®, WAQFChain® and ZakatChain®. The MoU was digitally signed during a virtual signing ceremony. The parties will explore opportunities of blockchain in OIC member countries in close collaboration with national licensed crowd-lending/crowd-funding operators.

In this interview Ayman Sejiny, CEO of Ibdar Bank, speaks about the future of Islamic finance. Ayman Sejiny believes that fintech is going to be one of the biggest drivers of change in the new Islamic banking era. Fintech initiatives will not only improve existing customer’s banking experience, but also have the potential to bring the two billion financially-excluded individuals into the banking system. Malaysia, Indonesia, the UAE and Bahrain, driven by an influx of start-ups in the crowdfunding and payment space, have already positioned themselves to lead the field. They started to formally regulate crowdfunding and implement sandboxes or special fintech licencing schemes. These markets should therefore see huge growth in crowdfunding, P2P and payments platforms and even an increase in the use of AI in the form of robo-advisers. The UK and even the US will also see more investment in fintech startups to meet the demand for Shari’ah products in these markets. Ibdar Bank has set out a comprehensive plan for the engagement with fintech service providers.

Ibdar Bank is directing its FinTech strategies to position the bank as a fully-digitised Islamic investment bank. The Bank has USD277 million in paid up capital and a geographical reach that spans the GCC and Middle East North Africa Turkey (MENAT) region. The Bank also transacts in Southeast Asia and select developed markets. Ibdar Bank has significant expertise in areas including aviation, infrastructure, maritime, oil & gas, and real estate. According to CEO Ayman Sejiny, Ibdar has set out a comprehensive plan in 2018 for its engagement with global Fintech service providers. In the first phase, the bank is set to digitise its operations internally, the second phase will focus on implementing its service offerings in response to the needs of a Global Islamic Digitised Economy (GIDE). Sejiny added that the Central Bank of Bahrain has taken decisive steps towards a FinTech supportive environment in order to facilitate the growth of the sector.

Bahrain-based Bank Alkhair has obtained approval from the State Bank of Pakistan to sell its stake in Pakistan’s Burj Bank to Al Baraka Pakistan Limited (ABPL). This transaction follows the announcement on 5 September 2016 about the merger of Pakistan’s Burj Bank and ABPL, creating an institution with assets totaling more than $1.1 billion. Ayman Sejiny, Group CEO of Bank Alkhair said the bank was pleased to sell its stake in Pakistan’s Burj Bank to Al Baraka Pakistan Limited. Bank Alkhair has completed several landmark transactions since its inception, including the establishment of t’azur, a regional Takaful company and the acquisition of Bahrain Financing Company, the oldest foreign exchange and remittance houses in the GCC.