Dubai: Mashreq Group announced Saturday the introduction of its Islamic banking division, Mashreq Al Islami, made available to customers throughout all of its 58 branches in the UAE.
Initially established in 2006 as Badr Al Islami, the Islamic banking division of Mashreqbank has been advised by the respected Sharia Supervisory Board, whose members will continue to guide Mashreq Al Islami, the official Islamic service provider for all Mashreq Group-related instruments.
"Islamic banking is expected to contribute around 30 per cent of the total banking sector in the next three years in the UAE, underpinning the importance of this market segment. Islamic banking is becoming increasingly preferred as an alternative to mainstream banking for all banking and finance segments and attracts all types of customer," Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, CEO of Mashreq, said in a press release
Mashreq Al Islami will be offering a full suite of Sharia-compliant products and services, with a host of new products to be rolled out during 2010 to both retail and corporate customers. Mashreq Al Islami will also provide Islamic advisory services, structuring finance solutions, sukuk advisory, Islamic investment products and Islamic treasury products, among others.
"The move to Mashreq Al Islami is part of the natural evolution of the business. Over the course of the past three years we have focused our attention on developing Sharia-compliant Islamic products and services in the field of corporate finance, project finance, sukuks and other products. By taking these services mainstream under the Mashreq Al Islami brand, customers will directly benefit from Mashreq's 40 years of banking and finance experience across the region, its wide network of branches and strong reputation in both retail and corporate finance," said Moinuddin Malim, CEO of Mashreq Al Islami.
Staff training
Mashreq Al Islami is being led by a fully independent management team.
As the Islamic products and services will be marketed throughout all of the existing Mashreq outlets, existing Mashreq personnel are being trained and Sharia-certified.
All staff operating in Mashreq branches will be qualified to advise on Sharia-compliant products and services.
