MORE ISLAMIC BANKING LICENCES TO MARK INDUSTRY'S SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT

From Nor Baizura Basri

ABU DHABI, April 27 (Bernama) -- The issuance of two more mega Islamic
banking licences with US$1 billion capital, which is expected to be announced by
June this year, will mark a significant development in the Malaysian Islamic
finance industry.

Bank Negara Malaysia's (Central Bank) deputy governor Mohd Razif Abd Kadir
said the
move would be a major step in liberalising the Islamic financial sector.

"This is a major liberalisation and a real breakthrough in line with the
government's move to further liberalise some of the strategic sectors," he told
Malaysian reporters after a briefing on the Malaysia International Islamic
Financial Centre (MIFC) roadshow here Monday.

Razif was among key regulators in the delegation to the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) and Saudi Arabia as part of an effort to further promote two-way
investments and promote MIFC value propositions.

The roadshow, which starts from today until May 2, is also a follow-up to
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's visit to Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia
in January this year.

Razif said with the new players, it could bring better value proposition to
the Malaysia economy while at the same time, create a greater competition among
local players.

"Even though capital is important, business plan is also very important. For
example, what kind of value can you bring to the Malaysian economy? We bring new
players so that there will be competition and a wide range of Islamic products
can be offered," he said.

Besides the two mega Islamic banking licences, Razif said the central bank
would also issue two more takaful licences and five global conventional banking
licences, also by this June.

He said for all the licences, Bank Negara had received a lot of applications
from international financial institutions and banks from Europe as well as the
Middle East.

Asked when the new mega Islamic banks are expected to start operating, Razif
said the central bank would give a reasonable timeline for the parties concerned
to start their operations.

-- BERNAMA



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