Wednesday, November 19, 2008

'Islamic banks in Malaysia likely to merge'

ISLAMIC financial institutions in Malaysia could merge in the next five years to compete with their conventional counterparts, says Maybank Islamic acting chief executive officer Ibrahim Hassan.

"This is because their current capital and asset size are small," he said at the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum 2008 (KLIFF 2008) yesterday.

This is due to be a regional development, said Fajr Capital (Malaysia) managing director Rafe Haneef.

"We will see consolidation of Islamic banks in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) eventually. It will also be seen in markets like Dubai, which have over 40 banks servicing commercial and retail sectors," he said.

Both were speaking at a session during KLIFF 2008 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. -- NST, Published: 2008/11/19

KLIFF 2008 is being organised by the Centre for Research and Training and co-hosts by Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority and Halal Industry Development Corp in collaboration with Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes, International Institute of Islamic Finance and Messrs Hisham, Sobri & Kadir.

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