BAHRAIN - SPEECHES - Indonesia - Bahrain: Exploring Smart Partnership on Islamic Banking and Finance

www.bma.gov.bh - Indonesia -  Bahrain: Exploring Smart Partnership on Islamic Banking and Finance

Manama, Bahrain: 14th May 2012

Opening Address by: Mr. A. Rahman Al-Baker, Executive Director of Financial Institutions Supervision, Central Bank of Bahrain

Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen - Good Morning.

I am honoured to be here today to speak to you at this seminar in a spirit of partnership and brotherhood. Our two nations are both very similar and yet hugely different. We are both identified as Muslim nations, and yet we both have other religious groups existing alongside the Muslim majority. Indonesia is a vast nation, with a population in excess of 238 million people, whilst Bahrain has a population of only just over 1 million people. Indonesia is a founder member of ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), as Bahrain is a founder member of the GCC. These are both major economic blocs within their regions. Within ASEAN, Indonesia is the largest country by population and GDP. Within the GCC, Bahrain is the home of modern Islamic banking and finance. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Bahrain Islamic bank eyes Indonesia deal

www.btimes.com.my - MANAMA:Bahraini Islamic lender Al Baraka Banking Group aims for 15 per cent growth in net profit this year and plans to buy a 75 per cent stake in an unlisted Indonesian bank as part of its global expansion plan.

“We are in talks with Chinese shareholders of an Indonesian bank and hope to buy close to 75 per cent stake this year,” Adnan Ahmed Yousif, Al Baraka’s CEO. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Albaraka Aims Bank in Indonesia, Bahrain Islamic Bank Funds Prepare 100 Million U.S. Dollars

WWW.REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MANAMA - Islamic banks based in Bahrain, Al Baraka Banking Group target of 15 percent earnings growth this year. In addition, the bank will expand the business by buying 75 percent stake in the bank of Indonesia that is not listed on the stock.

"We are in talks with Chinese shareholders who hold shares of a bank in Indonesia, expects to buy up to 75 percent this year," said the chief executive of Al Baraka, Adnan Ahmed Yousuf, told Reuters on Monday (5/3).  (source)

BANKING - Islamic megabank gets Bahrain, Malaysia approvals

Feb 16 (Reuters) - A long-touted Islamic megabank has received approval from Bahrain and a preliminary green light from Malaysia to begin operations, an organizer said on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia's Sheikh Saleh Kamel -- who is founder and chairman of Bahrain-based Islamic bank Al Baraka BARKA.BH and spearheaded the megabank initiative -- said the venture is still in discussions with Qatar to obtain a licence.

The entity will likely have an authorized capital of $3 billion, a third of which will be raised in a private placement. (source)