Role of two banks of Pakistan in Islamic banking
In the competitive environment there are various banks which are providing the services related to Islamic banking. Banks which are following the Islamic laws are registered under the state bank of Pakistan. Islamic banks have experienced advisors to approve their services. The advisors have also main role in the monitoring of the products which have to be delivered by the Islamic banks. Apart from other banks we take examples of two banks, one from public sector I.e. National Bank of Pakistan having Islamic windows only in parallel to conventional banking and another from private sector i.e. Al Barkah.
Al Barkah Bank Pakistan Ltd
Al Baraka Banking Group (B.S.C) is licensed as an Islamic wholesale bank by the Central Bank of Bahrain, listed on Bahrain Bourse and Nasdaq, Dubai stock exchanges. It is a leading international Islamic banking group providing its unique services in countries with a population totaling around one billion. It is jointly rated BBB+ (long term) / A3 (short term) on the international scale and A+ (bh) (long term) / A2 (bh) (short term) on the national by Islamic International Rating Agency & Dagong Global Credit Rating Company Limited, and by Standard & Poor’s at BB+ (long term) / B (short term).
Al Baraka offers retail, corporate, treasury and investment banking services, strictly in accordance with the principles of the Islamic Shari’a. The authorized capital of Al Baraka is US$ 1.5 billion, while total equity is at about US$ 2.1 billion.
The Group has a wide geographical presence in the form of subsidiary banking units and representative offices in 16 countries, which in turn provide their services through over 700 branches. Al Baraka currently has a strong presence in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, Bahrain, Pakistan, South Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, including two representative offices in Indonesia and Libya.
In Pakistan during 2016, Burj Bank was merged in to it. It had 224 branches as of Dec 2016 with 39 proximity closed branches merged in to prevailing branches. The bank as of Sept 2017 had assets of Rs 114 billion with Rs 94 billion as deposits.