Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 13
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
The abolition of the Islamic financing department in the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) is associated with structural changes in the bank, the head of the IBA press service Yadigar Jafarli said.
He said that the agreements signed with international financial institutions within the framework of Islamic banking, as well as the bank's liabilities in this area remain in force. At the same time, implementation of projects in this direction continues, said Jafarli.
Regarding the employees who worked in the Islamic banking department, Jafarli said that the specialists continue to operate in accordance with the functional distribution.
IBA started rendering Islamic banking services in 2003, becoming the first in the country's banking market. The bank has been providing services in this sphere with the resources attracted from the Islamic Development Bank group.
In 2013, a consortium of Salans, KPMG, Pinsent Masons and Dar al Shariah companies was assisting IBA in the creation of a specialized structure for rendering products and services of Islamic banking.
In September 2012, IBA announced the launch of "Islamic window" created within the project on introduction of Islamic banking in Azerbaijan. Later, the department of Islamic banking was established in the bank by the decision of the IBA. The range of services offered by the bank include Islamic banking products such as Ijara which is an analogue of the traditional leasing, Wakala deposit equivalent to the traditional deposit, Islamic banking cards, Qard Hassan cards.
The IBA was founded in 1992 as the successor of the Vnesheconombank's Azerbaijani branch. The IBA holds the dominating position in the country's banking sector. The bank's main shareholder is the Azerbaijani government, which owns a 50.2 percent share. The remaining shares of the bank are owned by private individuals and legal entities.
The bank's portfolio in Islamic financing reaches nearly $526 million.
Edited by CN
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