Islamic Financial Services
From The Report: Bahrain 2017
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Bahrain’s sharia-compliant financial institutions enter 2017 after weathering the tumultuous economic environment and changing regulatory landscape of the previous year. Despite the challenges, the kingdom’s Islamic banks continue to expand in the domestic market and beyond, while activity in the newly reinforced sharia-compliant insurance sector is well positioned to continue along a trajectory of premium growth, outstripping that of its conventional counterparts.

This chapter contains an interview with Hisham Al Rayes, CEO, GFH Financial Group.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Standard bearer: The kingdom maintains its position as a regional leader for Islamic finance in spite of increasing competition
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Bahrain’s sharia-compliant financial institutions enter 2017 after weathering the tumultuous economic environment and changing regulatory landscape of the previous year. Despite the challenges, the kingdom’s Islamic banks continue to expand in the domestic market and beyond, while activity in the newly reinforced sharia-compliant insurance sector is well positioned to continue along a trajectory of premium growth, outstripping that of its conventional counterparts. IFS REGIONAL CENTRE:…

Interview

At the forefront: Hisham Al Rayes, CEO, GFH Financial Group, on fiscal reforms and developing the Islamic financial services industry
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Interview: Hisham Al Rayes How would you rate the government’s approach to the current fiscal situation? HISHAM AL RAYES: In 2016 we have witnessed serious efforts by the government to operate like a corporation, with a sound approach to managing its balance sheet. Firm steps are being taken towards diversifying the economy, including many positive reforms, such as significant reductions in both unnecessary spending and subsidies. From a revenue perspective, ministries and government agencies…

Analysis

Centre stage: The kingdom considers the advantages of establishing a single sharia authority to oversee the whole sector
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The global Islamic finance industry is a rapidly growing but relatively new phenomenon, and therefore the approach of national regulators varies from one jurisdiction to the next. Almost all regulatory frameworks, however, fall within two broad models: a centralised system, with some form of higher sharia authority to pronounce upon regulatory issues, such as those operated by Indonesia and Pakistan; or a self-regulation model, where Islamic finance institutions turn to their own sharia supervisory…

Analysis

Gathering momentum: Sharia-compliant financing becoming increasingly common across the GCC region
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Within the spectrum of Islamic financial services (IFS), project financing has been one of the slower segments to develop. Historically, the reason for this has been the cost differential between conventional project financing and its sharia-compliant counterpart. In the past, conventional tenors also tended to be longer – up to 20 years for power and water projects – than those offered by Islamic financiers, due to the fact that Islamic banks tended to focus on retail deposits as a source…

Analysis

Come together: Consolidation becomes a priority as Bahrain seeks to maintain its position as a centre for sharia-compliant banking
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Regulators are encouraging mergers and acquisitions in Bahrain’s Islamic banking industry in a bid to cement the country’s position as one of the world’s leading sharia-compliant financial centres. At the end of 2016 the governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) repeated calls for the country’s Islamic lenders – of which there are currently six retail and 18 wholesale – to consider engaging in a round of mergers or acquisitions to hone their competitive edge in the market. CALL…