Rabat - The Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) and Moroccan lender Credit Immobilier et Hotelier S.A. (CIH Bank) have reportedly signed an agreement to set up a bank in Morocco.
According to Reuters, the Qatari institution said on Thursday that the bank is expected to launch in the next few months after receiving the necessary approvals from the competent authorities
“QIIB will take a 40 percent stake in the new bank,” Qatari bank officials said, according to the same source.. No further details of the venture were released.
After Morocco adopted a bill to regulate Islamic banks and bonds (sukuk), several Islamic banks from Gulf countries have expressed interest in doing business in Morocco.
Abdul Latif Aljwahiri, Governor of Bank-Al-Maghrib, Morocco’s central bank, announced in November that Morocco was set to begin issuing Islamic bank licenses in 2016.
In a previous statement, Aljwahiri said that Bank-Al-Maghrib had received 15 requests from foreign financial institutions and three requests from Moroccan institutions requesting bank permits.
The governor added that the central bank is currently in the process of studying these requests.
In order to oversee the work of Islamic banks, also called participatory banks, Morocco created the “Sharia Board” for Participatory Finance.
The board is composed of ten Islamic scholars and at least five financial experts, chosen by the president of the Supreme Ulema Council in Morocco.
The “Sharia Board’s” main role is to make sure all the transactions of the Islamic banks are in conformity with Sharia laws.
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