Al Khalij Commercial Bank (al khaliji) has officially opened the doors to its first Islamic Branch ’al khaliji al islami’ offering basic Islamic banking services to corporate, institutional and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The branch offers a range of products and services of Islamic Current Account, Foreign Currency Exchange, Domestic and International Funds Transfers in eight foreign  currencies and Commodity Murabaha with a dedicated Customer Service Line.

"Islamic Banking and Finance is no longer a niche market in international arena, it has reached the status of mainstream banking as more countries across the continents have established players in their own markets," Sheikh Hamad Bin Faisal Bin Thani Al-Thani, chairman of al khaliji board of directors and managing director commented.

“We are proud to be part of the Islamic financial landscape in Qatar and look forward to introducing more products in the coming months. Our strategy is for strong Shari'a compliance, not only in our products and services but also in our operations,” Sheikh Hamad added.

The implementation of the Islamic banking system started in November last year and is expected to be completed by year end, covering the full product suite across corporate, institutional, SME and consumer segments.

Robin McCall, al khaliji acting chief executive officer and  managing executive, Corporate and Institutional Banking said: "We have implemented a strong core banking system which is AAOIFI certified as Shari’a complaint for Islamic Banking and Finance as well as ISO9001-2000 at al khaliji al islami."

"This will ensure complete segregation of the Islamic Banking business. Customers can have peace of mind and trust that all our products and services are Shari'a compliant,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service