Bahrain-based Elaf Bank, a leading Islamic bank, has been granted a license by the Ministry of Finance Malaysia to open a branch office in Malaysia.

Elaf Bank was presented with the license during a formal ceremony held at Bank Negara Malaysia today (June 15).

The bank plans to start its branch office operations in Kuala Lumpur immediately now that it has fulfilled the formalities required for obtaining the license, a statement said.

“Elaf Bank is developing its business through two hubs covering the GCC and Mena region and the South East Asia region, as a two-way business corridor. Being a wholesale Islamic bank headquartered in the capital of Islamic finance in the Middle East, the logical next step would be to open our first international branch office in the capital of Islamic finance in South East Asia,” said Dr Jamil El Jaroudi, CEO of Elaf Bank.

“This will help us operate more efficiently and closely to meet the needs of our cross-regional clients, and be able to execute deals that will contribute to the sustainable growth of the Islamic finance industry in both strategic markets.”

“We firmly believe the bank is poised to not only widen its scope and reach through the opening of the branch office in Malaysia, but also to consolidate its excellent client relations and business activities as a result of this step, which will no doubt generate benefits for both regions and create value for the bank,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service