ISTANBUL: Turkish state-run lender Halkbank has decided to establish an Islamic finance unit, in line with a government effort to develop the sector and tap a pool of investors in the Gulf and southeast Asia.
The bank said its management would seek regulatory approval for the Islamic unit, known locally as a participation bank, but gave no further details on the plans.
'The Halkbank board has mandated the general management for the establishment of a participation bank, and to carry out the required processes for legal and administrative permissions,' it said in a stock exchange filing.
Islamic finance has developed slowly in Turkey, the world's eighth most populous Muslim nation, partly because of political sensitivities and the secular nature of its laws.
This changed in 2012, when the government issued its debut $1.5 billion Islamic bond and kick-started regulatory moves to allow wider use of Islamic finance contracts. The government has since issued dollar and lira-denominated Islamic bonds.
(Gulf Daily News / 01 November 2014)
---Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com
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