ID :
32247
Tue, 11/25/2008 - 17:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/32247
The shortlink copeid
CIMB ISLAMIC LAUNCHES FIRST SYARIAH-COMPLIANT PRODUCT IN HONG KONG By Tham Choy Lin
HONG KONG, Nov 25 (Bernama) -- CIMB Islamic, the Islamic banking arm of Malaysia's second largest bank CIMB Group, on Tuesday launched its first Syariah-compliant product in Hong Kong and signed the first transaction with Hong Leong Bank for its Commodity Murabahah Deposit.
The product will utilise commodities like crude palm oil, metal or any
tradeable commodities as its underlying asset.
CIMB Islamic chief executive officer Badlisyah Abdul Ghani said the Hong
Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) gave its clearance last week for the launch of
the interbank money product.
"It is important for CIMB Islamic to be here because Hong Kong has great
potential as an Islamic financial market," he said.
HKMA deputy chief Eddie Yue witnessed the the memorandum of understanding
signed between the Hong Kong branches of CIMB and Hong Leong, the first
institutions based here to offer Islamic banking.
Hong Kong is charging ahead into developing an Islamic banking centre to
tap the huge global Islamic assets that are estimated to reach US$1 trillion by
2010.
Badlisyah said the launch marked the opening of CIMB's Islamic banking
window not only in Hong Kong but also to mainland China where the group had
acquired a 20 percent state in the Bank of Ying Kou in north-eastern Liaoning
province earlier this year.
CIMB Islamic plans to expand from wholesale Islamic banking business in
Hong Kong to other activities, namely asset management, and if viable, consumer
banking.
"But in the long term, the biggest opportunity and probability is to do
wholesale business and asset management. We are looking at a timeline of three
to five years. Consumer banking is still quite remote," he told Bernama.
The Commodity Murabahah Deposit based on the Islamic principle of Murabahah
gives fixed returns to investors and is widely used in the global Islamic
market to facilitate deposit-taking. It works through the purchase and
subsequent sale of a commodity at cost plus a specified profit.
CIMB obtained Bank Negara Malaysia's approval last December to undertake
Islamic banking operations in all its overseas branches.
Hong Kong is an important platform into mainland China to which all eyes
are turned to remain a growth engine for the stuttering world economy in the
wake of the global financial crisis.
"When the market is opened to us, through our Hong Kong branch as well as
Bank of Ying Kou, we will see how to develop wholesale banking, asset management
and consumer banking on the mainland," Badlisyah said.
The viability of starting consumer banking would have to be closely
evaluated because the Muslim population was distributed widely across China,
raising the question of how to service the market, he said.
"What we are going to concentrate on is the easy part, bringing what we
have from Malaysia into this market. I think as for the mainland, the proper
timeline is one to two years rather than immediate," he added.
CIMB Islamic is a global player in the industry and is the world's largest
sukuk or Islamic bond issue with a 20 percent share worldwide.
-- BERNAMA
The product will utilise commodities like crude palm oil, metal or any
tradeable commodities as its underlying asset.
CIMB Islamic chief executive officer Badlisyah Abdul Ghani said the Hong
Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) gave its clearance last week for the launch of
the interbank money product.
"It is important for CIMB Islamic to be here because Hong Kong has great
potential as an Islamic financial market," he said.
HKMA deputy chief Eddie Yue witnessed the the memorandum of understanding
signed between the Hong Kong branches of CIMB and Hong Leong, the first
institutions based here to offer Islamic banking.
Hong Kong is charging ahead into developing an Islamic banking centre to
tap the huge global Islamic assets that are estimated to reach US$1 trillion by
2010.
Badlisyah said the launch marked the opening of CIMB's Islamic banking
window not only in Hong Kong but also to mainland China where the group had
acquired a 20 percent state in the Bank of Ying Kou in north-eastern Liaoning
province earlier this year.
CIMB Islamic plans to expand from wholesale Islamic banking business in
Hong Kong to other activities, namely asset management, and if viable, consumer
banking.
"But in the long term, the biggest opportunity and probability is to do
wholesale business and asset management. We are looking at a timeline of three
to five years. Consumer banking is still quite remote," he told Bernama.
The Commodity Murabahah Deposit based on the Islamic principle of Murabahah
gives fixed returns to investors and is widely used in the global Islamic
market to facilitate deposit-taking. It works through the purchase and
subsequent sale of a commodity at cost plus a specified profit.
CIMB obtained Bank Negara Malaysia's approval last December to undertake
Islamic banking operations in all its overseas branches.
Hong Kong is an important platform into mainland China to which all eyes
are turned to remain a growth engine for the stuttering world economy in the
wake of the global financial crisis.
"When the market is opened to us, through our Hong Kong branch as well as
Bank of Ying Kou, we will see how to develop wholesale banking, asset management
and consumer banking on the mainland," Badlisyah said.
The viability of starting consumer banking would have to be closely
evaluated because the Muslim population was distributed widely across China,
raising the question of how to service the market, he said.
"What we are going to concentrate on is the easy part, bringing what we
have from Malaysia into this market. I think as for the mainland, the proper
timeline is one to two years rather than immediate," he added.
CIMB Islamic is a global player in the industry and is the world's largest
sukuk or Islamic bond issue with a 20 percent share worldwide.
-- BERNAMA
