Gulf’s third largest Islamic bank, Qatar International Islamic bank has received a nod to start operation in Morocco.
A number of Islamic banks have expressed their interest in the Moroccan market over the last few months. After the Executive Director of Bahraini Participatory Bank, Baraka Bank, said that his financial institution would begin operating in Morocco in the first six months of 2017, Qatar International Islamic Bank announced that it had also received authorization from Morocco to open a Moroccan bank.
In a statement published on the bank’s official website, QIIB says that Bank Al Maghrib accepted “its submission for the establishment of a bank in the Kingdom of Morocco.”
The future bank will be a joint venture between the Qatari bank and Morocco’s CIH Bank S.A. (Crédit Immobilier et Hôtelier).
The statement also revealed that QIIB is currently working with CIH bank “to satisfy the relevant requirements and regulatory approval of authorities” both in Qatar and Morocco.
The Bahraini Bank that also received an authorization from Morocco’s central bank earlier will operate in partnership with Morocco’s BMCE Bank. Baraka Bank will hold 49 per cent equity in this establishment, whereas BMCE Bank will own a controlling 51 per cent.
