Al Hilal Bank receives license to open first Islamic bank in Kazakhstan

The new bank is fully owned by Al Hilal Bank with a capital of $36m. The main headquarters will be established in the city of Almaty with a second branch in Astana.

His Excellency Ahmed Ateeq Al Mazrouei, Chairman of Al Hilal Bank, noted that the recently issued license was a result of the successful coordination between the two parties under the guidance of His Highness, President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his brother, His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. The two governments signed an agreement to launch Al Hilal Islamic Bank in Kazakhstan in June 2009, after which the government of Kazakhstan facilitated the progression of the license approvals process.

Mr. AL Mazrouei stressed that the official inauguration of the headquarters and the branch in Astana would start operations on the 25th of March 2010, in addition the bank also aims to open two new branches by the end of 2010. He also said that the bank will provide its services to citizens and institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan and will support investments and projects of UAE, the Gulf and Arab expatriates residing in Kazakhstan. The bank will be an ideal alternative to many of the neighboring countries which are now seeking Shari'a compliant banking products and services.

Furthermore, Mr. AL Mazrouei pointed out that Al Hilal Bank is currently examining other markets and carefully analyzing other areas for potential expansion to ensure that the targets sought by the bank will be achieved while maintaining the high quality of services. Mr.AL Mazrouei stated that the market in Kazakhstan is promising and the country has a great deal of expected projects that will be announced in the days ahead, especially in the oil, gas and infrastructure sectors, and it is expected that the bank will participate in financing.