Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug.3 / Trend, N. Ismayilova /
Depending on the directions of development of Azerbaijan's financial and banking sector, Kapital Bank can take some steps to use the traditions of Islamic banking based on effective proposals that would suit the bank, the Bank's Deputy Board Chairman Yashar Mammadov told Trend.
He said in the last decade, Islamic banking has widely spread in the financial circles of several developed countries. Azerbaijan takes into account the processes related to availability of the optimal harmonization of this type of banking with the global financial system. The country also has a number of banks that initiated introduction of Islamic banking.
"With regard to Kapital Bank's plans to introduce Islamic banking, we believe that, today's traditional approach to banking in Azerbaijan is optimal for the country's socio-economic life's requirements," Mammadov said.
Thus, according to Mammadov, Kapital Bank closely monitors the processes of formation of Islamic banking in Azerbaijan. These processes are analyzed to study the prospects for introducing Islamic banking in Kapital Bank.
"Within the work in this direction a meeting has been recently held in the bank with the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD is part of the Islamic Development Bank). The sides discussed prospects for cooperation and a number of proposals," Mammadov said.
Nikoil Bank is the first Azerbaijani bank to have provided a similar service.
The Turanbank, Amrahbank and Texnikabank have announced the intention to begin providing Islamic banking services.
The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) has selected the consortium of companies Salans, KPMG, Pinsent Masons and Dar al Shariah as a consultant to create a specialized structure to provide products and services of Islamic banking. The IBA has already put forward an initiative to prepare the relevant law.
The main shareholder of Kapital Bank is Pasha Holding, which owns 97.75 percent of shares. Kapital Bank had been fully under state property until the summer of 2008.
Assets of Azerbaijani Kapital Bank have increased by 11.8 percent in the first half of 2011 to 874.4 million manat as of July 1, 2011. Total aggregated capital totaled 71.88 million manat and the share capital was 30 million manat on July 1.
The official exchange rate is 0.7864 manat to $1 on Aug. 3.