Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian lender Maybank Islamic Berhad has launched its first overseas branch at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Maybank Islamic, the Shariah-compliant division of Malaysia’s largest lender Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank), was granted the full Islamic banking licence from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in July 2019. The bank said it will start with a lean presence in the region with a team of nine, and focus on wholesale banking with an emphasis on corporate financing, treasury and capital markets and trade finance. “With Dubai being a leading Islamic economic centre, it was timely for Maybank Islamic to be here to tap into the increasing demand for financing in the global halal economy and to become a link between the GCC countries and the world’s fifth largest economy that is the ASEAN economic community,” said Dato’ Mohamed Rafique Merican, group CEO Maybank Group Islamic Banking and Maybank Islamic CEO. —Agencies
