International Bank of Qatar (IBQ)

#Qatari Banks May Reveal Merger Plan as Soon as This Week

Barwa Bank and International Bank of Qatar (IBQ) may announce plans to merge as early as this week. Combining Barwa and IBQ would partially salvage a proposed three-way merger with Masraf Al Rayan that was abandoned in June after 18 months of talks. That consolidation would have created the country’s largest Shariah-compliant bank and the Middle East’s third-biggest Islamic lender with more than 178 billion riyals ($49 billion) of assets. The smaller merger will create a lender with about 82 billion riyals in assets, the sixth-largest in the country. Each bank was valued around $1.8 billion in two separate share sales in 2014.

Barwa Bank almost finishes review of #merger recommendations

Barwa Bank has almost finished legal and financial studies regarding its merger with Masraf Al Rayyan and International Bank of Qatar (IBQ). Barwa Bank CEO Khalid al-Subea said that any development in this regard will be announced through a joint statement by the three banks. Barwa Bank's recent Al Majd initiative offers its clients an exceptional banking package within the framework of various ongoing national initiatives. Barwa Bank also announced the launch of its new Shariah-compliant savings account that offers high flexibility and profit rate of an expected 3%, where profits are paid on a quarterly basis. The account allows clients to withdraw once every quarter up to 25% of the current balance.

#Qatari bank trio in talks for potential $44 b #merger

Qatari banks Masraf Al Rayan, Barwa Bank and International Bank of Qatar have begun initial talks for a potential merger. This deal would create the Gulf state's second-largest bank and it would have assets worth more than 160 billion riyals ($44 billion). If the deal goes ahead, it would be a rare example of consolidation among banks in the Gulf, which have previously been reluctant to tie up. The previously lavish state spending is now being trimmed to adjust to lower oil prices and the argument for consolidation is now more compelling. Though negotiations have begun, there is no guarantee any agreement will be reached. The proposed merger of Rayan, Barwa and IBQ depends on financial and legal due diligence, as well as securing approvals from regulatory authorities and shareholders of all three banks.

Qatar Islamic banking directive to set example for other markets

Although Central Bank of Qatar (CBQ) set the deadline requiring the country's conventional banks which have opened Islamic banking windows to close them down to be Dec. 31, 2011, it has passed almost without being noticed.
Some Islamic bankers are now stating that the move was required to prevent the alleged rampant co-mingling of conventional and Islamic funds at some of the Islamic banking windows, and that the Qatari Islamic banking sector has been successfully re-aligned and consolidated.
The clear message of the directive is that dedicated standalone Islamic banks are favored to half-way houses where co-mingling and all sorts of compromises are possible if not the norm.
The affected banks included the Al-Islami window of Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest bank in the emirate; Commercial Bank of Qatar; Doha Bank; HSBC Amanah; Ahli Bank; Al-Khaliji Bank and International Bank of Qatar (IBQ), which between them had 16 Islamic banking branches in Qatar.

IBQ sells Islamic unit to Barwa Bank

It seems that International Bank of Qatar has sold off its Islamic unit to Barwa Bank.
There are no reports about what the other conventional banks, mainly giants like the Qatar National Bank (QNB), are doing with their Islamic operations.
Someone familiar with the mather said, however, that acquisitions of Islamic units of commercial banks are expected to follow Al Yusr's buyout by Barwa Bank.

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