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Burj Bank Limited was formerly known as Dawood Islamic Bank Limited (DIBL). The bank officially commenced operations in April 2007 and was renamed Burj Bank Ltd. in July 2011. Burj Bank has a diversified range of Shariah compliant funded and non-funded products and services aimed at facilitating both individual and corporate customers. Besides, the bank also offers investment and corporate advisory services. Burj Bank was quoted the best Islamic bank by world financial magazine in 2013. After incurring losses for three consecutive years since CY09, CY12 was the year when the bank made an after tax profit of Rs 84.6 million. In 2012, Burj Bank become a dominant player in fleet financing business and is regarded as a top player in this segment. Industry insiders strongly urge the development of an active Islamic money market via short-term sovereign instruments and secondary market via Islamic repo agreements.

Pakistan's central bank has launched a mass media campaign to raise awareness and acceptance of Islamic finance among consumers in the country. It was developed alongside local Islamic banks, and is expected help the industry reach ambitious targets including a doubling of its branch network in five years and a 15 per cent share of the banking system. The campaign is part of an overhaul of Islamic finance activities in Pakistan, which also includes the establishment of a country-level Sharia board and new rules for Sharia-compliant financial products within the central bank's five-year plan for Pakistan's Islamic banking sector. The country's Islamic banking industry includes five fully-fledged Islamic banks and five takaful (Islamic insurance) firms, with an additional 12 conventional banks offering services through Islamic windows.

Pakistan's central bank has adopted the "investment sukuk" guidelines of the Bahrain-based Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). Issuers will have to comply with this global standard for sukuk, or face penalties. The action could help Pakistani issues attract investment by foreign institutions from the Gulf and elsewhere. Around the world, the industry commonly refers to AAOIFI standards but they are mostly used as guidelines rather than manadatory rules. Pakistan's regulators are rolling out new rules in an effort to increase Islamic banks' share of the total banking sector to 15 percent by 2017. In May, the country's securities commission established a sharia advisory board to oversee Islamic financial instruments, while last year it announced rules for sukuk, takaful (Islamic insurance) and Islamic deposits.

JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company has reaffirmed the entity ratings of Burj Bank at ‘A/A-1’. Outlook on the ratings is ‘Stable’. Ratings take into account the financial profile of Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private sector (ICD), one of the major shareholders of the bank. The recent approval by shareholders to increase the bank's paid up capital (free of losses) to Rs. 6b is likely to create room for growth in core business activities, which is constrained by the high level of Capital Adequacy Ratio required to be maintained by the State Bank of Pakistan. With a CAR of 22.5% at end-Dec’12 and net NPLs in relation to tier-1 capital also within manageable limits, the bank continues to depict sound risk absorption capacity. Burj has set up 25 new branches during FY12 to increase the total outreach to 75 branches by year-end. A further 25 branches are planned to be set up during the ongoing year.

Pakistan-headquartered Bank of Khyber (BoK) plans to open branches in the Middle East, as part of an expansion drive to capture the fast growing investment opportunities and facilitate the expatriate Pakistanis belonging to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The lender would offer both Islamic and conventional banking services in the lucrative market of Middle East, according to the bank's acting managing director, Javed Hashmat. No further details were provided.

Emaan Islamic Banking, a division of Silkbank Limited, has been launched and is now available in 10 branches in 8 cities including Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Islamabad. M. A. Mannan, Executive Director at Silkbank, said that currently, the Islamic Banking Division offers a complete suite of liability based products and services including Current Account, Savings Account, Term Deposit (01 Month to 05 Years), Online Banking, 24/7 Phone Banking, Internet Banking, Visa Debit Card, Utility Bills Payment Service and Corporate Banking solutions including Musharka, Murabaha, Diminishing Musharka and Import Murabaha. Silkbank plans to open more Emaan Islamic Banking branches throughout the country and offer more products, both in Retail and Consumer Banking in Pakistan.

The Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) will disburse a loan of PKR 14.6 billion (USD 146 million) with a 0.5 percent interest rate per year to the Punjab provincial government of Pakistan. The money will be used for a microfinance facility that will provide interest-free loans to small enterprises in the province, which is home to approximately 90 million people. The Punjab government plans to provide an additional grant of PKR 5 billion (USD 49.9 million) to support the facility. The project reportedly is modeled after the Akhuwat Scheme, it will offer loans of the same size, and like the Akhuwat Scheme, this new facility will not accept deposits. As of July 2013, Akhuwat reported to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) a gross loan portfolio of USD 15.1 million, approximately 140,000 active borrowers and operations in 162 branches across Pakistan.

The event "Microfinance Summit Pakistan 2013" will be held in Islamabad, Pakistan on July 8-10, 2013. This event focuses on topics relating to financial inclusion, microfinance investment vehicles, branchless banking, microinsurance, market segmentation, distribution channels for reaching poor people, and microfinance regulation and policy in Pakistan. It will be co-hosted by the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and the Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN). Although there is no cost to attend this event, registration is required. More information ist available on the event website http://www.mfs2013.com/.

Bankers, businessmen and economic experts urged masses to adopt Sharia-based banking and insurance in their need of daily lives and businesses. Speaking at the Second Islamic Financial Expo and Conference (IFEC) held at local hotel on Thursday, they enlightened participants about the potential of Islamic banking, hereafter underlining the need of awareness and penetration of Islamic banking and Takaful services across the country. Islamic banks are very active in introducing different products to the customers which not only meet their demands at commercial and domestic levels but also fulfill Sharia principles. However, there are loopholes in the Islamic banking industry which must be addressed mutually by banks, regulator and the government.

According to World Bank, on an average, annual housing need in Pakistan is 1.1 million units which require an annual funding of around Rs3.3 trillion per year. While conventional banks/DFIs are stepping away from the housing finance, the share of Islamic banks and HBFC is surging. The gross house loans of Islamic banks grew year-on-year by 15 percent as of December 2012. Among Islamic banks, Meezan Bank, Burj Bank and BankIslami remained the major growth propellers. Islamic housing finance instruments are attractive to the consumers because of the co-ownership nature of the contract instead of borrowing and lending. Besides, with the purchase of share consistently, the rental amount is gradually reduced every month. Facilitating Islamic banks to extend loans coupled with the suggested development of secondary mortgage market is expected to buttress the housing finance in Pakistan.

It’s been almost 10 months since the Sindh High Court restrained the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) from implementing Takaful Rules 2012 that allowed conventional insurance companies to sell Takaful products through separate windows. The court has yet to give its final verdict on a petition of five Takaful operators in which they contended that the provision allowing conventional insurance companies to start selling Takaful products is against Shariah law. If the court clears Takaful Rules 2012, up to 20 conventional insurance companies (life and non-life) are likely to introduce Takaful windows. The paid-up capital requirement for a conventional life insurance company under existing rules is Rs500 million and Rs300 million for a conventional non-life insurance company. The paid-up capital requirements for general and family Takaful companies are not different from their conventional insurance counterparts.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has issued a circular to all Islamic banking institutions about the Islamic Export Refinance Scheme (IERS) and eligibility of Ijara Sukuk, Islamic bonds to be included in the Musharaka pool. Every Islamic bank is obligated to create a Musharaka pool consisting of financing blue chip companies on Islamic modes. The Musharaka pool is supposed to have a minimum of ten companies with diversified lines of businesses to avoid concentration in sectors. The circular listed the conditions that will make the Government of Pakistan Ijara Sukuk eligible to be included in the pool, created under the IERS. The Islamic banking institutions are also required to maintain records of Sukuk issues and the amount it allocated to its respective Musharaka pool.

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has notified that now un-encumbered Government of Pakistan Ijara Sukuk may be included in the Musharaka Pool (MP), created under the Islamic Export Refinance Scheme (IERS). This inclusion will be subject to the several conditions. All Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) shall report Sukuk in MP under the sector heading of GoP Ijara Sukuk. IBIs shall maintain record of Sukuk issue included and the amount of that issue will be incorporated in the MP. The banks are advised to refer to SBP’s Islamic Export Refinance Scheme and other instructions issued from time to time. Other instructions on the subject remain unchanged,

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has passed orders against a takaful company for not complying with the provisions of the Insurance Ordinance, 2000 and the Companies Ordinance, 1984. Further, SECP’s insurance division has also passed an order against a life insurance company under section 130(2) of the Insurance Ordinance, 2000. The SECP has also issued 13 warning letters and four show-cause notices to various insurance and takaful companies for contravening various provisions of corporate laws, insurance laws and related accounting standards and regulations. To maintain transparency and provide equal opportunities to all insurance surveyors, Pakistan Insurance Institute has been mandated to examine and check the competency of surveyors, on the basis of which the SECP will issue a licence.

Al Baraka Bank (Pakistan) unveiled its new head office, ‘Al Baraka House’ in the city of Karachi, Pakistan on 20 April 2013. The new building was inaugurated by Chairman Al Baraka Bank Pakistan, Adnan Ahmed Yousif, who is also the President and Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group. Adnan Ahmed Yousif emphasized the global strength of Al Baraka as a global Islamic bank, with presence of over 500 branches in more than 15 countries around the world.

Senior Shariah scholars and advisers of Islamic banks and conventional banks with Islamic windows have agreed to standardise Forex and interbank Musharakah agreements between Islamic banks and Islamic banking windows. This move will facilitate the availability of Shariah-compliant venues for deployment of excess liquidity of Islamic banks. This agreement was reached during a meeting called by Meezan Bank Ltd, in which Shariah scholars discussed the challenges in Islamic Treasury Operations.The forum was attended by several prominent Shariah scholars along with Product Development and Treasury professionals of all major Islamic banks and Islamic banking windows of conventional banks.

Burj Bank has launched an employee driven CSR initiative called “Giving beyond the Workplace Campaign”. As part of the programme, Burj Bank Employees along with the Senior Management team visited the TCF (The Citizen’s Foundation) Qayyumabad campus. Burj Bank members adopted one class each for the day where they spent their time in storytelling, book reading and educating the students about the importance of Earth Day. Moreover, Mr. Ahmed Khizer Khan, President & CEO of Burj Bank also presented a donation cheque from Burj Bank’s Charity Fund to Asaad Ayub Ahmad, President & CEO of TCF. This marked the beginning of a new relationship between the two organizations.

Burj Bank has launched an employee driven CSR initiative called "Giving beyond the Workplace Campaign". As part of the program, Burj Bank Employees along with the Senior Management team visited the TCF (The Citizen's Foundation) Qayyumabad campus as an Earth Day CSR Activity. Burj Bank members adopted one class each for the day where they spent their time in storytelling, book reading and educating the students about the importance of Earth Day. Ahmed Khizer Khan, President & CEO of Burj Bank also presented a donation cheque from Burj Bank's Charity Fund to Asaad Ayub Ahmad, President & CEO of TCF.

Islamic banking is the fastest growing segment of Pakistan’s financial services sector, with an average anual growth rate of 59.6%. However, 67% of Islamic banking customers also use conventional banks, largely due to a wider range of services offered by conventional banks. Ultimately, however, the Islamic banks seem to have caught on the need to compete on their service breadth and quality. Islamic bank CEOs have all emphasised the fact that their banks now offer the full complement of services offered at conventional banks. A study revealed that deposits in Islamic banks appear to be growing mostly due to customers switching from conventional to Islamic banks. Very few customers start out from scratch at an Islamic bank.

UBL Funds introduced the UBL Islamic Principal Preservation Fund on April 01, 2013. For the first time in Pakistan, investments can be made in a Shariah Compliant investment scheme with 100 percent exposure into the stock market while benefiting from the principal preservation advantage. According to UBL Funds' CEO Mir Muhammad Ali, the investors benefit with the fund's pioneer methodology of Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance (CPPI) in Shariah compliant investments. The CPPI method is intended to control risk and protect capital via daily valuation of risk budget available and daily portfolio rebalancing thus aiming to preserve the principal investment.