Noor goes moor

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With the vision of creating a truly global Islamic financial institution, Noor Islamic Bank CEO Hussain Al Qemzi tells Tamara Walid how he plans to take the fledgling bank across the Gulf and around the world.

Hussain Al Qemzi anticipates the opening of Noor Islamic Bank in Tunisia and its first office outside the UAE, with obvious relish.

"This is the fastest expansion for a bank that I know of in the region," says the CEO of the bank, which is 50% government-owned and a part of the Noor Investment Group.

Launched in December 2006 by government decree, the bank commenced activities in January 2008. Starting out with a team of three, NIB now has 560 employees.

Noor launched with a paid-up capital of US$1.1bn, becoming the UAE's fifth Sharia-compliant lender.

It has set aside US$2bn for acquisitions which will come from the bank's revenues and its shareholders.

"We are only five months old and the bank already manages US$3.8bn in assets," says Al Qemzi, adding that the bank has over 10,000 customers so far.

Regional Islamic banks are benefiting from the surging price of oil which is driving demand for Sharia-compliant products from a booming real estate sector.

Islamic banks worldwide control assets worth around US$750bn, a figure estimated to rise to over US$1 trillion by 2010 as the industry grows, according to U.S. management consultants McKinsey & Co. In the UAE, bank assets that comply with Islamic law account for about 15% of total industry assets.

Currently, NIB stands as the UAE's largest Islamic bank, followed by Dubai Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. Competition, however, arrived for NIB last week as Abu Dhabi launched Al Hilal Bank.

The sharia-compliant financial institution is now the country's and one of the world's largest Islamic banks with a capital of US$1.089bn, according to state news agency WAM. With this addition, the total number of Islamic banks in the UAE increased to eight.

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