PETALING JAYA: Maybank Islamic Bhd has opened its first overseas branch in Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) that will engage in wholesale banking with emphasis in corporate financing, treasury and capital markets and trade finance.
The group was granted a full Islamic banking licence from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in July 2019 to open a branch in the DIFC.
Maybank Group Islamic banking group & Maybank Islamic CEO Datuk Mohamed Rafique Merican said the branch opening marks Malaysia’s first Islamic bank to have a presence overseas.
“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 Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the world’s fifth largest economy that is the Asean Economic Community,” he said in a press release.
Furthermore, he said the group is looking forward to establishing the branch as its hub in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
He stated that it has been the group’s aspiration that Maybank Islamic to be a global leader in Islamic Finance, and the opening of the branch is a major achievement for the bank into that direction.
