RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Summit Bank Limited will launch the first Islamic banking branch here Friday. The bank aims to provide Shariah-compliant financial services to its customers.

Summit Bank has decided to transform its conventional core banking operations into Shariah-based Islamic banking and got approval from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Summit Bank Ltd is one of the fastest growing commercial banks of Pakistan, which in a very short span of time has expanded its network across the country.

Hussain Lawai, President and CEO of Summit Bank told Business Recorder that the bank will start its Shariah-based banking operation from March 7, 2014 (Friday) from Karachi and overall 3 years would be required to convert all banking operations into Islamic mode.

“This is our first step towards Islamic banking and gradually we will convert all branches into Shariah-based banking in next three years. After complete conversion, Summit Bank will become second largest Islamic bank in terms of branch network in the country,” he added.

Presently, Summit Bank has some 187 branches across the country and will focus on converting these branches into Islamic form instead of opening new branches, Lawai added.

He said renowned Mufti Muhammad Najeeb Khan is Shariah Advisor of Summit Bank and aggressively working for the promotion of the Islamic banking in the country.

It will be first of its kind migration of any bank from conventional to Islamic banking as previously there was no such example in the world, in which any conventional financial institution has transformed its complete operation into Shariah mode, he added.

“We have built an strong banking infrastructure based on state of the art Risk Management Framework and IT technology aimed at providing risk-free services to our customers,” he said.

He appreciated the central bank’s efforts and support for the promotion of Islamic banking in the country saying that the SBP continues to extend its support to all banks planning to enter into Shariah-based financing. As part of these efforts, the SBP has launched a special Islamic Banking Awareness campaign to create awareness among the masses towards Islamic banking, he added.

Lawai said the conversion of Summit Bank will also help achieve the targets set for the Islamic banking industry. The State Bank has set a target of 15 percent share for Islamic banking by 2017.