KARACHI: Al Baraka Banking Group, B.S.C (ABG), the leading Bahrain-based banking group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bank of London & The Middle East plc (BLME), which is a Sharia’a compliant bank based in London providing amongst other things, wealth management products and services to its customers.

The MoU was signed by Mohammed El Qaq, Senior Vice President & Head of Commercial Banking of Al Baraka Banking Group and Andrew Ball, Head of Wealth Management of BLME. The MoU provides both parties with opportunities to collaborate and gives BLME the chance to provide focused Al Baraka clients with investment opportunities in UK real estate and other UK sectors.

The signing ceremony was held at the headquarters of Al Baraka Banking Group at the attendance of a number of senior officials from the two institutions.

On the occasion, the President & Chief Executive of ABG, Adnan Ahmed Yousif said, “Al Baraka is a leading provider of Sharia’a compliant products globally so partnering with the leading Islamic provider in Europe is a natural step.

The MoU allows us to utilize BLME’s local expertise, network and intimate real estate market knowledge to connect our clients to investment opportunities within the UK. The MOU would enable us to enhance further our product offerings and capitalizing on our superior geographic diversification and wide client base.”

Giles Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer of BLME commented, “This is a positive step in achieving our strategy of becoming the leading wealth management provider in the UK for GCC nationals.

We are excited to enter the next stage in our growth plans with such an established name in Islamic Banking.”—PR