The Bahrain-based Islamic banking conglomerate, Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG), said Saturday that it had received Syrian approval to establish a subsidiary bank with a capital of 100 million dollars, reported dpa. The bank, which will be known as Al Baraka Bank-Syria, will provide full Islamic banking products and services for both private individuals and companies through a network of branches in Syria's main cities. The authorized capital of the bank, which is expected to start its operating by late 2007, will be subscribed by both founders and shareholders in public offering. ABG's CEO Adnan Ahmad Yousif said the group was looking forward to establishing itself on the Syrian market. The nation had witnessed positive economic and financial development leading to an excellent investment environment, he said. In addition, huge funds are being invested in infrastructural and development projects in Syria creating many opportunities for banks and investors. He added that the successful IPO, which had increased the equity of the ABG Group to about 1.2 billion dollars, has enabled the group to expand into new international markets. The expansion plans include a number of new markets such as Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China and certain Gulf states. ABG had reported 31 million US dollars in net income for the first quarter of 2007. ABG has subsidiaries in 10 countries and is listed on the Bahrain and Dubai stock exchanges. The group has an authorized capital of 1.5 billion dollars, while its total equity amounts to about 1.2 billion dollars.
