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Islamic Banking
Islamic Banks are much
more prevalent in Middle Eastern and
Islamic countries such as Saudi-Arabia,
Bahrain and United Arab Emirates. These
banks also provide other Islamic
investment opportunities that include
investment in Islamic stocks and Islamic
trade.
Strictly Islamic online
banks have still not emerged but the
vast discussion and need suggests that
pure online internet banks offering only
Islamic financial services will probably
surface soon.
Some Islamic banks
include HSBC Amanah, Abu Dhabi Islamic
Bank, Al BARAKA ISLAMIC BANK in Pakistan and Al Rajhi Banking in
Saudi-Arabia.
Islamic
Banking for North American Customers?
A number of USA based
banks have started to offer Islamic banking services, especially for
their customers in Middle Eastern and Islamic countries.
One example is the HSBC
Amanah group, which is the global Islamic banking division of HSBC
Group. HSBC group is one of the largest banking and financial
services organizations in the world with 9,500 offices in 76
countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the
Americas, the Middle East and Africa.
HSBC Amanah's Shariah
committees have Islamic scholars from Saudi-Arabia, Malaysia,
Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia and Bahrain.
A US based bank that
offers Islamic financial services is Citigroup. Citigroup's mission
statement for example states the following: "To
be a premier Islamic Financial Services Company, providing value
added Islamic Banking products and services to Financial
Institutions, Companies and High Net-Worth Individuals, in
accordance with the principles of Islamic Sharia and the Corporate
Policy of Citigroup."
Whether these banks
provide Islamic banking and financial services on a walk-in basis
for American customers is not clear. Interested customers should
contact those institutions directly.
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