Financial and Banking Council of CIS countries is for the establishment of Islamic banks in the region:

December 1 Baku IV International Banking Conference of the CIS started in Baku. Among the discussed topics on the agenda are the creation of Kaspiskiy Development Bank and the establishment of Islamic banks in the region.

"The Caspian region has great potential, so we need financial tools to revitalize the area. The most powerful unit of finance and economy is concentrated in this region and we need to untie this knot quietly," - the Chairman of the Coordinating Council of CIS Financial and Banking Council of CIS Anatoly Kazakov said at the Fourth Baku International Banking Conference of States Parties.

Regarding the development of Islamic banks in the CIS, Kazakov said: "Unfortunately, in this regard, we are lagging behind the European countries, as in Europe today a lot of Islamic banks have been working already. And tomorrow we are going to discuss this issue in the banking conference." - trend.az reports.

December 2 at the conference a special section devoted to the issues of Islamic finance, which will be attended by many local and foreign experts, will take place.

At the same time, on the eve of the conference, the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) said that it planed till the end of 2012 to attract within the framework of Islamic finance 10-15 million dollars from international capital markets, Behnam Gurbanzade said on Monday. Money can be attracted from Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Islamic Corporation for the financing of the private sector, specialized structures such giants as Citi Bank, HSBC, Deutsche Bank.

"According to preliminary calculations, if we begin to provide Islamic products and services under the current legislation in the first quarter of 2012, the amount of borrowings from international markets may be at a level of 10-15 million dollars," - the IA Trend head of the group to introduce Islamic banking in the IBA Gurbanzade said. According to him, the very great interest in the Azerbaijani market today is shown by the Turkish Bank Asya, Kuwait Turk Bank, Kuwait Finance House.

"Given that the value of money in international financial markets today are significantly lower than in Azerbaijan, due to this money attraction, we can provide means for better conditions - low rates. In general, within Islamic finance cheaper money for long-term period can be attracted,"- Gurbanzade said.

At the same time, he also did not exclude the possibility of cooperation with the Kuwait-Azerbaijan Investment Company (KAIC), established by the Azerbaijan Investment Company and a subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House - Turcapital.

"If it does not contradict the legislation and government policy, the possibility of joint activities with KAIC in case of the funding of any projects is not excluded – Gurbanzade said. - We, as the largest bank in the region, are ready to cooperate with the investment company, but all this will depend on conditions and other factors. "

To implement products and services of Islamic banking and create a specialized structure a consultant - a consortium of companies Salans, KPMG, Pinsent Masons and Dar al Shariah, who signed cotracts, helps in theses activities to the International Bank of Azerbaijan.

The International Bank of Azerbaijan was established in 1992 as the successor of the Azerbaijani branch of "Vnesheconombank". IBA holds a dominant position in the banking sector. The state share in chartered capital of the bank is 50.2 percent; shares of the rest are distributed among private individuals and legal entities

"Given that the value of money in international financial markets today are significantly lower than in Azerbaijan, due to this, we can provide money for better conditions - low rates. In general, within the Islamic finance cheaper and long-term money can be attracted, "- Gurbanzade said.

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