The Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA) has granted a license to Kuwait Finance House (KFH) to operate an in-house investment consultancy firm. Baytik Investment Advisory, based in Bahrain, will be wholly owned by KFH.
The establishment of Baytik Investment Advisory follows the launch in 2002 of KFH Bahrain, a full-fledged Islamic commercial bank.
The firm will provide investment advisory services solely to its parent company and KFH subsidiaries and affiliates. “This is the first investment advisory service to be established in Bahrain by an Islamic bank,” said Director of Licensing and Policy at the BMA, Ahmed Al-Bassam.
The move by KFH is also in line with a growing trend among international financial institutions to set up in-house firms offering investment advice in order to diversify risk and enhance product expertise.
KFH Bahrain operations span the entire range of Islamic banking operations, including murabaha and leasing activities, trade, project and consumer finance, direct investments, real estate investments and treasury operations.
Headquartered in Kuwait, KFH is one of the largest Islamic financial institutions in the world, with assets in excess of $7.3 billion. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
