By Feridoon Koohi-Kamali
Excess demand for Islamic financial products in the Gulf is likely to find a new source of supply with the launch of Qatar’s Al Rayyan Bank, which aims to become the biggest Islamic bank in the world.
Al Rayyan Bank has strong institutional backing to achieve its aim. Its promoters are the state-sponsored Qatari Diar, a newly established real-estate company, and the Qatar General Retirement and Pension Authority. Between them these held 45% (QR3.37 billion – $926 million) of the bank’s initial capital.
The involvement of the bank’s promoters with foreign firms provides a glimpse of the kind of global expansion it might undertake. Qarati Diar, for example,...
