The return of Syrian private-sector banking
Cover opens up After drawing up legislation to provide the framework for Islamic finance, the Syrian central bank issued the first licences to Islamic ventures in 2006. These, like the conventional banks, must be new Syrian-based entities with at least 51% local ownership.
Three have now either entered or are preparing to enter the market but where the Lebanese were the main suppliers of foreign capital and financial expertise in the new conventional banks, it is Gulf-based players that have taken the lead in developing the Islamic banking sector.
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