Morocco to Issue First Islamic Bank Licenses in 2016: Official

Rabat – Unlike earlier reports suggesting that Morocco’s first fully “Halal” bank is set to open its doors late 2015, Abdul Latif Aljwahiri, the governor of Bank-Al-Maghrib announced that Morocco is set to start issuing Islamic bank licenses in 2016.

Abdul Latif Aljwahiri made the statement during a conference in Kuwait on Thursday, according to Business Asiaone.

“We will start licensing within the next year,” Abdellatif Jouahri said, adding that Islamic banks would be required to report periodically to authorities on their activities,” according to Reuters.

The governor of Bank-Al-Maghrib went on to say that Morocco wants to develop the sector in a way that “addresses consumer concerns about the authenticity of their Islamic approach while limiting complexity and the central bank has identified such issues as potential impediments for the sector.”

Jouahri said in a previous statement that Bank-Al-Maghrib had received 15 requests from foreign financial institution and three requests from Moroccan ones, pointing out that the central bank is currently in the process of studying these requests.

Banks in the new Islamic interbank would be able to set up agreements known as ‘wakala’ to ensure liquidity, the same source added.

Morocco has already approved plans to create a committee of experts and Sharia scholars, officially called Sharia Committee, to monitor Islamic banking products and transactions, and to decide on whether the bank’s transactions are in conformity with Islamic legislations.

Dar Assafaa, an affiliate of the country’s largest lender AttijariWafa Bank, will probably become the nation’s first wholly Sharia-compliant financial institution when the central bank approves its switch, according to the Moroccan Association of Participative Financiers.

The Moroccan Association of Participative Financiers estimates total investment in Sharia-compliant products in the country will reach $7 billion by 2018.