Middle East

DIFC welcomes Maybank Islamic Berhad

Maybank Islamic Berhad (Maybank Islamic) has been announced by the DIFC to have officially joined the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) by opening its first overseas branch in the Centre.

Maybank Islamic is the Shariah-compliant division of Malaysia’s largest lender Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank), and one of the leading arrangers in Bloomberg’s Global Sukuk League Table, according to the DIFC press release.

Maybank Islamic was granted the full Islamic banking licence from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in July 2019, to open a branch in the DIFC making it Malaysia’s first Islamic bank to have a foreign presence.

The DIFC’s robust legal and regulatory environment, alongside its highly developed and dynamic financial ecosystem, continues to be a catalyst for growth in Islamic banking, offering a platform to reach a Muslim population of more than 600 million people based in the Middle East and Africa region. Maybank Islamic DIFC branch will engage in wholesale banking with emphasis in corporate financing, treasury and capital markets and trade finance.

Currently, Maybank Islamic joins more than 2,300 active registered companies that have chosen the DIFC as their preferred location of choice to gain easy access to the fast-growing MEASA region. As such, the Centre is committed to continuously enhancing it's world-leading business environment and supporting the growth of Shariah transactions in line with the wise vision of Dubai’s leadership, establishing Dubai as the capital of Islamic Finance.