Largest Azri bank plans $100 mln loan, bid to develop Islamic banking

International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA)

International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), the country's biggest lender, plans to raise $100 million through an Islamic syndicated loan this year to develop Islamic banking in the country, the bank said in a statement.
A senior IBA executive said at the end of 2012 that the bank was planning to raise a $150 million Islamic loan in 2013 and double its Islamic banking assets to $120 million by the end of this year.
"IBA held a series of presentations together with organisers of the syndication in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar," the bank said.
Emirates NBD Capital Limited, Barwa Bank, J.P. Morgan Limited and Noor Islamic Bank are among organisers of the syndication.
The one-year private syndication would be the first of its kind in Azerbaijan and would help IBA cater to the estimated 93 percent of its 9 million population who are Muslim.
IBA, 50.2 percent-owned by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Finance, holds a 40 percent share of banking assets in Azerbaijan. It offers sharia-compliant products through an Islamic window, which follow religious principles such as a ban on interest and on pure monetary speculation.