State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has awarded an Islamic banking licence to Faysal Bank Limited, which is now Pakistan’s second-largest fully-fledged Islamic bank under the name Faysal Islami.
This is the world’s largest conventional bank conversion to an Islamic bank.
The bank will operate a total of 639 Islamic banking branches following the successful conversion from a conventional bank to an Islamic bank. In July 2022, the bank had converted the deposits of more than 600 billion rupees (or 94%) from non-Islamic to Islamic deposits, up from 11% at the end of 2015. In July 2022, assets valued over Rs700 billion (or 86%) would be transformed into Islamic assets.
Governor State Bank of Pakistan Jameel Ahmed stated, “The transformation of Faysal Bank Limited into Faysal Islami is a benchmark for Pakistan’s banking industry. In their conversion, Faysal Islami have offered a great road plan to convert Pakistan’s financial structure to a 100 percent Islamic system in accordance with the government of Pakistan’s objective.” He went on to say that State Bank is happy to have been a prominent partner in this endeavour and eagerly anticipates the growth of Islamic Banking in Pakistan.
Farooq Rahmatullah Khan, chairman of Faysal Islami, stated, “The Faysal Islami team has made history with the greatest conversion of a conventional bank into an Islamic one. I am confident that Shariah compliance will be our most powerful incentive to make this change also the most successful.”
Yousaf Hussain, President and CEO of Faysal Islami, stated at the time, “We must acknowledge the support of our Board, the State Bank of Pakistan, the Shariah scholars, our teams, and most importantly, our customers, for their complete confidence and support throughout the entire process.”
With flawless execution of the plan, Faysal Islami is all ready to make the following year celebratory for attaining this historical landmark.
