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Egyptian Investment Firm Seeks To Unveil Shariah Brokerage Services In Q4 - Report

Cairo's
Ridge
Islamic Capital is looking to acquire a local brokerage to
offer a range
of Shariah-compliant financial services in the country, including
products in the areas of
wealth management and pension funds, Reuters
reports.
“We
want to start providing Shariah-compliant brokerage services
during the fourth
quarter of 2012,” Ahmed Rizkallah, country manager of Ridge
Islamic, reportedly
told the newswire. However, Rizkallah declined to name any
possible targets or
specify a potential deal size.
Ridge
Islamic was formed this year through the acquisition by
Dubai-based Ridge
Solutions International (of Egyptian asset management firm El
Rashad Holding), the report said.
In related news - and, as also mentioned by the newswire, in a
sign that prospects for Islamic finance within the country seem
to have improved - Baring Asset Management recently said
that the equity markets in the Middle
East and North Africa have borne up well in recent months. The
firm noted how the MENA region, for example, has significantly
outstripped its wider
frontier markets cohort this year, despite
economic/political troubles in countries like Egypt and
Syria.