Bank of London and The Middle East, the Islamic bank operating via London, is preparing to collaborate with a Malaysian bank to provide a Shariah-compliant private banking offering in the Asian country.

Bank of London and The Middle East, the Islamic bank operating via London, is preparing to collaborate with a Malaysian bank to provide a Shariah-compliant private banking offering in the Asian country, it announced yesterday.

BLME has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad. The MoU has been signed by YBhg. Dato’ Haji Mohd Redza Shah Abdul Wahid, chief executive of Bank Muamalat, and Humphrey Percy, CEO of BLME.

“We have seen a significant increase in demand for Sharia’a compliant products globally and with wealth management continuing to be a strategic priority for BLME, this partnership was the natural next step,” Percy said in the statement.

BLME is a relatively young player – it received UK regulatory authorisation in July 2007 but says it is now the largest such European bank in Europe. Boubyan Bank, Kuwait’s Public Institute for Social Security and AREF are three of the largest shareholders in the Bank. The bank operates in the corporate banking, treasury and wealth management fields. It was listed on the NASDAQ Dubai board in October last year. In the case of Bank Muamalat, this firm was founded in 1999 and is a member of the DRB-HICOM Berhad Group where the public listed company owns 70 per cent of the bank’s shares with the remaining stake held by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the nation’s investment arm.