Morocco’s Central Bank

Rabat (IINA) : Morocco’s Central Bank on Monday approved five requests to open participative banks and allowed three banks to sell participative products in the north African country.

These approvals concern CIH Bank in partnership with Qatar International Islamic Bank, BMCE Bank of Africa jointly with the Saudi/Bahraini group Dalla Al Baraka, Banque Centrale Populaire with the Saudi group Guidance (financial firm specializing in real estate financing), Crédit Agricole du Maroc jointly with the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), which is a subsidiary of the Islamic Development Bank (IBD), and Attijariwafa Bank, which is still conducting discussions for a future partnership, the Rabat-based Bank Al Maghrib said in a statement.

The central bank also authorized Banque Marocaine du Commerce et de l’Industrie, Crédit du Maroc and Société Générale to sell participative banking products, Morocco World News reported.

In the framework of this activity, the Dahir (Royal Decree) on the Supreme Council of Ulema was amended and supplemented to establish, from among its members, a Sharia Committee for Participative Finance, which is the sole authority empowered to issue fatwas on the compliance of participative finance products, the source noted.