BANKING - KFH having ‘strategic alliance’ talks in Japan: report Islamic banking deals in HK, Thailand, India and Indonesia being finalised

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 5, (RTRS): The Malaysian unit of Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the Gulf Arab state’s biggest Islamic lender, is having “strategic alliance” negotiations in Japan, a newspaper reported on Sunday.“(The Malaysian bank) is negotiating with institutions in Japan regarding a strategic alliance to finalise several Islamic banking deals in Hong Kong, Thailand, India and Indonesia,” Kuwaiti daily al-Anbaa said in an unsourced report.

The report said that KFH Malaysia is interested in China, particularly after making profits from investing $275 million in a real estate project last year.

Kuwait Finance Malaysia was the first foreign Islamic bank to win a licence under the Southeast Asian country’s Islamic Banking Act. It is the Kuwaiti bank’s Asia-Pacific hub and aims to promote business between the region and the Middle East. 

Source : http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/159287/reftab/36/Default.aspx - Sept 7, 2010