Bahrain

Claims by Bahrain to be a global centre of Islamic finance rest not just on the plethora of sharia-compliant institutions which have chosen to headquarter themselves in the country, but also on the large array of industry bodies that call Manama home. Of these, the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) is...

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has been at the forefront of the global expansion of Islamic finance for decades and, together with Bank Negara Malaysia, is frequently cited as the body most responsible for its current popularity around the globe.

The Kingdom of Bahrain is synonymous with Islamic finance, and plays host to the largest concentration of sharia-compliant institutions in the Middle East. Islamic banks, insurance (or takaful) companies and investment firms have thrived within a regulatory regime which was one of the first in the world to recognise the importance of...

Encouraging the listing of more companies is a priority for most exchanges globally, and Bahrain Bourse (BHB) is, like many others, formulating a strategy by which it hopes to do so. This forms part of a wider, ongoing initiative undertaken in conjunction with the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) to...

There is no doubt within the corridors of the Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX) as to the new institution’s immediate strategic imperative: building up liquidity. In a bid to attract capital to Bahrain’s new exchange, the BFX management team has been shuttling around regional markets to sign up MENA financial institutions into one of various grades...

With new regulations, the continued implementation of development strategies and the historic opening of the nation’s second exchange holding the interest of market participants, Bahrain’s capital markets have been receiving significant attention from investors. However, a number of challenges have presented themselves as well. The European debt...