Financial Services

Home to three local Islamic banks and one foreign insti-tution, Jordan has seen strong growth in Islamic bank-ing in recent times. While the sharia-compliant segment remains small compared to that of some other Islam-ic states, interest is building in its development, with legislative reforms helping to broaden and deepen the country’s Islamic...

A US offer to back Jordanian bond issues may help low-er the kingdom’s borrowing costs as well as boost con-fidence in the country’s securities, which has been dented by regional instability that has slowed econom-ic growth. On March 22, 2013, during a visit to Amman, US President Barack Obama said his administration would work with Congress to...

After weathering the global financial crisis, Jordan’s banking sector is now in a healthier shape to face the challenges of the new decade. With a string of new development initiatives either under way or on the horizon, the kingdom’s banks are now well-placed for future growth, with a robust customer base and good liquidity to see its major lenders...

While things are looking more positive for Jordan’s insurance sector in 2013, it nonetheless faces some major challenges, particularly in the dominant motor segment. Regulatory issues have been on compa-nies’ minds in recent times too, with the industry’s overall profitability and sustainability likely to be affected by the outcome of these...

While motor is a challenging line of business in many markets, Jordan has recently seen this low-margin, high-volume sector make headlines, with many insurers sug-gesting that without changes to this segment, the industry as a whole could suffer greatly. The contro-versy surrounds compulsory, third-party liability insur-ance (TPL), yet it also...