As a pioneer in Islamic finance regulations and the home of some of the most important standard- setting institutions in the global sharia-compliant arena, Bahrain is at the forefront of the international Islamic financial services industry. In 2001 Bahrain became the first country in the world to implement regulations specific to Islamic banking. Since then the Central Bank of Bahrain’s...
Chapter | Islamic Financial Services from The Report: Bahrain 2016
Chapter | Capital Markets from The Report: Bahrain 2016
As of December 2015, the Bahrain Bourse was home to 46 listed companies distributed across several segments including: commercial banks, investment, services, insurance, industrial, hotels and tourism, closed companies and non-Bahraini companies. While falling oil prices and unrest in the wider Middle East region have continued to pose growth challenges to the Bahrain Bourse, a process of...
Thanks to a prudent yet flexible regulatory system, Bahrain’s lenders have been able to extend from a relatively small domestic base to become significant regional and global players. The wide range of external markets served by Bahrain’s banking sector makes for natural risk diversification, which has helped the industry maintain strong performance against global economic challenges. The...
Low oil prices will undoubtedly continue to be a significant challenge for Bahrain in 2016. However the kingdom’s early moves to diversify its economy mean the country is well placed to weather the storm and non-oil segments are expected to continue performing well in 2016.
Articles & Analysis | Myanmar's insurance sector moving forward with confidence from The Report: Myanmar 2016
For most of the last half century Myanmar’s insurance sector was closed and monopolised, but it is now opening up to both domestic and international competition. The transformation has been rapid and across the board. A dozen domestic private insurers have been formed since 2013, while a raft of foreign companies have opened representative...
Articles & Analysis | Myanmar financial institutions explore the market from The Report: Myanmar 2016
Since the political reforms of 2011, a number of significant steps towards liberalisation have been taken in the banking sector. The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) has been given much needed autonomy and ATMs are now allowed in the country. Further aiding accessibility, mobile banking services have been introduced. New private banks are being...