StanChart offers Islamic products for SMEs

Kamran Sunjoy Rahman, general manager of Islamic banking at Standard Chartered Bank, speaks at the launch of two shariah compliant products for business customers in Bangladesh. Wasim Akhtar Saifi, second from left, global head of Islamic banking, and Sandeep Bose, extreme left, regional head of consumer banking for Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, are also seen at the programme in Gulshan. Photo: STAR

Standard Chartered Saadiq, the bank's brand name for Islamic banking, yesterday unveiled two shariah compliant products for business customers in
Bangladesh.
The products -- Islamic business installment finance, and Islamic finance against property -- are designed for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Islamic business installment fi-
nance operates under the concept of goods murabaha and Islamic finance against property works under hire purchase Shirkat-ul-Melk (diminishing musharaka) concept.
“A growing number of customers are now conscious about shariah. They want shariah compliant products to satisfy their financial needs,” said Wasim
Akhtar Saifi, global head of Islamic
banking for consumer banking at Standard Chartered Bank, at a press conference in Dhaka.
“So we have launched the products in Bangladesh to provide the same quality of products available in other six countries,” he added.
Sandeep Bose, regional head of consumer banking for Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, said: “We are committed to bringing world-class shariah compliant products for the customers.”
In Islamic business instalment finance, any business enterprise with at least three years of experience can get a maximum of Tk 70 lakh if the organisation has at least Tk 1.20 crore in annual sales turnover.
Saadiq finance against property is instalment-based term finance. Any business enterprise with at least three years of experience can take a maximum of Tk 2.8 crore. But the finance does not exceed 70 percent of the property's current market value in this scheme.
The bank started its Islamic banking operation in Bangladesh in 2004 and launched its Saadiq brand in 2007. Under the umbrella of Saadiq, the bank will now offer a full range of products comprising both deposit accounts and financing products.
Hassan O Rashid, general manager of SME banking, and Kamran Sunjoy Rahman, general manager of Islamic banking, also spoke at the press conference.