The World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) and EY hosted a press conference to discuss the key strategic imperatives for the industry on November 1 in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain.
Held one month ahead of the 22nd Annual WIBC, the press conference was an opportunity for EY to highlight key strategic insights from the much-awaited EY World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report 2015-2016.
The report has for several years been a key feature at the annual WIBC, which is globally renowned for being, among other things, a platform for cutting-edge thought leadership and intelligence for the past 22 years. The full year’s report will be developed by EY’s award-winning Global Islamic Banking Centre and exclusively launched at WIBC 2015 on the 2 December 2015.
Speaking at the press conference, Ashar Nazim, Partner – Global Islamic Finance Leader at EY, said: “The key findings of the EY World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report (WIBCR) 2015-2016 provide some groundbreaking revelations which will help shape the future of Islamic banks. Innovations in technology and digitalization call for transformation of customers’ banking experience across channels and all touch points and this transformation can help banks anticipate the changing needs of customer.”
According to the report, the GCC Islamic banking profit pool crossed US$12bn for the first time in 2014, with expectations that the sector will continue to grow amid regional economic uncertainty. Nine core markets are currently the growth engines for the global Islamic finance industry.
The report identifies a group of 40 banks across these nine core markets that are systemically important to the future progress of the industry. Out of the 40 banks, over 50% have an equity base of US$1bn or more.