Qatar to Allow Lenders to Manage Islamic Assets After Deadline

Qatari commercial banks may continue to manage Islamic assets beyond the year-end deadline to close their Islamic banking arms, the central bank governor said in an interview with the state-run Qatar News Agency.

The banks also have the option to transfer the assets to the country’s Islamic banks, Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani said.

Qatar’s central bank in February told non-Islamic lenders to stop offering Sharia-compliant services and wind down their Islamic units by year end on concern they may be using funds from the conventional bank for Islamic loans.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Tuttle in Doha at rtuttle@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net