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HSBC Bank Bhd, via its global Islamic financial services arm HSBC Amanah, has scored a first by introducing a one-stop window for its Islamic banking services called HSBC Amanah Wealth Management.

HSBC Amanah managing director Mohamed Ross Mohd Din said the services of HSBC's takaful as well as its Islamic savings, investments and wealth distribution services had been aligned under the proposition to allow the bank to offer a full suite of Islamic financial planning solutions for customers.

The Board Chairman of the Islamic Insurance Company (IIC), Mohammed Yusif, has affirmed that car insurance constitutes the major venue for underwriting as compared to other insurance markets. He revealed that the car insurance portfolio comprises 55% of the other types of insurance.
While addressing a seminar on car insurance held yesterday at the Friendship Hall, Mohammed Yusif said that his company was awarded the silver jubilee as the first Islamic insurance company.

The report also looks at the growth in interest in Islamic banking. It says that an increasing number of Dutch financial institutions are interested in offering banking according to Sharia principles, which do not allow interest to be paid on loans and shun investment in the drinks and weapons industry.

While the risk profiles and organisational structures in Islamic banking appear to deviate from traditional banking, the current supervisory framework does offer enough scope to accommodate Islamic banks, the DNB says.

Prior to the Canadian convention of the Islamic Society of North America, there was a two-day conference on Islamic banking, finance and insurance. The underlying principle was the Qur'anic prohibition of interest, called usury in the Qur'an: "Allah had permitted trade and forbidden usury." However, during the convention it became clear that it is necessary to parse interest into component parts to see what is permitted.