Egypt’s National Bank for Development (NBD) (DEVE), in cooperation with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Group has signed up to Standard Chartered Bank’s Islamic Euro Nostro[1] Account. The product will allow NBD to earn Shariah-compliant profits on its account balances at Standard Chartered Bank Germany Branch in Frankfurt.
NBD offers a broad spectrum of Shariah – compliant banking products and solutions for large corporate as well as individuals across all governorates of Egypt. The agreement was signed recently at SIBOS 2012, which was held in Osaka Japan.
The Standard Chartered Saadiq EUR Nostro Account utilises a Shariah-compliant account sweep facility. At the end of each business day, available EUR balance in NBD’s Saadiq clearing account will be invested using the Islamic finance mode of Murabaha. Profit generated from these transactions will be credited on a monthly basis.
Motasim Iqbal, Regional Head of transaction Banking, Financial Institutions, Middle East North Africa and Pakistan, Standard Chartered Bank said:
“We would like to congratulate NBD for benefiting from this unique Shariah-Compliant structure. The Islamic Euro Nostro Account is an industry first and was designed to bring value to our Bank clients. With a strong on the ground presence in the region, global network and innovative Shariah Compliant products and services, we are ideally positioned to provide support to our bank clients.”
The Saadiq EUR Nostro Accounts will be available to clients globally, across Standard Chartered Bank’s network. The facility allows Financial Institutions to earn profits on available EUR balances in their accounts and provides Shariah-Compliant account reporting statements as well as a full range of commercial and treasury payment capabilities. It also provides a full suite of beneficiary deduction and principal protected products for incoming and outgoing payments and the ability to customize transaction fees on multiple levels – by customer, beneficiary, country, branch or code word.
To ensure Standard Chartered’s products comply with the principles of Shariah, the Bank is advised by an independent committee comprising three of the world’s most renowned Shariah scholars – Dr. Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah, Sheikh Nizam Yaquby and Dr. Mohamed Ali Elgari.
Press Release