Plans for Luxembourg’s first Islamic bank revived

DUBAI - An unsuccessful venture to establish the first Islamic bank headquartered in the euro zone in 2014 has revived its plans and is in the process of raising funds for the project, an executive told Salaam Gateway.

Private investors from Gulf Arab countries, including a royal family from the United Arab Emirates, planned to establish a venture named Eurisbank in Luxembourg during the last quarter of 2014, Reuters reported in 2013. The company announced the agreement, which also included a group of elite businessmen in the GCC, at the Global Islamic Economy Summit (GIES) in Dubai in 2013. The Shariah-compliant bank was planned to start with an initial capital of 60 million euros ($80 million) and offer retail, corporate and private banking services.

“We tried to do it in 2014. It didn’t succeed despite the fact that we were approved by the regulator, but for other reasons. I think there was misunderstanding of the market and many things, so that’s the reason we didn’t build the bank,” Ammar Dabbour, managing partner at Euris Group, told Salaam Gateway on the sidelines of the GIES in Dubai on Tuesday.