Taroudant - Morocco’s House of Representatives issued on Tuesday a final approval to the project of Islamic finance law, which authorizes the establishment of Islamic banks and allows private companies to issue Islamic bonds.
After months of delays, the Moroccan parliament finally approved the Islamic financial bill that will regulate Islamic banks and sukuk issues in the kingdom.
This new bill will pave the way to financial institute to establish full-fledged Islamic banks in Morocco.
Said Khayroune, the head of parliament's economics and finance committee, told Reuters that "The bill has been voted by 161 votes and no one was against it."
“The bill will be effective once it is published in Morocco's official bulletin in coming days,” he added.
Since the coming of the Islamist-led government in 2011, the government has been attempting to develop Islamic finance in order to attract wealthy Gulf stakeholders and to meet the needs of a growing clientele looking for “halal” transactions.
Last month, Brahim Benjelloun Touimi, the CEO of “Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur” (BMCE), said that the bank was preparing to launch an alternative subsidiary as a joint venture with a major Islamic financial institution from the Middle East, without revealing the identity of that financial institution.
Islamic banks, like other banks, carry out all banking and financial transactions, including trade and investment and craft projects that contribute to the economic and social development in conformity with Islamic law and sophisticated modern techniques.