State-owned Bank Syariah Indonesia to open representative office in Dubai in 2022

Indonesian state-owned Islamic bank, Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI), is planning to open a representative office in Dubai in 2022, local media have reported.

The bank’s corporate secretary Gunawan Arif Hartoyo reportedly told Salaam Gateway that the bank is awaiting a license from the Dubai Financial Service Authority (DFSA), which it expects to receive by the end of this year.

He noted that the bank’s representative office in Dubai will become a joint lead manager or underwriter in upcoming issuance of global sukuk, including Indonesian sovereign sukuk and corporate sukuk from state-owned as well as private companies in Indonesia.

Indonesia’s state-owned Islamic bank, Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI), is planning to open a representative office in #Dubai next year. https://t.co/qD3wwIDOPe

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) November 22, 2021

It will work across three key business areas: global sukuk, remittance, and trade finance.

In June, Nasdaq Dubai said that it had listed three sukuk tranches issued by the Government of Indonesia, with a total value of $3bn. At the time, the total value of all sukuk listed by the Government of Indonesia on Nasdaq Dubai stood at $19.75bn.

Thank bank aims to become among the ten biggest global Islamic banks based on market capitalisation by 2025.

As of the end of September, total assets of Islamic financial institutions in Indonesia increased 17.32 per cent year-on-year to $132.7bn, consisting of $43.58bn in Islamic banking assets, $80.95bn in sharia capital markets (sukuk and mutual funds) and an $8.16bn in sharia non-bank financial solutions. Islamic financial assets represent 10.11 per cent of the total financial assets in Indonesia.

Earlier this month, Indonesia’s state wealth fund said it has inked a new agreement that will allow funds from the UAE to be placed in a variety of its high-yielding financial instruments. The investment framework deal was signed with the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, which in March announced a $10bn investment in the Southeast Asian nation’s wealth fund.

Read: Indonesia fund lets UAE invest in its high-yield instruments