UAE bank Emirates NBD expects to complete its takeover of Dubai Bank by the end of 2011.

“The transaction itself will be completed financially by the end of the year and it will be reflected in the end-of-year results,” says Rick Pudner, chief executive officer of Emirates NBD.

Earlier in October, the lender announced it would be acquiring the troubled Islamic bank after Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum ordered the merger of the two banks.

“We are looking at the Islamic landscape to determine what structure we would like to have. There are no decisions yet, in terms of the final structure. We now have two Islamic banking propositions and we want to see what the best Islamic proposition is and that will take a few months to work through,” says Pudner.

Pudner expects the restructure to be completed in the first half of 2012. “In terms of credit growth, we are looking at gradual growth of about 3-4 per cent next year in light of all the uncertainties,” he adds.