Kuwait Turkish Participation Bank (Dubai) has been given a licence to provide sharia-compliant banking services from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

The licence was given to it on 28 December by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), which regulates the financial district.

The bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Istanbul-based Kuwait Turkish Participation Bank, which in turn is majority owned by Kuwait Finance House.

The company’s office in DIFC will be led by senior executive officer Rahim Albayrak. It says it intends to offer a full range of Islamic banking services.

Along with its 130 branches in Turkey, the bank also has a branch in Bahrain, a representative office in Kazakhstan and intends to start operations in Germany soon.