DBP pledges P1-B capital infusion in Al-Amanah Bank

The Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines, the country’s only Islam-oriented commercial bank, has received a pledge from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) for a capital infusion of up to P1 billion, paving the way for the resumption of its operations.

Al-Amanah Bank president Jaime Panganiban said all issues regarding the bank’s ownership have been resolved.

“We finally took control of the bank’s management,” he said. “The first order of the day is to create new corporate offices and committees.”

The new management of Al-Amanah Bank will also acquire sharia core banking systems with modular applications which include audit, treasury and risk management systems. The new systems will conform to the Islamic practice as well as international risk-weighted frameworks.

Al-Amanah Bank is the first and only Islamic bank in the country whose mandate is to serve the banking needs of the Muslim community. It was formed as the Philippine Al-Amanah Bank in 1973 by virtue of Presidential Decree (PD) 264 issued by then President Marcos. It was re-established as Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank in 2000 to promote and accelerate socio-economic development of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

In an earlier interview, DBP president and chief executive officer Reynaldo G. David said the new management will focus on banking activities in the ARMM region, particularly in infrastructure development and in areas not yet covered by DBP.

“We also see Al-Amanah as our settlement bank for all Islamic-originated grants, donations, remittances, loans and payments. It will also provide DBP’s investment banking services group assistance in tapping the Islamic capital markets. In the first half of 2008, the size of the Islamic funds is estimated at $70.5 billion despite very challenging market conditions, with most of these funds originating from Malaysia and United Arab Emirates.”

Al-Amanah Bank was originally controlled by the National Government, through the Privatization Management Office (PMO), an attached agency of the Department of Finance.

After several consultations, 70 percent of the bank’s equity was acquired by DBP. It originally owned 10 percent of the bank.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Social Security System (SSS) will each continue to control 10-percent equity each, with several individuals controlling the remaining 10 percent.