Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank is looking at options, including possibly purchasing a 15% stake in Bank Syariah Indonesia from Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Reuters reported.

After the report, while the ADIB shares ended down 5.7%, the value of BSI shares increased by up to 50.6% to 2,620 rupiah. According to LSEG data, the lender’s shares have increased by 50% year to date, valuing a 15% stake at USD 1.05 billion and giving it a market cap of about UDD 7 billion.

“What we can say is that the information above is in the domain of our shareholders,” State-owned BSI’s corporate secretary Gunawan Hartoyo responded in a statement to a question about whether ADIB was in talks to look into the possibility of investing in BSI or purchasing BRI’s 15% stake.

As per the reports, discussions and negotiations are still in their early phases, and there is no assurance that a deal will be signed.

A rapidly expanding market for Islamic banking is Southeast Asia, a region comprising 11 countries and home to over 500 million people. A major Muslim population in the world resides in Indonesia, the largest economy in the region.

According to the Islamic Finance Development Report released by Indonesia’s financial services authority (OJK) in 2023, the country’s Sharia financial assets were valued at USD 163 billion in July of last year, up 13% from the same month in 2022.

BSI has been extending its reach throughout the Middle East, having established a representative office in the Dubai International Financial Centre in early January 2022 and received approval in 2023 August to become a full branch.

According to its website, the bank hopes to open a branch in Saudi Arabia after seeing a large number of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims from Indonesia.

In order to create one of the top 10 Islamic banks in the world, Indonesia merged PT Bank Syariah Mandiri, PT Bank BNI Syariah, and PT BRI Syariah Tbk to form BSI in 2021, according to its website.

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Illyas Kooliyankal, the Group CISO at ADIB, received the CISO100 ‘Information Security Executive of the Year Award’ on behalf of the bank for its ‘business enabling and customer centric’ cybersecurity programme, and for leading the adoption of innovative security technology and fraud awareness services.

On receiving the award, Illyas Kooliyankal said: “ADIB’s focus on online security controls is driven by the bank’s focus on protecting our customers’ privacy and personal information. ADIB’s ultimate objective is to provide a stable and secure business environment for customers which is resilient to cyber threats, including online fraud. We constantly focus on education and awareness among our customers and staff to ensure that they have the knowledge and understanding to protect themselves and their information.”

The annual MESA Conference & Awards Ceremony hosted more than 20 CISOs as speakers and panellist from leading organisations across the Middle East, as well as many international speakers. The event was also attended by 200-plus senior delegates from leading companies in the Middle East.

ADIB uses cutting edge technologies and processes to protect customer information and constantly evaluates, develops and implements advanced banking security measures. It also dedicates a full section on its website to its customers, providing best practice advice and tips on how they can protect themselves.

On ADIB’s app, customers, for example, have the option to instantly block their card if they have either lost the card or feel there has been a fraudulent transaction. The bank also runs a number of awareness campaigns including competitions to highlight cyber fraud threats and the actions that customers can be taken to safeguard their financial and personal information.

ADIB has received numerous awards in recent months including a CISO 30 Award 2018 at the inaugural CISO30 Awards and Forum, ‘Best Premium Banking Service in the UAE’ from Banker Middle East, and ‘Private Bank in the Middle East for Islamic Finance’ by Private Banker International. In addition, the bank was recently awarded with the ‘Best Online Banking Services’ award at Banker Middle East UAE Product Awards.

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