Riffa Views and NBB sign US$82 Million Murabaha Facility Agreement

BIsB and Riffa Views Signature Estates Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Provide Finance Options for Homes in Bahrain’s Premier Residential Location

Customers to have access to BD300,000 for a Period of Up to 25 Years

Bahrain Islamic Bank, the first Islamic bank in the Kingdom of Bahrain, has this morning signed a memorandum of understanding with Riffa Views Signature Estates to provide finance options for the purchase of homes within Bahrain’s premier residential development. Using the Islamic finance plans, customers will be able to purchase two and three-bedroom townhouses and spacious four and five-bedroom luxury villas within the Oasis and Lagoons phases of Riffa Views Signature Estates.

The memorandum allows BIsB to offer finance to prospective buyers of homes in Riffa Views through two financing programs: Tas’heel program for the construction phase, followed by the decreasing Musharaka program. The latter is an Islamic form of financing long-term property transactions.

Through the decreasing Musharaka, customers are given property finance of up to BD300,000 with a repayment period of up to 25 years. The rate of profit for such transactions is competitive and amounts to 8.5%. The decreasing Musharaka contract is a Sharia’a compliant housing solution, available to both Bahraini and expatriate customers in the local market and abroad.

Mr. Yousuf Saleh Khalaf, BIsB Chief Executive, commented: “We at BIsB appreciate and value the agreement signed with Riffa Views and consider them as a strategic alliance in this venture.”

He added: “With all the facilities and benefits offered by BIsB to its consumer and corporate customers, we become a major financier of projects in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and are pleased to be associated with a quality and internationally renowned project like Riffa Views.”

Chief Executive of Riffa Views Signature Estates, Mr. Richard Browning, commented: “This association marks another means of providing our discerning buyers with various financing options to support their purchase at Riffa Views. We see BIsB as a premier Islamic banking institution in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and hope that existing and new customers will benefit from this latest finance offering.”

Through this understanding with Rifffa Views, expatriate and Bahraini customers with monthly incomes of BD800 or more will be able to purchase residential units in Riffa Views. BIsB’s finance plans are Sharia’a compliant and have been approved by the Bank’s Sharia’a Supervisory Board.

Mr. Yousuf Saleh Khalaf concluded: “Our finance schemes include a Takaful insurance on the customer’s life so that the remaining instalments are waived in case of death. The property will also be insured in co-operation with a leading Islamic insurance company. Our rate of profit for this product is also considered the lowest in the market, giving a true service to customers.”