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NCB needs to divest $38bn assets

NCB needs to divest $38bn assets
The National Commercial Bank (NCB), Saudi Arabia’s biggest bank by assets, probably needs to divest about $38 billion of assets to achieve its goal of becoming a fully Shariah-compliant lender in five years, according to Saudi Gazette.
Nearly two-thirds of the bank’s SAR 435 billion ($116 billion) assets conform to Islamic law at the end of June, according to an e-mailed statement from the bank on Oct. 16.
Asim Bukhtiar, vice president and head of research at Riyad Capital, said: “We have seen other banks promise to convert all their assets to be Shariah-compliant in a certain timeframe and then finding it very hard to stick to.”
The NCB pledged to dispose of all non-Islamic bonds after a review by the bank’s board of scholars.