KUALA LUMPUR: OCBC Al-Amin Bank Bhd, which saw its corporate Islamic sustainable financing surpass the RM2bil mark in the middle of this year, is poised to achieve double digit growth by the end of the year.
In 2023, the bank had already achieved almost RM1.9bil in corporate Islamic sustainable financing, after hitting RM1.2bil in 2022. OCBC Al-Amin is the Islamic banking subsidiary of OCBC Bank (M) Bhd and is the second largest Islamic foreign bank in the country by assets.
OCBC Al-Amin CEO Tuan Syed Abdull Aziz Syed Kechik (pic) told StarBiz the Islamic lender plans to keep the momentum going to achieve its Value Based Intermediation (VBI) ideals through sustainable finance backed by, among others, syariah-based environmental, social and governance (ESG) sukuk initiatives.
VBI is an industry-driven sustainability initiative aimed at strengthening the roles of Islamic banking institutions in generating a positive and sustainable impact on the economy, community and environment.
“We are looking to grow exponentially in this space and are linking up with like-minded companies to strengthen our involvement in the advancements of the ESG agenda.
“As one of the top Islamic banks in Malaysia in the sustainable financing space, we see the vast opportunity out there to work together with industry players and the larger ecosystem as we aim to deliver tailored syariah financing to our customers,” Tuan Syed Abdull Aziz said.
In 2023, OCBC Al-Amin was the principal adviser, lead arranger and lead manager, syariah adviser and sustainability structuring adviser for Point Zone (M) Sdn Bhd’s RM555mil sustainability sukuk, a special funding vehicle of KPJ Healthcare Bhd
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This was Malaysia’s first sustainability sukuk for the healthcare industry.
“Our sustainable financing posture is aligned to that of the OCBC Group, which set a target of achieving a S$50bil sustainable financing portfolio by 2025.
“This target, which is in line with Malaysia’s net-zero ambitions by the year 2050, has since been well surpassed ahead of schedule.
“We are supportive of the nation’s sustainability-linked efforts alongside the ideals of the group’s targets.
“In 2022, the OCBC Group signed up for the industry-led Net-Zero Banking Alliance and began developing a systematic plan to achieve net-zero by 2050 as part of our commitment to working with industry peers, customers and policymakers to transition to a low-carbon world.
“Aligned with this, OCBC Al-Amin will continue to provide tailored Islamic banking offerings with VBI for our customers to also tap into sustainability-linked business opportunities,” he said.
OCBC Al-Amin has deepened its position in the Malaysian sustainable finance sector through the execution of multiple sustainable and sustainability-linked financing mandates for corporate and government-linked entities.
These include the Sukuk Wakalah Programme of RM5bil for Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd which comes with an embedded feature to allow for issuance of sustainability and sustainability-linked sukuk, the first in Malaysia for the marine and port industry, and as joint lead managers for the issuance of sustainable development goals sukuk or “SDG Sukuk” of RM1.5bil for Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd.
Since its establishment in December 2008, OCBC Al-Amin has remained among the top foreign Islamic banks in Malaysia, consistently placing among the top two by assets since 2013. OCBC Al-Amin offers its products and services through the 38 OCBC branches nationwide, including seven that are standalone Islamic banking branches.
