(24 July 2015 – Germany) Germany’s first Islamic bank, the Kuveyt Turk (KT) Bank opened in Frankfurt on 20 July.
The country has a population of around 4 million Muslims and is the first lender to adhere to Shariah Law.
KT Bank general agent Ugurlu Soylu said the bank will boost the real economy, structuring its loans with risks more evenly distributed.
Islamic banks cannot charge interest but is allowed to buy a property and sell it to a prospective homeowner at a higher price, allowing the loan to be paid off in instalments.
Lending is conducted, like at traditional banks, by tapping savers' deposits.
Individual customers are then given a share of the average yields from the bank's credit operations.
KT Bank is a subsidiary of KT Katilim Bankasi, based in Istanbul, and has been operating as a financial services company in the German city of Mannheim for five years.
Earlier this year, it received its banking license from the German banking regulator BaFin.