Bahrain

Bahrain uses the Bahraini dinar (BHD) and has a financial sector that includes conventional and Islamic banks serving retail and wholesale customers. These are not interchangeable categories: a wholesale banking licence does not necessarily permit a firm to offer an ordinary personal current account. A familiar brand may also represent a group containing several differently licensed companies.

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) licenses and supervises financial institutions and maintains separate regulatory requirements for conventional and Islamic banks. Bahrain has a regulatory framework for protecting qualifying deposits and unrestricted investment accounts; which arrangements apply depends on the bank and the nature of the customer’s account. An Islamic investment account should not automatically be treated as identical to a conventional savings deposit.