Islamic Banking in Malaysia: The Changing Landscape

The banking industry in Malaysia is dominated by conventional banks, with Islamic banks accounting for roughly one-fifth. In addition, the Islamic banking sector is overwhelmingly in the hands of conventional banks, thanks to their Islamic subsidiaries which outnumber the ‘wholesome’ Islamic banks whose market share of the Islamic banking business is on the decline. In this equation, the Islamic subsidiaries of conventional banks have an upper hand, as they can ride on the coattails of their parents – which gives them a competitive edge - while the stand-alone domestic Islamic banks and foreign-owned full-fledged Islamic banks have to fend for themselves. The Islamic subsidiaries of conventional parents are in the driver’s seat actively leading the industry, while the wholesome Islamic banks have apparently taken the backseat, which may not augur well for the future of Islamic banking that is currently stuck in the initial stage of product differentiation. It is likely that the Islamic subsidiaries of conventional banks will continue to ‘Islamise’ their conventional products, with wholesome Islamic banks passively following suit, rendering the transition from Shari’ah-compliant products to Shari’ah-based products somewhat elusive.