Bank: Boubyan Bank Vendor: Path Solutions System: Core Banking & Trade Finance


Summary Type of financial institution: Islamic Bank Headquarters: Kuwait Assets: $10.3 billion (2015) Project scope: Core Banking & Trade Finance System/vendor replaced: None System/vendor installed: iMAL Path Solutions Technology: Sybase Current functionality: N/A Selection team: Bank & Consultants Selection Time: 6 months Installation team: Bank & Consultants Installation time: 6 months Level of satisfaction: High


Overview


Kuwait-based Boubyan Bank was established as an Islamic bank by Emiri Decree in October 2004. It opened for business in Q1 2006 with three branches. Internet banking was launched a year later. National Bank of Kuwait is Boubyan’s Bank largest shareholder (47 per cent). Meanwhile, Boubyan Bank holds a 15 per cent stake in a UK-based Islamic bank, Bank of London and the Middle East (BLME).


Selection Selection Committee


One of the first priorities for the establishing committee of the new entity was to select a computer system to support the bank’s operations as, without a system in place, the bank would be unable to open for business. With no


52


management or staff in place in late 2004, but under time pressure to open the bank for business as early as possible, the bank’s committee had little option but to commission consultants to evaluate and select a core system for the bank.


On-boarding of selection team


The board selected Deloitte of Lebanon, which was already working with the bank in other areas of its initial set-up. Deloitte conducted an initial evaluation of 15 core system suppliers, from which a shortlist of five was selected for receipt of a formal RFP prepared by Deloitte. This process resulted in a shortlist of three suppliers. In February 2005, as the bank built up its management team, Kurien Varghese, a 30-year veteran of banking IT in Kuwait, was recruited to head up the bank’s IT department. One of his first tasks was to review and finalise the vendor selection. By this time, other senior staff had also joined the bank. Upon reviewing the RFP with Varghese, they realised that it required enhancements to specify in more detail the Islamic banking products and their processing requirements. However, they were still working at a disadvantage as few of the management or staff had direct experience of Islamic banking, having joined Boubyan Bank mainly from a conventional banking background. The bank therefore took the decision once again to work with consultants, this time selecting Ernst & Young of Bahrain – well known in the region for its experience in Islamic financing – to assist in the evaluation and selection process. The bank, together with Ernst & Young, reviewed the RFP and added in more core Islamic processing requirements.


Shortlist the vendor


This revised RFP was circulated to the shortlisted suppliers in March 2005. The shortlist of three suppliers comprised: International Turnkey Systems (ITS) with Harland-derived Phoenix, I-flex Solutions (now Oracle FSS) with Flexcube and Path Solutions with iMAL. Further evaluation of these three was approved by the bank’s board in May 2005. For the next stage – on-site demonstrations and workshops at the bank’s premises – the bank appointed a team of 20 staff, headed by Varghese, to work with Ernst & Young’s team of four. Following the on-site exercises in June 2005, the bank, in consultation with Ernst & Young, decided to proceed with further evaluation of the Path and ITS solutions. This decision was largely based upon the closeness of fit of the solutions to Islamic banking requirements, which received primary weighting in the evaluation of the proposals. Other


Islamic Report www.ibsintelligence.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220  |  Page 221  |  Page 222  |  Page 223  |  Page 224  |  Page 225  |  Page 226  |  Page 227  |  Page 228  |  Page 229  |  Page 230  |  Page 231  |  Page 232  |  Page 233  |  Page 234  |  Page 235  |  Page 236  |  Page 237  |  Page 238  |  Page 239  |  Page 240  |  Page 241  |  Page 242  |  Page 243  |  Page 244  |  Page 245  |  Page 246  |  Page 247  |  Page 248  |  Page 249  |  Page 250  |  Page 251  |  Page 252  |  Page 253  |  Page 254  |  Page 255  |  Page 256  |  Page 257  |  Page 258  |  Page 259  |  Page 260  |  Page 261  |  Page 262  |  Page 263  |  Page 264  |  Page 265  |  Page 266