KUWAIT, July 14 (KUNA) -- The general assembly of the Bank of Kuwait and the Middle East (BKME) Bank of Kuwait and the Middle East (BKME) endorsed on Monday the changeover of the bank into an Islamic one, said its board chairman Hamad al-Marzouq.

The changeover, he asserted, was in response to many of the bank's customers, adding that the trend in the region is for banks to switch from traditional ways of doing business to following guidelines set by the Islamic Sharia Laws.

He noted that there has been terrific growth in Islamic banking worldwide, prompting numerous international banks to open branches that offer Sharia-compliant banking services.

The decision by BKME BKME to change into an Islamic bank, said al-Marzouq, was based primarily on meticulous studies that had to be approved by the Central Bank of Kuwait Central Bank of Kuwait . The latter has given BKME BKME one year to make a smooth transition into an Islamic bank, he said. & omar 1.1:zy