Activities:

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) is considered a pioneer in the banking phenomenon known as Islamic Finance or Shari’a Compliant Banking. KFH is the first Islamic bank established in 1977 in the State of Kuwait and today it’s one of the foremost Islamic financial institutions in the world. KFH has steadily managed to expand its business and achievements to lead the Islamic banking industry and become a pioneer financial establishment, not only in the Islamic banking industry, but also in the banking sector as a whole, besides being one of the biggest lenders in both the local and regional markets.

KFH’s largest shareholders include: Kuwait Investment Authority (Direct), Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation (Direct), Public Authority for Minors’ Affairs (Direct), The Public Institution for Social Security (Indirect), as of 31-December-2013. KFH (KSE: KFIN) is a publically listed company on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE). KFH provides a wide range of banking Shari’a compliant products and services, covering real estate, trade finance, investment portfolios, commercial, retail and corporate banking and is available in Kuwait, Kingdom of Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Malaysia, and Australia.

Ties between KFH and the Muslim Brotherhood

The Emiri decree that established KFH, despite the opposition of technocrats and secularists is considered one example of the cooperation between the Kuwaiti government and the MB in the 1970s.

“The Kuwait Finance House was allegedly an investor in BMI. The Kuwait Finance House is reported to be the financial arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait. Several al Qaida operatives have allegedly been associated with the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Suliman abu Ghaith, Wadih el Hage and Ramsi Yousef.“

The Kuwaiti newspaper Alshahed reported in April 2013, that Youssef Nada declared in a press statement that “the bankruptcy of Al-Taqwa Bank does not mean the loss of our money, since we have an opportunity to enter by capital increase to Al-Rajhi Bank in Saudi Arabia, to the companies of Sheikh Saleh Kamel and to Kuwait Finance House. We will acquire numerous shares so that these banks will replace the bankrupted al-Taqwa Bank.”

Ties between KFH and the Muslim Brotherhood (in addition)

Additional article in Al-Shahed newspaper, dated July 2014, states that MB in the Gulf tries to control oil firms in order to promote the ISIS caliphate project.

Heading reads: They have penetrated the economic sectors to take them over. The Billions and Companies of the MB in Kuwait Assist the Islamic Caliphate in Syria, Iraq and Egypt. They have entered oil searches to discover the sector’s secrets.

According to an Al-Shahed article from March 7, 2014, the MB in Kuwait takes advantage of its control over the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Kuwait, and over the executive management of KFH in order to rescue losing MB companies in the country, using KFH’s assets.

According to Al-Shahed, Muthanna Investment Company (subsidiary of KFH) bought 7.28 million Dinar (approx. $25 million) worth of shares of the Nafaes Company, as payment of the debt of Aref Group.

The article further claims the Aref Group is “The right arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan and Kuwait”.

The newspaper quoted bankers as wondering on the discriminating policies of the Central bank regarding instable companies, which it has rescued from bankruptcy in later years. The bank, so claim the bankers, practices double standards, as it did not come to the rescue of other companies (explicitly, companies unrelated to the MB).

An Al-Shahed article from January 2, 2014, claimed that KFH hurried to settle the debts of MB companies before the change of its board.

Al-Shahed claimed that MB companies had 13 billion dinar liabilities to KFH, whose assets worth 15 billion dinar. The unstable MB companies took advantage of the coming change to settle their debts, at the expense of shareholders’ equity, which fell to 1.7 billion dinar.

The move was assisted by the governor of Kuwait Central Bank, who gave the companies exemptions in order to ease their activity, and aid in their reorganization and return to the market.

KFH board met in secret during December 2013 and decided on the settlement of debt for Munshaat Company, a subsidiary of Aref Group, whose debt reached 97 million dinar. The bank settled for 53 mil. Dinar in sukuk.

Aref Group had additional debts of 60 million dinar. The Group represents the shares of the MB throughout the world, in Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Sudan Air Lines, as well as in the Arab region. Sources told Al-Shahed that Nafaes Company is “the right arm of the MB in Sudan, as it owns 18.7 5% of the Sudanese Bayt al-Mal”.

The article further claims that this company manages MB schools and colleges, thus the members of KFH board take part in MB activities. They are assisted in this by the governor of the Central Bank and by members of the Chamber of Commerce and of the National Alliance, who serve their interests of injecting liquidity to their failing companies.

The article further enumerates a list of companies affiliated to MB members. It gives the names of 4 MB members who are also “members” of KFH: Jamal al-Kandari, Jassem al-Mutawa’, Abd al-Aziz al-Shayeji and Mubarak al-Duwaila.

KFH and its Subsidiaries
In addition to the ties of KFH itself with the MB, we have looked into KFH’s main subsidiaries, looking for their own links to the MB