Bank Indonesia (BI) reported that 16 banks and non-banking institutions were added as new BI-FAST participants, with the current total member count reaching .
A number of large Indonesian banks are closing their conventional banking operations in the country’s strictly Muslim province of Aceh, The Jakarta Post reported. The province has introduced a regulation that all financial institutions have to comply with Islamic law, effective from the beginning of next year, which led to a reconsideration by the banks on doing business there, the report said. The regulations mean that all banks in Aceh are only allowed to offer Shariah banking services, which exclude charging interest on loans, while all banking services are based on participation contracts in one form or another and done.