The Central Bank issued the first license for Islamic banking activities to Open Bank
By the decision of the Central Bank, Open Bank JSC was granted a license allowing it to carry out Islamic banking activities. This permit is the first of its kind issued in Uzbekistan for this type of activity.
Central Bank grants first Islamic banking license to Open Bank
In accordance with the decision of the Board of the Central Bank dated October 23, 2026, License No. 1-I, granting the right to provide Islamic financial services, was handed over to Open Bank Joint Stock Company.
According to the regulator, this document fully covers all Islamic financial operations provided for in Article 5-1 of the Law "On Banks and Banking Activity."
The Central Bank also recommended that citizens check whether commercial banks possess the appropriate license via the organization's official website before using banking services.
Open Bank was registered on December 24, 2022. The bank's charter capital is 500 billion UZS. Its founder and 100% shareholder is Future Open Technology Group JSC. The head is Azamat Shukhratovich Turayev.
The bank operated under the name Smart Bank until September 2025.
Gazeta's source in the banking sector previously confirmed that this digital bank is a subsidiary of Agrobank.
As a reminder, a draft presidential decree submitted for discussion in May 2018 planned the creation of an Islamic banking and finance infrastructure in Uzbekistan.
The document specified the development of regulatory legal acts on prohibiting remuneration in the form of interest (riba), sharing profits and losses with an entrepreneur in proportion to the share of participation in the project, carrying out insurance activities based on Islamic financing principles (takaful), leasing activities (ijara), operations with securities (sukuk), and other transactions.
The relevant law was adopted by the Legislative Chamber on November 11, 2025, and approved by the Senate on February 5.
During a presentation to the president on March 25, 2026, it was stated that Uzbekistan plans to launch an "Islamic window" in at least one commercial bank in 2026, and to establish two full-fledged Islamic banks by 2030.