Bahrain Mirror: The Minor Criminal Court acquitted unionist Ali Al-Binali from charge of providing banking and investment services without a license from the central Bank of Bahrain.

A lady submitted a notice stating that she headed to the suspect's shop and bought a gold bullion worth 10, 000 BD with 100 BD monthly payments. However, she noticed that the gold bullion's price didn't exceed 1500 BD. When she contacted the suspect, he convinced her to sign another debt security worth 10,000 BD with 100 BD monthly payment in return for a gold bullion worth 3,000 BD. He, however, didn't give her the bullion.

The prosecution referred Al-Binali to trail in 2017 after accusing him of providing banking and investment services without a license from the central Bank of Bahrain.

The court said that article 40, par. (a) of law 60/2006 stipulates that "No person shall carry out a Regulated Service in the Kingdom unless licensed by the Central Bank" and that article 39 stipulates applying its regulations and the financial services provided by the financial institutions.

It also explained that the list specified the services under the Central Bank of Bahrain and the parties that provide these services. It also said that the charge brought against the suspect is selling some items to the victim. The purchasing operations, whether cash or by installment payments, are not among the acts stipulated in list number 1/2017 and are not subject to the Central Bank of Bahrain Act but to the provisions of the Civil Code.

Arabic Version