Dubai-based Islamic finance firm Mawarid says it has approval to set up an insurance firm with a capital of Dh100 million ($27.25 million) and sell shares to the public, its deputy chief executive said.

"The company has received the required approval to set up an insurance company with a capital of 100 million dirhams and offer it to the public in April, and we expect to receive double the initial public offering (IPO) value," Saleh al-Hashimi told al-Khaleej newspaper in remarks published on Sunday.

Mawarid, which complies with Islamic law's ban on interest, will also take an 8.5 percent stake in the establishment of an investment bank in Bahrain with a capital of $120 million, he said.

That company might launch an IPO two years after being founded if shareholders so wish, he added. - Reuters