Shamil Bank, a unit of Bahrain-based Islamic lender Ithmaar, has minor exposures to troubled Saudi groups Saad and Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers (AHAB), it said in a statement on Thursday.

"Shamil Bank has a minor exposure, representing an almost negligible percentage of our assets, to Saudi-based Saad and Algosaibi groups", chief executive Faisal Alalwan was cited in the statement.

"Although prudent provisions have been made, this exposure has had absolutely no effect on our day-to-day operations," he said.

The bank in its statement did not put a figure on its provisions.

Several regional banks have given details of their exposure to the debt-ridden Saudi conglomerates and Standard & Poor's said on Thursday that 30 Gulf Arab bank had a combined exposure ofr $9.6 billion.

Shamil Bank in its statement also dismissed an earlier press report in Bahrain's Al Watan newspaper that it had halted its tawarruq operations, an Islamic lending tool.

It said its tawarruq dealings were in the past processed by Algosaibi Trading Services Limited, but that it has now commissioned them to a new brokerage.

It said that processing loan applications during the transition took a few days longer than normal, but that all delayed transactions were finalised as of Thursday morning. - Reuters