IslamicFinance.de

Shariah consultancy Yasaar has announced the launch of a dedicated Islamic finance media entity called Yasaar Media. Yasaar Media recognises that there is a serious need for an information provider in the Islamic finance industry that produces in-depth reports and studies on specific market niches, asset classes and countries.

The people behind Yasaar Media are Paul McNamara and Majid Dawood.

Nasser Al Harthy reported in The Peninsula on 21 January about Paris-based Europlace that it welcomes sukuk issuers on NYSE Euronext and the setting up of Islamic banks in Paris. Arnaud de Bresson, Managing Director of Paris Europlace, said the new reforms that were adopted concerned authorisation of Shariah-indexed mutual funds, listing of sukuk in France, tax neutrality on Murabaha (transactions on real estate property, shares, machinery and commodities) as well as tax deduction on renumeration of sukuk.

John Irish and Jason Benham reported on Reuters on 20 January about the financing needs of Emaar Properties, Dubai both conventional euro medium term note and Islamic. The notes would be listed on the London Stock Exchange, with HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland acting as lead arrangers..

According to CPIFinancial on 21 January, Al Salam Bank-Bahrain works with Tadhamon Islamic International Bank in agreement with Rawacheen Al Hijaz to issue Sukuk Manfa’a with a value exceeding SAR 857 mn on Burj Al Jewar, a commercial/residential tower overlooking the Holy Mosque in Mecca. Rawacheen Al Hijaz will act as the lead manager of the Sukuk Manfa’a.

The Sukuk program will give each Sukuk holder the right to benefit from the unit for a period of 19 Hijri years either to use it or sell, lease to others, grant or bequeath. The holders can also exchange their unit with another.

CPIFinancial reported on 20 January that the Islamic Bank of Asia is one of the two Lead arranger for SGD 200 mn Sukuk Al-Ijarah Trust Certificate Issuance Programme from Monetary Authority of Singapore. The bank itself will be the first investor in the programme.

Vince Cook is the CEO of The Islamic Bank of Asia.

Saeed Azhar, Reuters reported on 19 January that Singapore's central bank aims a S$200 million Sukuk Al Ijara programme, to promote the growth of Islamic finance in the state. The underlying asset for this Sukuk programme is the office units of Monetary Authority of Singapore's head office. According to Heng Swee Keat, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore the Sukuk will be the Sharia compliant equivalent of Singapore government securities with the same credit standing.

Mirna Sleiman, Dow Jones Newswires reported on 19 January that Mashreq Capital will launch a USD 50 mn Sukuk fund in Q.
Abdul Kadir Hussain, CEO, sees a target return of between 12% and 20% over the next 12 months.

Gulf News published based on Bloomberg 15 January an article regarding the governmental approval for Emirates Islamic Bank, Kuwait Syrian Holding, and two Saudi investors from the Al Rajhi family to partner with Bahrain-based Albaraka Banking Group, setting up Al Baraka Bank-Syria. The bank plans an IPO at the end of Q1 to sell 35 % according to Amir Assassa, a founding member of Albaraka Bank-Syria. Assassa said that Albaraka Banking Group will own 23 % in the Syrian bank, Syrian investors 16 %, Emirates Islamic 10 % and Kuwait Syrian Holding, which is partly owned by the Al Kharafi Group, 5 %, he said.

Chris Agabi reported on 16 January on allAfrica about the discussions held at the Lotus Capital Seminar series. Professor Mohamed L. Bashar, an Islamic finance and economics lecturer and a board member, Lotus Capital Limited has advocated for a defined regulatory framework to support the growth of Islamic finance in Nigeria, while the guest speaker Professor Monzer Kahf, and Chairman of the Sharia Advisory Board of Lotus Capital, noted that legislation may not necessarily be the biggest impediment but political will - legislation for the conventional financial system does not generally affect Islamic finance.

Global-Saudi is an investment bank with a capital of 50 million Saudi riyals. It carries out conventional and Islamic financial services such as the establishment and management of investment funds, portfolio management, international brokerage, private and public placement, underwriting, advisory, dealings as a principal and as an agent as well as custody. Additionally, Global-Saudi obtained approval from the Authority to launch 3 Investment Funds, which are the Global GCC Market Fund, Global GCC Equity Fund and Global Saudi Equity Fund (Noor Fund).

Iran Daily reported on 15 January that an insurance bank in Iran is proposed by Iran Insurance Company. Mohammad Javad Sahamian Moqaddam told Fars News Agency that the proposed bank will be set up after implementation the insurance laws.

Reuters published the release of Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on 14 January regarding the downgrading of East Cameron Gas Co.'s USD 165.67 mn Sukuk series 2006 to 'CC' from 'CCC+' and placed it on CreditWatch with negative implications. The downgrade reflects the negative impact caused by shortfall enforcement event on the overriding royalty interest in oil and gas reserves (ORRI), which is the primary collateral for the Sukuk.

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Kim Jong-chang sees Islamic finance as a potential new alternative in overcoming the global financial crisis pointing out that reckless distribution of complicated derivative products throughout the global market, detached from the real economy, put the global financial market into crisis.

The annual seminar, held in Japan and Hong Kong in the last two years, is now under way in Seoul, jointly hosted by the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the FSS.

Kim said the regulator would focus on setting up infrastructure for Islamic finance in the country.

A unit of Malaysian builder Bina Puri Holdings Bhd has secured RM 1.04 bn of Islamic financing to build a highway, Reuters citing Bernana, the official news agency.

Singapore renewable energy firm Agni Inc will sell more than RM 900 mn Sukuk Al Ijara according to a Malaysian newspaper.

Al-Khabeer Merchant Finance Corporation announced on 12 January 2009 to create a SAR 400 mn real estate fund for the benefit of Jazan Economic City projects.

Karen Remo-Listama reported in Emirates Business 24/7 on 13 January that Carbon trading can fetch Gulf USD 5bn annually citing Armen Vartanian, Director at EcoVentures, the Middle East and North African (Mena) as there is no single project on carbon trading. Announcement of DMCC were out and also Doha Bank plans an exchange for carbon trading and works with the San Francisco, California-based RainTrust Foundation on the Qatar exchange project and has then secured expressions of interest from Citigroup and Credit Suisse Group. Chief Executive Officer Raghavan Seetharaman said the bank would invest USD 27 mn in its electronic Qatari exchange, and has so far spent USD 7 mn on a plot of land in the USD 2.6 bn Energy City business park that Qatar is building. The start depends on the overall market conditions. Masdar launched already in February 2008 a project to develop a national CO2 capture network capable of creating a significant reduction in Abu Dhabi's carbon footprint.

HLTM Takaful launches capital protection investment-linked scheme called The Alpha Crescent Investment Plan, which is a 3-year 100% capital protected plan. It is based on the concept of murabahah and wa’ad where the potential investment returns at maturity were referenced against the performance of the Alpha Crescent Index.

HLTM Takaful, which is managing the plan, said it would be distributed by Hong Leong Bank Bhd.

HLTM Takaful chief executive officer is Ab Latiff Abu Bakar.

Andy Sambidge reported on 13 January 2009 in Arabianbusiness on the launch of the Sharia compliant Capinnova Investment Bank by The Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain and has an authorised capital of USD 500 mn and paid-up capital of USD 125 mn. Capinnova’s core areas of business will include private equity, asset management and corporate finance.

Capinnova’s chairman is A. Karim Bucheery. CEO is Jamal Hijres.

The Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) has said that its financing policies for real estate, vehicles and other purposes remain unchanged even as other banks tighten their lending policies.