IslamicFinance.de

Debt management agency ISDM calculated the average debt load of its customers is AED500,000.

The agency has more than 3,000 clients on its books and about 70 percent of its customers are defaulting on consumer rather than business loans. About 5 % of the clients are ex-UAE residents who have skipped the country rather than face jail for their debts. Banks can recover 80 cents on the dollar through consolidation. Through a debt collection agency, may receive 40 cents on the dollar according to the firm's director Yohannes Mazeingi.

Dubai-based ISDM advises clients in debt distress to consolidate their loans and negotiate with the banks. It collects a two percent fee commission based on the overall value of the debt.

Under UAE law, bouncing a cheque is a criminal offence that can result in a jail sentence.

Tharawat plans to invest in a Saudi Arabia real estate project in the third quarter worth $50-$60m. Director of investment Abdulaziz Saad Al Resai said a startegic investor has pledge to invest $30m in an industrial estate in Riyadh.

The company is also looking to set up 2-3 more funds investing in Saudi Arabia's property market by the end of this year. According to Al-Resais Saudi Arabia's property market was least affected by the housing glut and the financial crisis in the Middle East.

Although Dubai and the euro zone debt crises had hurt its plan to raise $100 million in 2009 for its sukuk fund, it managed to raise between $10-20m so far due to the global market volatility.

Al Resais said this due to the concern in the fixed income market in general, not particularly sukuk. He hopes to have more information being disseminated so that investors will be able to differentiate between sukuk and conventional bonds in the future.

Rapid growth among Saudi Arabia's Islamic insurers will benefit the domestic bond market but bypass dollardenominated issues due to regulations that keep insurers' investment close to home, experts and executives said.

Strong growth in the takaful, or insurance industry has underpinned hopes it will give a boost to the market for Islamic bonds, or sukuk.

Insurers are important investors in conventional fixed income markets, but sukuk have been mostly bought by Western investors such as hedge funds and banks.

While the medium-term prospects for the global sukuk market remain strong, the prospects are weaker for Dubai-based issuers and potentially other countries in the Gulf. That’s the assessment of ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P), which also said that Malaysia and South East Asia were likely to lead the global sukuk market in issuance of the next couple of years.

Rapid growth among Saudi Arabia's Islamic insurers will benefit the domestic bond market but bypass dollardenominated issues due to regulations that keep insurers' investment close to home, experts and executives said.

Masraf al Rayan, Qatar's fourth largest bank by market value, reported a fourth quarter profit of $76.96 million, an increase of 30 percent over the same period in 2008, according to Reuters calculations.

A new watchdog is to be launched to investigate suspected violations of Sharia-compliance among Islamic finance products, Arabian Business has learned.

Newly launched Saudi bank Alinma said on Saturday its fourth quarter net profit fell 85 percent from the previous quarter due to increased operational costs.

Bahrain-based Islamic lender Al Baraka is in talks to buy a stake in Malaysia's Bank Muamalat, its chief executive said, with a source adding it could buy up to 49 percent in the lender.

Arabian Business reported on 28 April that Investment Dar its proposed British bank unit 'Dar Capital' might start with capital of up to GBP 100 mn. A project study should be finished by year-end.

Chairman of Investment Dar is Adnan Al-Musallam.

Source: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/517695-dar-eyes-uk-bank-with-up-to-100-ml...