IslamicFinance.de

Malaysia's government-owned Pelaburan Hartanah Bumiputra launched a 317-billion-dollar investment trust in order to encourage its majority Muslim Malays to invest more in property.
The sharia-compliant Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) would allow Muslim Malays and indigenous groups to increase their stake in real estate assets.

The cross-regional Islamic investors increasingly embrace the product, so more Sharia-compliant real estate investment trusts (REITs) will come to market in Asia in early 2011.
Singapore's first Sharia-compliant REIT, Sabana REIT, listed on Friday, has drawn a mixture of both conventional and Islamic investors, a quarter of them from the Middle East.

The government hired CIMB Investment Bank Bhd., a Kuala Lumpur-based unit of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. as a lead manager to sell between $1 billion and $1.5 billion of the securities.
This sell won't however appeal to most local funds unless the emirate obtains a rating.
Dubai is tapping international debt markets to raise funds as the government and state-controlled companies grapple to service borrowings that Barclays Capital estimated in a September report at about $112 billion.

Although Singapore has the stated ambition of developing the island-state into a global hub for Islamic capital markets products, the only other regulatory development of note has been the consultation on the proposal of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the central bank, to amend the country’s Deposit Insurance Act to allow MAS to prescribe products as insured deposits, and to prescribe Murabaha as an insured deposit.
MAS launched the public consultation on Feb. 25, 2010 as part of its review with the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation (SDIC), on whether to amend and enhance various features of the Deposit Insurance Scheme in Singapore.

After a dispute over a restructuring plan Kuwait's Investment Dar has announced that the panel representing most of its creditors has resigned. The coordinating committee of debtors wanted the firm to give up 90% of the company in return for less than half of the debt.

The government sold 3 billion ringgit ($952 million) of Shariah-compliant notes due 2020 at an average yield of 3.998 percent, Bank Negara Malaysia announced on its website. Demand exceeded the amount of debt offered by 2.46 times.
It can be seen more demand arising from more Islamic banks operating in Malaysia, as well as a spillover from foreign investors.

The Central Bank of Bahrain wants to reinvent Islamic finance as it suggests that smaller players may be squeezed out of the US$1tn market as regulatory standards tighten.
Governor Rasheed Al-Maraj told the 17th annual World Islamic Banking Conference in Bahrain that Sharia compliant institutions must rethink their business model as credit and growth levels enjoyed prior to the 2007-8 crisis are unlikely return.

His Excellency Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, Chairman of Emirates NBD officiated the launch.
A focus of the bank's Singapore branch will be on wealth management, targeting High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) from the Middle East who would like to base part of their offshore assets in Singapore. The branch will promote MENA (Middle East North Africa) investments to Asian High Net Worth Individuals who are currently under-weighted in their MENA exposure.

SCC has teamed up with AmIslamic Banking Bhd that will provide a RM100mil Islamic banking facility in the form of a revolving credit scheme and term financing with the underlying contract, Bai’ Inah.
Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman launched the i-Executive financing facility. With the introduction of i-Executive, they will be operating a dual financing system.

Dubai's government has hired CIMB Investment Bank Bhd as a lead arranger to help sell Islamic bonds in Malaysia. The plan is still being discussed and timing of the sale hasn't been decided.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector launched the Ijarah Management Services Company (IMC), which will be based in Bahrain.
The chief executive officer of ICD, Khaled Al-Aboodi, hopes the IMC will work with various governments and its agencies in developing leasing industries and leasing laws in countries, where leasing is still not developed.

A new global Islamic liquidity management corporation backed by central banks will start issuing Islamic bonds next year to help Islamic banks manage their liquidity.
The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) said in October it would set up the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation to issue sharia-compliant instruments.
The liquidity management company will be backed by 11 central banks, including Malaysia, Iran and Turkey and some Gulf states and is expected to have up to $1 billion in authorised capital.

The funds collected at participation banks were up 13 percent and reached 30.4 billion TL (21.1 billion USD).
The number of participation bank branches was up 6 percent to 595 and the banks employed 12,404 people in the mentioned period.
The Participation Banks Association of Turkey has currently four members, including Albaraka Turk, Bank Asya, Kuveyt Turk, and Turkiye Finans.

The asset-backed sukuk is set to be reality soon largely due to the efforts of the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) to develop a master agreement on this new form of Islamic bonds.
All concerned parties have been consulted to prepare a master agreement paving the way for a shift from the asset-based to asset-backed sukuk, or Islamic bond structure.
Besides the founding members, IIFM is supported by its permanent members, namely State Bank of Pakistan and Dubai International Financial Center Authority.

The Central Bank of the UAE has announced the successful inaugural auction of Shariah-Compliant Certificates of Deposit (ICDs).
The inaugural auction was held on Wednesday, 10th November 2010. The ICDs, which are based on Murabahah concept, are the first Islamic liquidity management tools issued by the Central Bank of the UAE.
The ICDs are the first Islamic liquidity management tools issued by the Central Bank of the UAE.

Senegal is the latest African nation looking to tap the growing Islamic finance market by issuing its first sovereign Islamic bond in 2011.
94% of the population are Muslims, therefor is the potential for Islamic banking strong within the West African nation.
The country has emerged as a relatively stable hub for regional business, which is attracting increasing investment interest from the oil producing Gulf.

IFAAS (Islamic Finance Advisory & Assurance Services) announced the opening of its Gulf office in Manama, Bahrain. The new office is located in Manama's prestigious Bahrain Financial Harbour.
IFAAS' arrival in Bahrain is a real enhancement to the regional financial industry and Bahrain's position as an Islamic finance hub. According to the Bahrain Economic Development Board, Bahrain is widely recognised as the global leader in Islamic finance.

In order to strengthen its relations with the Middle East and India, Jersey Finance wants to open a new overseas office.
The plan is to succeed this in the first quarter of 2011.
The organisation has two other overseas offices, in London and Hong Kong.
HSBC Middle East is regulated on Jersey, while Emirates NBD, the National Bank of Kuwait and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi all run elements of business on the island

AmInvestment Bank Group sets its target to RM25bil for next year from about RM22.3bil as at end-October.
This year, the division launched 12 funds and may introduce about the same number next year.
With an initial fund size of RM100mil, the newly-launched fund is expected to generate a double-digit return in the long term.

Sabana Shari'ah Compliant Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust raised S$664.4 million in gross proceeds, after pricing its initial public offering at S$1.05 per unit.
The company, which filed its prospectus to the Monetary Authority of Singapore last week, said it was planning to sell a total of 632.8 million units in the IPO.
The company intends to use the proceeds of the IPO to purchase properties and to pay off debt-related costs.