IslamicFinance.de

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Kuwait Finance House is looking for real estate investments in southern China and Europe.
Its real estate arm has investments primarily in key US cities, Malaysia, Shenzhen in China, and the Middle East.
Al-Ghannam said the company would prefer to invest in existing projects with local partners, rather than going into residential construction.

Qatar’s overseas investment portfolio is growing and the country is expected to spend tens of billions of dollars in the year ahead as it expands its investments around the world.
For example, the country wants to come to a capacity of export of 77 million tones a year, from bout 69 million tonnes currently.

The last few issuances had been oversubscribed and a similar trend was expected next year.
Amanie president and chief executive officer Dr Mohd Daud Bakar said elements of structured products were now being incorporated into sukuk as it helped render capital projection and certainty of return to investors.
Organised by Amanie, the Securities Commission and Bursa Malaysia, the International Syariah Investment Convention will be held from Nov 30 to Dec 1 in Kuala Lumpur.

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announces that the monthly issue of the short-term Islamic leasing bonds, Sukuk Al-Ijara, has been oversubscribed by 215%.
The Sukuk Al-Ijara are issued by the CBB on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The new chairman of Tamweel is Dubai Islamic Bank Chief Executive Abdulla Ahali Al Hamli. The reason is that last week the board of directors was disolved.
The company said Hamli replaces Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehyan as chairman while Mohamed Abdulla Al Nahdi was elected vice-chairman.

There will be launched two Islamic funds from Public Mutual Bhd, Public Islamic Alpha-40 Growth Fund (PIA40GF) and Public Islamic Infrastructure Bond Fund (PIINFBF).
The equity exposure of PIA40GF will range between 75 per cent and 98 per cent of its net asset value (NAV).
The initial issue price of PIA40GF and PIINFBF is RM0.2500 per unit and RM1.00 per unit, respectively, during the 21-day initial offer period from Nov 16 to Dec 6 2010.
The minimum initial investment for both funds is RM1,000 and the minimum additional investment is RM100.

The five-year loan was used to fund Dubai Group's acquisition of a 49 per cent stake in Bank Islam Malaysia.
Dubai Group has stakes in Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital, Greek group Marfin Investment Group and Australia's Citigold Corp.

Islamic bonds rose this week extending two quarters of underperformance relative to emerging-market securities, on concern slumping sales will reduce trading.
Sales of Islamic bonds dropped this year as defaults, debt restructuring and falling property prices in the Middle East hurt investor confidence. Issuance from Malaysia, the world’s biggest sukuk market, fell 31 percent as companies cut infrastructure spending following last year’s recession.

A rebound in Gulf Islamic bond market depends on the performance of the property prices.
Real estate prices in Dubai have tumbled more than 50 percent since their 2008 peak and 30 percent in neighboring Abu Dhabi as banks tightened mortgage lending and speculators fled the market.
The average yield on Sukuk sold by GCC issuers rose six basis points yesterday to 5.37 percent, paring its decline this quarter to 72 points.
Since Sept. 30 the difference between the average yield for emerging-market Sukuk and the London interbank offered rate widened 0.8 basis point to 336.6 yesterday and has narrowed 36 points.

QInvest, Qatar's leading investment bank, has acquired a 28% stake in Asian Business Exhibition & Conferences Ltd (ABECL), India's leading exhibitions and conferences organizer.
The proceeds from the investment will be used to expand ABECL's operations in India and to establish an international presence.

Konsortium Lebuhraya Utara-Timur (KL) Sdn Bhd (Kesturi) has completed a restructuring exercise of its RM780 million Sukuk Istisna.
The exercise was expected to improve Kesturi's liquidity and overall financial position.

Aref Investment Group signed an agreement with creditor banks to restructure a one-billion-dollar debt.
The deal allows the group to repay the debt over five years with an 18-month grace period.

ABC Islamic Bank announced a net profit of $1.6 million for the nine months ending 30th September 2010.
Shareholders’ equity at 30 September 2010 stood at $181 million.

With trouble at financial institutions in the Middle East concentrated in the Gulf, particularly in the UAE, Kuwait and to some extent Bahrain, the banks know that putting all of their investment eggs in the Gulf's basket makes for inadequate and ultimately dangerous geographical narrowness.
Given the Gulf's unique circumstances, it may make more sense for banks to sell off lines of business where they are weak and acquire parts of other banks where they want to become stronger.

Tamweel reported a 28.6 per cent decline in third-quarter profits as income from its home financing activities dipped.
Dubai Islamic Bank's (DIB) purchase of a controlling 57.3 per cent stake in Tamweel in September, followed by the resumption of mortgage lending this month.
Now DIB plans to transfer most of its mortgage activities to Tamweel.
Tamweel shareholders are set to meet tomorrow to discuss appointing a new board and approving financial statements for 2008 and 2009. Sheikh Khaled, who sits on numerous company boards in the UAE, is planning to leave his position as Tamweel chairman to make room for DIB executives who will integrate its mortgage business with the bank's.

Investors are favoring Malaysia’s Islamic bonds over shorter-term bills as overseas funds increase holdings in the world’s biggest sukuk market,curbing therefore the inflation.
Inflation, cooled in September, enabled Bank Negara to avoid raising borrowing costs in the next few months.

Dubai Women's College announced the names of companies and corporations, which have recently offered financial aid for transportation and laptops needed by limited-income students.
Some of these are: Al Maktoum Foundation with 61 laptops bought, Noor Islamic Bank with 41 laptops.
This shows how important it is to invest in education in order to ensure sustainable development in the country.

Lebanon is considering legislation to boost Islamic finance after the industry failed to garner 1 percent of total banking assets.
The central bank is working with a group of local lenders to amend a 2004 law that allowed the establishment of Shariah- compliant banks.
Lebanon is seeking to diversify its banking industry and rebuild the country after the conflict with Israel in 2006 and a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.
The economy grew 9 percent last year and is forecast by the International Monetary Fund to expand another 8 percent this year.

The Islamic Financial Services Board will organize two seminars in December 2010. The two seminars will include:
1) the legal issues in the Islamic financial services industry;
2) the role of Islamic finance in the development of Africa.
The Seminars are open for participation by the IFSB member organisations, as well as the business, legal, and financial community at large.