IslamicFinance.de

Dear Reader,

Islamic finance had another great year. Many of its market segments progressed, like for example the Sukuk market gaining more maturity. Despite the ongoing debt crisis a good sign of hope and happiness.

Nevertheless we are - as an industry - still not satisfied with the achievements. Islamic finance shall grow stronger in terms of social impact and in terms of substance:

Hence, please allow me to re-iterate my call for participating in international initiatives beyond just our own industry to learn and spread knowledge and experience:

Calling Islamic financial institutions to become member of the United Nations Finance Initiative
http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/811

Inshallah we see more Islamic financial institutions taking a lead in SRI, Social Impact Investing and other approaches while contributing with Islamic finance knowdledge to the conventional industry. The time is now; and there are signs that Malaysia aims for a lead:
http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/4151

Dear Reader,

The German language book on Islamic finance by the Editor of IslamicFinance.de and Dr Wackerbeck from Booz Consultants is now translated to Chinese.

Please find the biographical information below:

Authors: Michael Gassner / Philipp Wackerbeck
Title: Islamic Finance – Islam-gerechte Finanzanlagen und
Finanzierungen
ISBN number: 978-7-5139-0217-5
PUBLISHER: Beijing - Democracy and Construction Press
Pre-Publication Date: 2012.7

Full biographical details: http://db.lib.bua.edu.cn/asord/asorditem.php?asord_marc_no=0001344540

Orders: http://www.amazon.cn/%E4%BC%8A%E6%96%AF%E5%85%B0%E9%87%91%E8%9E%8D-%E7%B...

Book review about the German language original: http://www.rpi-virtuell.net/workspace/24686AD5-936C-476D-9EA0-65E2968590...

Best regards,

Michael Gassner

IslamicFinance.de offers an overview about new job openings of October 2012 herewith - firms aiming to be included please send a job profile/hyperlink to newsdesk@islamicfinance.de - the full details of the advert has to be accessed by the hyperlink below the brief description:

Product Manager, Islamic Banking

Standard Chartered Bank - United Arab Emirates-SCB (United Arab Emirates)
Job Description
?Development of Islamic wealth products across CBMS, insurance and investment streams to create customer value proposition.
?Ensure successful implementation of the Islamic banking strategy across high value segment.
?Concentrated responsibility to work with the Priority/Wealth/Private/SME product/frontline teams and support functions to build on the current Islamic banking capabilities and to create seamless customer experience
?Act as a product specialist for RMs on client meetings to introduce and explain the Saadiq solutions to meet their needs
?Financial budgeting and business forecast. Evaluation of financial performance.

An announcement by Sustainable Options Ltd sias that a new hedge fund - Sustainable Resources Fund - will be launched. As an open ended hedge fund, it will appeal to both green and Islamic investors. Its goal is to raise $100m for investment in a series of sectors like agro-forestry, land and sustainable agriculture. The fund has appointed an investment manager - Alpha Wealth Management - and a fund administrator - Apex Fund Services.

After a seven-year string of losses, the US-based Shariah Capital will delist from London's Alternative Investment Market (Aim). According to the hedge fund manager, a cancellation of the shares will be sought. The company expressed its opinion that cost of maintaining the listing, which is US$300,000 per year, is better spent elsewhere.

Indonesia plans to let Shariah-compliant banks hedge against exchange-rate movements. This way, the growth in Islamic financial assets will be stimulated and the gap with Malaysia’s industry will be narrowed. The instruments, available in Malaysia since 2006, have been approved by the Bank Indonesia, the National Shariah Board and the Indonesia Institute of Accountants. As a result of hedging, Bank Muamalat Indonesia will be able to hold more global bonds and issue more dollar loans.

Arcapita Bank BSC was given permission to use cash within a budget and pay employees in bankruptcy.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane in Manhattan certified Arcapita’s requests on an interim basis to escape “irreparable harm” being done to the company.
Arcapita was forced to search bankruptcy after hedge funds, including Euroville, derailed restructuring talks on its $1.1 billion loan due in March.

Dear Reader,

IslamicFinance.de is privately funded for many years. Now, for the first time, you have the possibility to make a contribution, from one Dollar upwards!

The technical details, and the money transfer via paypal is organised by Kapipal a new online fundraising tool:

http://www.kapipal.com/islamicfinance

On the blog I gave some more thoughts about Islamic finance media for those interested: http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/3454

Please also note: The fundraising action has a deadline, so act today, not tomorrow and tell your friends about it!

All donors who will leave a message will be listed in the article, which follows after closure of the fundraising period.

I am happy to meet you in person either on 19th March in Milano (http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/3396) or on 10th May in Frankfurt (http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=BAFINII) at the respective Islamic finance conference.

Wa at Taufiq min Allah, all the best,

Michael Saleh Gassner

Dear Readers,

Islamic finance media are a tricky service. This is true for various reasons: The Internet eats up the revenues, because everything ought to be free. Islamic banks are still a niche phenomena, and international banks like UBS or Deutsche are almost as large as the entire global Islamic finance industry. Consequently the marketing budgets are much lower, too.

Last not least, who should advertise? The banks among themselves or to the clients? Advertising from bank to bank, does usually not make much sense, but real client oriented formats are hard to find, too. May be this is a niche. Others, who could finance Islamic finance media are basically the service providers to the banks, but due to the limited number of Islamic financial insitutions, direct marketing, e.g. face to face meetings will be preferred.

This in short is the background why Islamic finance media are not so well established in terms of journalism and research, but mostly reflecting the press release as criticised by the makers of the Islamic Globe. See: http://www.theislamicglobe.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article...

The 2nd Quarter 2011 issue of the Malaysian ICM quarterly bulletin published by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) is now available online at:
http://www.sc.com.my/eng/html/icm/11_2Q_msianicm.pdf

Stocks in Ajman Bank fell 1.19 per cent to 83 fils a share. The bank's stocks have, however, gone up 4.2 per cent since the start of the year.
The bank's profits are also revealing the first solid growth for some time.
The bank has also showed a desire to concentrate on women's banking and spread out its network with up to four new branches.

The Thai laws were discussed by Siripen Kaodara and Stephen Jaggs.
Although Thailand had a Muslim population of approximately nine million and an Islamic banking system which dates back to 1998, it previously lacked the necessary legal infrastructure for high profile Islamic products such as sukuk.
Three years ago, Thailand passed the Act on Trusts for Capital Market Transactions (Trust Act) which introduced the concept of ‘trust’ into the Thai civil law system. The main regulation, which sets out the approval and filing requirements for sukuk, took effect on the 16th January 2011 (Sukuk Regulation).

A report recently published by Frost & Sullivan showes that Islamic asset management is gaining interest among investors as an avenue for alternative investment. They claim that the center is beginning to be new categories of Islamic products like hedge funds, fund of funds, index funds and exchange traded funds.
However, the report also states that the Islamic asset management industry is provoked by a lack of depth in the GCC capital market, causing inefficiencies in portfolio management.

In order to reduce risks of financial transactions, member countries of the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) may soon enjoy a hedging facility.
IIFM member countries would sign a master agreement, called a tahawwut agreement, to accommodate the hedging facility.
The agreement, according to Mulya Siregar, Bank Indonesia’s director for sharia banking, was needed to ease the risks of currency-related transactions amid currency concerns affecting both developed and emerging economies.

Steuerliche Würdigung im nationalen und internationalen Kontext

Der Markt Islamic Finance wächst rasant und umfasst bereits heute ein erhebliches Anlagevolumen. Demgegenüber besteht ein großer Kapitalbedarf in der europäischen, speziell auch in der deutschen Realwirtschaft ebenso wie ein Bedarf an Investoren.

Bei der Umsetzung von Islamic-Finance-Vertragsmodellen kann die Besteuerung im Einzelfall eine ausschlaggebende Rolle spielen. Daher erläutert die Autorin in diesem Buch für ausgewählte schariakonforme Finanzierungs- und Anlageformen zunächst die Scharia-Rahmenbedingungen der jeweiligen Vertragsmodelle aus deutscher rechtlicher, ertragsteuerlicher und verkehrsteuerlicher Sicht. Die steuerlichen Fragestellungen werden anhand von Beispielen im grenzüberschreitenden Corporate Bereich im Schnittpunkt von deutschem internationalem Steuerrecht und ausländischem Steuerrecht der weiteren beteiligen Staaten verdeutlicht.

Inhalt

* Einleitung
* Grundzüge von Islamic-Finance-Vertragsmodellen
- eigenkapitalbasierte („Musharaka“ und „Mudaraba“),
- fremdkapitalbasierte („Murabaha“ und „Tawarruq“) sowie

ResearchGATE is the largest social network for academic research globally. Dedicated social profiles of researchers allow to enter academic careers, published articles in journals and books, announce fields of research for international exchange just to name a few of the features.

IslamicFinance.de took another effort to create a dedicated group and invite researchers globally to use this platform and foster research in Islamic finance. The last academic initiative taken was to sponsor and start a full fledged platform for the Islamic Finance WIKI, the online encyclopedia.

Researchers are invited to participate in these initiatives.

Please visit:
http://www.researchgate.net/group/Islamic_Finance/

Standard Chartered Bank sees opportunities in Islamic derivative products but is steering clear of hedge funds, another grey area of Shariah-compliant finance, the head of its Saadiq unit said.

Standard Chartered Bank sees opportunities in Islamic derivatives products but is steering clear of hedge funds, another grey area of sharia-compliant finance, the head of its Saadiq unit said.

Dubai is opening up its inaugural hedge fund to investors after an index-beating debut. The Middle East emirate's first fund of funds, which was launched at the beginning of 2009, beat comparable indexes by posting a 41% return last year. The fund, up slightly more than 1% through March 28, is still outperforming benchmarks this year.