IslamicFinance.de

#SouthKorea’s Woori Bank has launched a Korea Desk in Iran to help Korean companies with their business activities in the Islamic Republic. Central Bank of Iran's deputy Gholam-Ali Kamyab said this move could prepare the ground for the opening of Woori branches in Iran. Korean companies will be able to use Woori Bank’s service in the Iranian bank or the Korean bank’s outlets in neighboring cities of Bahrain and Dubai for their businesses in Iran.

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Korea's Woori Bank, aimed at further strengthening co-operation and sharing business opportunities. The signing ceremony held in Doha was signed by QIB's group CEO Bassel Gamal and Lee Dong-Gun, deputy CEO of Woori Bank, and attended by senior executives from both the banks. The partnership is aimed at servicing both Qatari and South Korean entities that are currently engaged in business activities in Qatar and/or South Korea; and companies that are intending in the future to set up such type of business arrangements.

CEO of the Franco-American Alliance for Islamic Finance (FAAIF), Camille Paldi, explained that, while South Korea moved forward to entering the global Islamic finance market but its tax code still has to be amended to facilitate sukuk issuance. South Korea is one of the major exporters to Islamic nations and wants to become the hub of Islamic finance in East Asia.

National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA) has signed a Murabaha financing agreement with the Saudi British Bank (SABB) and the National Commercial Bank for SR822.6 million ($219 million). The money will be used to finance 80% of the cost of constructing two general cargo ships and 20% will be financed by the company and optional two ships that were contracted with Hyundai MIPO Shipyard in South Korea earlier this year.
Repayment will start after three months from taking delivery of the ships and will be repaid in equal quarterly installments and a balloon payment at the end of the tenor of about (30 %) of the contract value.

South Korea will renew its push to allow tax exemptions on Islamic bonds issued by companies to help local borrowers tap growing Muslim wealth.
The government’s “top priority” at a parliament session starting on Feb. 18 will be to pass a bill on Islamic bonds and another to impose a levy on banks’ foreign-currency debt.

South Korea will renew its push to allow tax exemptions on Islamic bonds issued by companies to help local borrowers tap growing Muslim wealth.
The government’s “top priority” at a parliament session starting on Feb. 18 will be to pass a bill on Islamic bonds and another to impose a levy on banks’ foreign-currency debt.

Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world. Its capital city is Jakarta, which is located on the island of Java. Since the majority of the population of Indonesia are Muslims, Indonesia can be considered the largest Islamic state in the world in terms of population. The Indonesian economy is classified as a developing economy, and is known as a "Tiger Cub Economy".
This is a reference to the more economically advanced "Asian Tiger Economies" that include Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.

A South Korean parliamentary panel has reached a tentative agreement to give tax breaks to sukuk bonds, clearing the way for domestic companies to start to sell Islamic bonds begining with next year.
The finance ministry had proposed a revision to the tax code with the aim of treating sukuk as a bond so that South Korean issuers of sukuk could enjoy the same tax advantages as those applied to conventional bond issuers.

SOUTH Korea is keen to foster further cooperation with Malaysia to beef up its Islamic finance and services sector that is at its infancy stage.
Korea Investment and Securities head of Islamic finance Yul-Hee Lee said there has been many enquiries made by Korean companies on how it can raise funds using the sukuk.
Lee noted that the South Korean government is in the midst of fine-tuning laws on Islamic finance and introducing tax incentives but development is still at its early stage and will take time to be ready.
The South Korean government announced an Islamic financing tax regime for sukuk as early as August 2009.
South Korean firms have been using Islamic finance products for a couple of decades, but only in relation to their business activities in the Middle East.
Post-global economic crisis, Lee said the country is considering other options and diversifying its investments. Part of its plan is to tap into the Islamic finance market.

Despite the postponement by South Korea's National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee of pushing through a vote to approve a bill aimed at facilitating tax neutrality for the issuance of sukuk at end December 2009, local supporters of the introduction of Islamic finance products are confident that the delay is a minor setback.

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.