IslamicFinance.de

Malaysia plans a $2 billion global sukuk offering, with the sukuk launch arranged to be issued in early July.
The issue is Malaysia's second offering in two years and comes at a time when the global sukuk market is showing tentative signs of recovery.

The 1st Quarter 2011 issue of the Malaysian ICM quarterly bulletin published by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) is now available online.

Because of the strict rules of Islamic finance, many countries have avoided the worst of the 2008 economic meltdown. Now officials in the Russian republic of Tatarstan are hoping that Islamic finance can help them attract direct investment from Muslim nations around the world.
Delegates from as far afield as Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates were welcomed last week in a summit on Islamic finance in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan.

After a landmark sharia REIT and local currency sukuk from Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional stirred the city-state's interest in wholesale Islamic banking, more Singapore companies are willing to raise Islamic financing.
Companies are looking for sukuk and Islamic private equity deals as an avenue to reach a broader class of investors, including those who can only put their money in assets that comply with religious principles. OCBC Al-Amin's chief executive, Syed Abdull Aziz Syed Kechik, added that these include Middle Eastern investors and government funds that invest according to Islamic tenets, such as Malaysia's Pilgrims Fund.

KFH Research Limited (KFHR) is planned to be the world's first Islamic investment research arm to be established by an Islamic bank (Kuwait Finance House).
KFHR's core strength is in its Islamic finance research and advisory works. It works closely with the Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM), IFSB, various Government linked organisations in Malaysia and the GCC; and are also exploring common research with the IMF.

Because of the recent launch by Bank Negara Malaysia of its new Islamic monetary management instrument, the Bank Negara Monetary Notes-Istithmar (BNMN-Istithmar), the attention of the global Islamic capital market is once again on Malaysia.
It seems that at the same time, the Malaysian government has appointed the local Maybank Group, the CIMB Group, Citigroup and HSBC to lead arrange a third global sovereign US dollar sukuk offering.

The GCC Islamic banking community is well positioned to build on a leadership role versus other potential competing centers such as Malaysia, Iran or even the UK.
GCC Islamic banks have also prooved their ability to be more innovative in terms of product development and provision of services as they compete for business with conventional banks. However competition in the GCC has also outcome as a fragmented Islamic finance industry with most local institutions remaining relatively minor players on a global scale.

In order to help the government of Malaysia with a planned sale of U.S. dollar denominated Islamic notes, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd., Citigroup Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc and Malayan Banking Bhd. were hired.

The ASEAN Equity fund will target medium- to long-term capital growth by investing in a portfolio of equities in the ASEAN markets with specific focus on the markets of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand.
The fund has an offer period to June 26, 2011.

Elaf Bank has been given a license by the Ministry of Finance Malaysia to open a branch office in Malaysia. The license was handed during a formal ceremony held at Bank Negara Malaysia.
The bank wants to start its branch office operations in Kuala Lumpur immediately, now that it has fulfilled the formalities required for obtaining the license.

Family Takaful Summit Malaysia will be held on June 23 and 24 in Malaysia. Over 500 takaful operators and agents would come together to discuss the growth potential for takaful in Malaysia and identify unique opportunities for players in the family takaful market.
Family takaful grew 28% annually over the last five years and now represents more than 80% of Malaysia's total takaful market.

Aspiring Islamic finance centres like Singapore and Malaysia may see an inflow of funds in search of Islamic banking alternatives.
Analysts said the recent turmoil in the Middle East has made some syariah-compliant investors to pull their money out of that region. They also think that Islamic finance has huge potential to appeal to non-Muslim investors as well. They believe that Islamic finance can be demystified and better understood with more investor education.

Malaysia is going to invest in 5 projects from Kazahstan. This projects include investments in a Kazakh Islamic bank, oil and gas exploration by Petronas, cattle breeding, energy generation and the construction of a hotel.
The projects are expxcted to begin as soon as possible.
Jambul district of Kazakhstan and National Feedlot Corp Sdn Bhd signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cattle rearing, while their produce would be exported to Malaysia and neighbouring countries.

Esso Malaysia Bhd has redeemed and cancelled its RM300m ($98m) Islamic commercial paper notes from their 2004/2011 program because it has decided to propose a new 2011/2018 Islamic commercial paper program of the same size that received a preliminary short-term P1 rating from RAM Ratings.

It appears that Malaysia is planning a 10-year Sukuk denominated in the beleaguered currency.
Before 2010 issue Malaysia had only tapped the international Islamic debt capital market on two occasions before: once in 2002 and once in 2001. The 2002 issue was also a 5-year Ijarah Sukuk and was for $600m.

In a recent survey, HSBC shows that 68% of the Malaysians worry about their retirement. The survey contains interviews with more than 17,000 people in 17 countries.
The survey reveiles that although 69 per cent of Malaysians are looking forward for the freedom that retirement gives you, 24 per cent are concerned about the cost of caring for their parents in their old age.

Barwa Bank and National Petroleum Services Group (NPS) made an agreement to refinance an existing syndication and support its expansion and working capital. All this will be worth QR529m.
NPS group provides drilling and well services to customers in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries in the Middle East, North Africa, Far East, and Europe.
Its state-of-the-art equipment and sectorial services are embracing Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Syria, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Libya, and Iraq.

It appears that Malaysia is going to choose Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd and HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd to advise on a global Islamic sovereign bond to raise more than US$1 billion. An anonimous source told that this could start even next month.
The government seems to be arranging a 10-year dollar-denominated sukuk, in its second sovereign sale of Shariah-compliant debt in a year.

Lee Khee Joo, the Financial Sector Talent Enrichment Programme (FSTEP)'s head, underlined the fact that human capital was an essential enabler for the financial services sector as the industry required highly-qualified people to continue innovating and raising standards.
FSTEP trains and prepares highly-calibre graduates for employment in the finance sector throughout the entire year.
Lee stated that the industry will be challenged in overcoming the talent shortage, specifically in the Islamic finance sector. He added that Malaysian financial institutions would also benefit from growing business relationships between Malaysia and China as well as India.

It seems that Malaysia will plan a 10- year dollar-denominated Islamic bond, this being its second sovereign sale of Shariah-compliant debt in a year.
The anonimous sources also stated that three local investment banks submitted pitches proposing a size of $500 million to $1.7 billion.