IslamicFinance.de

Although Takaful in Malaysia is becoming an increasingly crowded marketplace, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia continues to believe that it can grow further in its home market.
Mohamed Hassan Kamil, the group managing director, suggested that the company will be taking more agents and will instigate both a retirement insurance scheme and an investment-linked product over the summer to stimulate further demand.

The KFH Cash Management Solutions (CMS) was opened by Kuwait Finance House (KFH) Malaysia. CMS is an online portal designed specifically to manage business banking transactions.
Its services are available seven days a week for convenience. CMS is offering the following type of banking services: account management, cheque management, payable management, bulk payments, salary services, trade services and investment account.

In order to further ride on the high demand for Shariah-based products in the country, HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd will underline more the focus for Islamic banking.
Jonathan Addis, executive director and deputy chief executive officer, stated that HSBC Malaysia will continue to invest in the country by opening new branches while more Islamic-based offerings will be rolled out to cater to the growing demand for Shariah-based products.

It seems that Arabian Gulf companies are arranging their first Shariah-compliant real-estate investment trusts.
The city-state’s Sabana Shariah Compliant Industrial REIT has advanced 2.2% to 94 Singapore cents since the shares reached a low of 92 cents on March 31.
Dubai' purpose is to list its REIT on the local exchange in less than a year, while two UAE companies plan offerings in Malaysia.

In order to get on with the promovation of he sustainability agenda for corporate Malaysia, Bursa Malaysia Bhd hopes to open up a sustainability index next year.
Presenting a paper on Sustainability Agenda for Corporate Malaysia, Selvarany Rasiah, Chief Regulatory Officer, stated that the index will be a catalyst for attracting more Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) funds to Malaysia.

Takaful Emarat and Reliance Asset Management (Malaysia) (RAMMY), the Islamic asset management arm of Reliance Capital Asset Management, India (RCAM), became partners. Ian Lancaster, Chief Executive Officer, is the one that gave the statement.
Takaful Emarat will offer its customers three Shari’ah-compliant funds managed by RAMMY - WSF Reliance Global Shariah Growth Fund, Reliance India Shariah Growth Fund, and the proposed Shariah Equity Growth fund investing into China and India.

Pre-summit event at 8th Annual IFSB Summit to discuss developments in liquidity management for the Islamic financial services industry

Kuala Lumpur, 15 April 2011 – The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is organising its 8th Summit "Enhancing Global Financial Stability: Challenges and Opportunities for Islamic Finance" on 10-13 May 2011 in Luxembourg. Banque centrale du Luxembourg is hosting the Summit. Three pre-Summit events will be held on 10 - 11 May 2011 at the Chambre de Comemrce Luxembourg. These are:

1. Workshop on Islamic Finance and the IFSB Standards for Institutions offering Islamic Financial Services and Islamic Capital Markets;
2. Country Showcases by Malaysia and Luxembourg; and
3. Special Session on Liquidity Management in the Islamic Financial Services Industry.

Workshop on Islamic Finance and the IFSB Standards for Institutions offering Islamic Financial Services and Islamic Capital Markets, 10 May 2011

Reims Management School (RMS) will launch a pioneering certificate program in Islamic Banking and Finance, that will be held in partnership with the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The unicity of the programm consists in the fact that it offers both current students on the MSc in Finance and International Banking program, as well as executives, the possibility to study the Islamic banking system and capital markets.

1Malaysia Micro Protection Plan (1MMPP) has been created to intensify accessibility and affordability of insurance and takaful protection for Malaysians.
It appears that the plan was mainly for small businesses, micro enterprises and individuals seeking accessible and affordable financial protection in managing unexpected events such as death, illnesses, accidents, fires and loss of property.
Four options will be provided: life insurance, family takaful, general insurance and general takaful.

Bloomberg Professional initiated in february the Bloomberg Islamic Finance Platform (ISLM), that is described to be more connected to the community and to provide analytical tools to maximise investment performance in the rapidly growing market for Shari'ah-compliant products and services.
Bloomberg will also launch, together with the Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM), a Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) sukuk index that supplies a benchmark for MYR sovereign sukuk investments.

The Malaysian Islamic banking system (MIBS) acomplished a very important approval by the resilience of the industry and its sustained recovery. Bank Negara Malaysia's 2010 Financial Stability Report shows that the MIBS were still resilient throughout 2010 supported by high capitalization.
Islamic banking institutions were very profitable having a fix income and improving their assets. This profitability allowed the bank to Islamic banking institutions to provide competitive returns to their depositors.

Socially responsible investing (SRI) report about an investment strategy that seeks to maximise both financial return and social good.
The most prefered corporate practices are environmental stewardship, consumer protection, human rights, and diversity.
The rise of SRI funds
The European SRI market value was estimated at US$7trillion at 2010 end-year. The prognose is that it will change magnitude to US$26.5 trillion by 2015.
SRI in Malaysia
With continuous progress in business sustainability practices in Malaysia, the request for SRI funds is growing.

Malaysia wants to sell RM30 billion (S$12.48 billion) of local-currency Islamic bonds under a programme. The purpose is to help finance a mass-transit railway in Kuala Lumpur.
There is a possibility that domestic sources will subscribe to the sukuk issuance.
the estimation of the government on the cost of the network and rolling stock is RM48 billion. The railway will cover a 20-kilometre radius around Kuala Lumpur's city centre and carry two million passengers a day.

Malaysia's Bank Islam has a plan to acquire a stake in Indonesian lender PT Bank Muamalat.
Some sources say that Bank Islam decided against a bid as it was deemed too expensive.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak states that the passing of the law to give tax advantages to Korean companies issuing Islamic sukuk bonds doesn't make it easier for terorists to take money away.

The attenders at the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) will be, among others, central bank governors, representatives from Bahrain, the UAE, Jordan, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Bahrain, and many international finance and economic experts.
The host of the conference will be the Central Bank of Luxembourg and the theme is "Enhancing Global Financial Stability. Challenges and Opportunities for Islamic Finance".

Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank (KTPB) has set the tone by venturing abroad into Germany, Dubai, Bahrain and Kazakhstan and by pioneering new products based on physical gold and exporting them to markets in Malaysia and elsewhere through the global network of KFH. These include gold-backed exchange traded funds (ETFs), gold-backed banking accounts and sukuk. Ufuk Uyan, CEO of Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank has been at the forefront of the expansion of KTPB, taking it to the top 10 tier of Turkish banks. Here Ufuk Uyan discusses with Arab News the state of the participation banking sector in Turkey, the performance of KTPB in 2010 and the prospects and challenges for the industry in 2011 and beyond.

The Quarterly Bulletin of Malaysian Islamic Capital Market by the Securities Commission Malaysia is online; it features thoughts of Professor Volker Nienhaus on Regulations and Shariah in the aftermath of the crisis and contains further market updates.

CIMB Asset Management has launched a monthly newsletter about the Sukuk market:

"Industry practitioners are positive that 2011 will favour the sukuk industry and various indicators show that a delayed resuscitation of the Islamic bond market is on track this year. As economies recover and high crude oil prices help to revive the market, sales of international sukuk are forecasted to grow over USD22 billion this year, which represents a 29 per cent increase from the previous year. The upswing in corporate spending, an increase in issuers seeking funding diversification and improving investor sentiment in the Gulf are also expected to fuel the sukuk market globally.

According to the HSBC/NASDAQ Dubai US Dollar Sukuk Index, the difference between average yields for emerging-market sukuk and the London interbank offered rate narrowed to 282.7 basis points on
6 January 2011 - the least since August 2008. Industry practitioners agree that the low sukuk yield spreads should entice sukuk issuers to tap the market.

Nigeria plans to license at least two Islamic financial institutions this year.
It will get help from Malaysia to expand its Sharia-compliant industry in a nation where 70 per cent of people have no access to regular banking services.
Nigeria signed an agreement with Malaysia's central bank to cooperate in Islamic financial services, which included boosting micro-lending.