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The Sukuk insurance policy of the Jeddah-based Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Export Credit and Investment (ICIEC) is ready to roll out but the corporation to date has received no applications from sovereign issuers, Dr Abdul Rahman Taha, CEO of ICIEC, said. ICIEC has had initial inquiries from Egypt and Senegal regarding the credit enhancement for Ijarah-based sovereign Sukuk issuances. A major drawback of the Sukuk Insurance Policy is that ICIEC can only guarantee up to $125 million of an issuance, because of its lack of capacity. However, it has reached agreement with the insurance majors to provide further capacity for sovereign Sukuk issuances. ICIEC is expecting more business to come from industrialized countries ECAs, and has signed agreements with Atradius, the Dutch ECA, and with Ducroire Delcredere, the Belgium ECA.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is actively involved in supporting African governments’ efforts to diversify funding through Islamic capital markets, according to Kodeidja Malle Diallo, director, group risk management department of IDB. n addition, the IDB Group and group entities are committed in supporting development projects and capital market linked Islamic fund raising efforts. IDB Group’s portfolio investments in sovereign sukuks will be purely driven by credit worthiness of issuing sovereigns. Despite the strong potential for developing Islamic capital markets in Africa, the plans are moving at a slow pace. At a political level, many countries are yet to agree on what state assets should become collateral (underlying) for a sukuk issue. Additionally, relatively low yields in conventional bonds could also emerge as a challenge for sukuk issues in these markets.

Nigeria's Jaiz Bank is currently devising a strategy, leveraging on its relationship with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), which will enable it invest and help facilitate financing of the nation’s power sector. Representatives of IDB are expected in Abuja for advanced talks. $3.4 billion is currently being sort by government to bridge the yawning infrastructure gap in the electricity transmission sub-sector, considered to be the weakest link in the power value chain. Last month, minister of power, Chinedu Nebo, suggested that Nigerian banks should consider forming consortiums to provide the much needed funding. Jaiz Bank as an entity is on its own not able to finance such large ticket transactions, so leveraging on this relationship with IDB is crucial to being able to invest in the power sector.

In September 2012, the Central Bank of Nigeria launched the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles. The adoption and implementation of these principles are compulsory and require Nigerian financial institutions to develop a management approach that balances environmental and social risks. Since its launch, there have been a series of initiatives and dynamism towards embedding sustainability in the Nigerian banking sector. However, sustainable banking in Nigeria could be abandoned if it is not pursued by subsequent Central Bank governors. Unfortunately, the Nigerian business environment is particularly characterised by poor governance and weak consumer voice, which will in turn have implications for the success or failure of the longevity of the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles.

Global Islamic Finance is expected to maintain its rapid pace of growth, strengthening its credibility as a real alternative to conventional finance. However, structural problems continue to limit its potential while its growth has made the industry more sensitive to global economic fluctuations. The contrasting fortunes shaping Islamic Finance will be the subject of a conference to be hosted by S&P in Dubai on 2 October, 2013. Prospects for the Sukuk sector will be one of the key focuses of the Conference. Another major theme is the widening sovereign adoption of Islamic Finance instruments. S&P analysts from across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America and a panel of senior Islamic Finance industry participants will speak at the S&P Islamic Finance Conference.

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) and Bangladesh Bank has successfully organised a "Seminar on Prospects and Challenges in the Development of Islamic Finance for Bangladesh" on 23 and 24 September 2013 in Dhaka. The seminar aimed to create greater awareness on the latest developments on the Islamic financial services industry, and to discuss the issues in further augmenting its role in Bangladesh. The meeting consisted of five sessions where recent developments in the Islamic capital market, regulatory frameworks, microfinance among others were discussed. At the end of the one and a half day seminar, IFSB assured Bangladesh Bank of its constant support for the various initiatives to strengthen the Islamic finance in its member countries.

Malaysia is tightening rules for the $307 billion of stocks now deemed in compliance with Shariah law as it seeks to attract more investment from overseas Muslims. The Securities Commission will require companies to limit debt and cash that don’t conform to Koranic principles to less than 33 percent of total assets to qualify for Shariah listing, from no provision previously. The regulator will publish a revised list of equities next month from the current 801 that comply with religious tenets. The new regulations put the nation on a par with the conditions needed for inclusion in the Dow Jones Islamic Market World Index, which has a market capitalization of $14.9 trillion.

Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry , in partnership with Thomson Reuters , organised the first roundtable discussion for media on 'What is the Islamic Economy?' as a prelude to the 'Global Islamic Economy Summit' taking place in Dubai on November 25 and 26, 2013. Dubai is already enjoying a high status for Islamic banking and is in the process of enhancing halal food industry, trade policies and commercial laws, and Islamic tourism among other sectors and this Summit will provide the impetus to the future growth of the Islamic Economy. The Summit's topics of discussion will include the six major pillars of the Islamic economy: Islamic Finance; Halal Food; Halal Lifestyle; Halal Travel; SME Development; and Islamic Economy Infrastructure.

Cheraman Group, India’s first Sharia-compliant non-banking company is planning to fund several infrasturcture and industrial projects in the country. The company is gearing up to raise a large portion of its authorized capital of Rs10 billion (Dh588 million) from investors in the Middle East. Some of the directors of the group’s holding company Cheraman Financial Services Limited (CFSL), in which the Government of Kerala has a 11 per cent stake, met in Dubai last week and had consultations with senior officials of some of UAE’s banks and financial institutions as well as high net worth investors.Some of the projects under consideration include petrochemical and chemical plants and airport.

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry launched Anchor 100 Initiative to attract top world businesses to move to Dubai by highlighting the main 11 reasons to invest in Dubai. The reasons include low taxes and incentives, location and infrastructure, and qualified labor force. Besides, the Dubai Chamber together with Thomson Reuters will host the Global Islamic Economy Summit taking place in Dubai on November 25 and 26, 2013. According to Sayd Farook, Global Head of Islamic Finance at Thomson Reuters, there is still a huge untapped potential for Islamic Finance as 72 per cent of Muslims are non-banked. Growing further will need broadening the appeal of Islamic finance as well as targeting opportunities for growth in emerging Islamic markets.

Africa has big potential for Islamic finance. Nigerian Jaiz Bank for example aims to expand outside northern Nigeria and open 100 branches by 2017. Local conventional banks are getting ready to move into Islamic finance too, including Sterling Bank, which recently gained a licence to open an Islamic window. Despite Kenya’s smaller Muslim population compared to Nigeria, the country’s Islamic finance sector is also emerging. Gulf African Bank for example enjoyed over 154% net profit growth to $2.8 million. Other countries like Zambia are eager to catch up. However, the lack of competition might be a challenge, as well as conventional banking laws dictating Islamic finance.

Waqf (Wakaf) is the missing piece in Malaysia's Islamic financial system despite the country being the market leader with various sophisticated products and services. According to CIMB Islamic Bank chief executive officer Badlisyah Abd Ghani, waqf in a commercial manner is missing in the market today. Badlisyah said to have waqf in the financial market, there is a need for a conducive legal framework that will allow it for its incorporation in an effective manner.

Dubai is not currently in negotiations with Abu Dhabi to refinance $20 billion of crisis-related debt that will come due in 2014. The borrowed amount comprised $10 billion from the UAE central bank and $5 billion each from two state-owned banks in Abu Dhabi, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Al Hilal Bank. The central bank debt is due to mature in February 2014, and the commercial bank debt in November 2014. Debt market analysts believe Abu Dhabi may quietly roll over the debt if Dubai is not ready to pay it back next year.

Malaysia's Shariah-compliant banks should be roped in to manage the country's 1.2 billion ringgit ($375 million) worth of properties held as Islamic endowments. Prime Minister Najib Razak announced this month that the Malaysian Wakaf Foundation will be turned into a corporate entity to derive more value from assets held by the trust. The move to open wakaf (endorsement) management to the private sector may boost business for Malaysia's Islamic banks towards growing their share of the country's total banking assets to 40 percent by 2020 from 24.1 percent presently. The Malaysian Wakaf Foundation will meet the government's Economic Planning Unit this month to finalize its immediate plans

Fitch Ratings has assigned Al Hilal Bank's USD2,500,000,000 trust certificate issuance programme an expected Long-term rating of A+ and expected Short-term rating of F1. Key rating drivers are solely Al Hilal's Issuer Default Ratings.

Islamic investment firm Arcapita is the first Gulf company to emerge from U.S. bankruptcy under Chapter 11 rules. Arcapita’s plan is to transfer its assets into a new holding company which will dispose of them over time to pay off creditors and gradually wind-down the firm. Arcapita’s creditors include Barclays, CIMB, Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Bank, Standard Chartered and the Central Bank of Bahrain – its largest creditor with $255.1 million owed.

The creation of a credit bureau in the UAE where consumers' information is shared independently is an essential step in ensuring the financial services market and lenders are dealing with borrowers who can genuinely afford to borrow more. Al Etihad Credit Bureau is scheduled to be up and running by 2015. Already officials say that once borrowers' information is opened up for all financial institutions to check, there will be an immediate and freezing effect on lenders. If the agency had existed before - where information was reviewed in a transparent and neutral manner - there would be fewer expatriates to flee, fewer behind bars, and more maturity in the marketplace all around.

Active collaboration between Islamic finance and the forms of finance generally referred to as sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) has not occurred yet. Islamic finance and SRI share some obvious similarities in their objectives, methods and claims. Both seem to trigger similar expectations among their proponents of being ethically different from conventional finance. They also face similar criticism of not being able to live to up to these expectations. Although SRI is older and larger than Islamic finance, which is estimated between $1 to $2 trillion in terms of global assets, both are relatively small and growing segments.

Islamic pensions are making inroads in several majority-Muslim countries, and their success may help the growth of asset management industries across much of Asia and the Middle East. Most pension plans around the world are state-funded. But many countries are trying to develop private pension sectors as a way to deepen their financial markets, and Islamic finance can become a significant part of this effort. If state-owned pensions in major Islamic markets shifted a portion of their money into sharia-compliant schemes, that could add between $160 billion and $190 billion to the sector. Pakistan for example created a voluntary pension system (VPS) in 2005 which now holds 3.4 billion rupees

Al Salam Bank-Bahrain has acquired an equity stake in the Education Experts Company for Education & Training, one of the fastest growing education companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mr. Abdullah bin Mansour Al Qahtani, Chairman of the Education Experts Company expressed pleasure in partnering with the Bank. Meanwhile, the Bahrain All-Share Index declined by 0.11% to 1,183.59 points on Wednesday, and Al Salam Bank-Bahrain lost 2.15% to BD0.091.