IslamicFinance.de

Here are four five theses, which introduce P2P's special wiki section on Mutual Coordination Economics: 1. Today we have the emergence of a new proto-system of production, Commons-Based Peer Production in which contributors are free to contribute to a common pool of shareable knowledge, code and design. 2. This emerging new system of value creation and distribution is not sustainable if contributors need to find work as labour for capital. 3. To achieve this, we advocate the use of Commons-Based Reciprocity Licenses such as the Peer Production License. 4. The production of immaterial common pools is already regulated through mutual coordination and stigmergy, i.e. coordination based on open and transparent signals of what is needed by the system.

The fourth-quarter results of leading Saudi banks show a number of these institutions are facing a squeeze on profits as both loans and deposits decline and asset quality deteriorates further. At the close of the fourth quarter, Saudi Hollandi Bank reported a 2.3 per cent fall in fourth-quarter net profit on higher staffing costs and provisions for bad loans. Saudi British Bank (SABB), an affiliate of HSBC Holdings, posted a 3.1 per cent drop in fourth-quarter net profit and Riyad Bank posted a 19.7 per cent fall in fourth-quarter net profit, in line with analysts’ forecasts as Samba Financial Group reported flat net profit for the fourth quarter. The notable exception was Al Rajhi Bank which reported a 28.2 per cent rise in its fourth-quarter net profit.

Many industry observers assert that all Islamic banking products in essence are replicas of conventional banking products, be they Islamic deposits or financing products based on leasing or trade-based contracts. A replica, however, by its very nature and definition is inferior to the original, and should sell for a significantly lower price. Islamic banking products are certainly not replicas in this sense, as in most cases they happen to be more expensive than their conventional counterparts. It is therefore not a co-incidence that it is more popular in the countries where Muslims have higher per-capita income and wealth. Within other countries, Islamic banking and finance is serving the relatively affluent segments of the society.

Fitch Ratings says it expects Turkish Islamic banks' loan growth to remain above the sector average, supported by new entrants to the market and increasing penetration, despite intense competition from conventional banks. Excluding the troubled Bank Asya, Islamic banks (participation banks) expanded their loan books 34% YoY in1H15, compared with sector's average of 25%. For 2016 Fitch forecasts 15%-20% loan growth for the sector. In a report published today, Fitch says return on equity could increase in 2016, underpinned by loan growth, but will be sensitive to non-performing loan (NPL) growth due to the banks' fairly high credit risk profiles and a volatile operating environment.

Customers wanting assurances their investments “will not be channelled into the typical sin industries” is one of the reasons cited for a growth in demand for Islamic finance in South Africa. That’s according to Amman Muhammad‚ the FNB Islamic Banking’s CEO. Over the last few years‚ the bank has seen a consistent rise in the number of South African citizens‚ irrespective of faith‚ who have approached them for various Islamic banking services such as investment accounts‚ vehicle and property finance, he stated. Muhammad said that personal principles are starting to influence the type of banking solutions people choose.

For Iran to resume business with the global banking world - for the first time since 2012 - its banks need to be linked to overseas lenders on SWIFT. The system, the Society for the Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, is used to transmit payments and letters of credit. A senior official with Iran's central bank said that all the private and state-owned banks have taken the necessary bureaucratic steps, regarding rejoining the SWIFT system. While international banks are expected to link up with their Iranian counterparts via SWIFT, Iran will also be looking to encourage foreign institutions to expand involvement in the country’s financial system. But for many foreign banks, there are concerns about being caught up in ongoing U.S. sanctions.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) today agreed on wide-ranging cooperation on environmental conservation in support of sustainable development and the fight against climate change. The Memorandum of Understanding, set to run until June 2018 initially, covers objectives common to the two organizations in the areas of climate change, agriculture and food security, eco-innovation and green economy, and Islamic finance. Capacity building in member countries in all these thematic areas will be supported. The overarching goal is to facilitate the implementation of both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Togo has reportedly signed three funding agreements worth 194 million U.S. dollars with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The agreements were signed Wednesday in Jeddah during the visit to Saudi Arabia by Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe. The first agreement worth around 131 million U.S. dollars concerns the construction of Adoua-Kara road which links five regions in Togo. Its completion will enable Burkina Faso to have direct access to Lome port. The second funding agreement will go towards improving and expanding access to basic education as well as supporting concerned institutions. The third agreement concerns the energy sector. It will see 46 million dollars spent on electrification of 43 villages in northern Togo.

Iran's capital market regulator wants to develop a market for mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and has published rules covering them, the latest move by authorities to revamp the financial sector. MBS could help to stimulate the debt market and spur housing construction in the country of about 80 million people. Iran has seen some issues of MBS but on a small scale, and active trade in them has not developed. The new MBS rules, released by the SEO last week, include strong consumer protection features. They also feature some particularly Iranian aspects that make them different from similar securities elsewhere. The central bank uses tools such as reserve requirement ratios and open market operations to conduct monetary policy.

Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Bank reported a 28.2 percent rise in its fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday, beating analyst forecasts as operating income was pushed up by higher fee income from banking services and other revenue. The kingdom's second-largest lender by assets made 1.95 billion riyals ($519.6 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, up from 1.52 billion riyals in the same period a year earlier. Samba Financial Group, the kingdom's third-largest bank by assets, reported flat net profit for the fourth quarter. It concludes a mixed earnings season for banks, with as many profit falls as rises at the kingdom's major lenders as the slump in oil prices begins to take some toll. Samba made a profit of 1.23 billion riyals in the three months to Dec. 31, the same figure it reported for the corresponding period a year earlier.

It is a common perception that the Arab world lags behind when it comes to financial inclusion. According to the 2014 Findex figures and excluding Gulf countries, the region indeed reports the highest percentage of financially excluded adults, with 80% of the population or about 200 million not having access to an account, and 95% not having access to credit. Yet, this has not always been the case. However, limited advocacy efforts concerted from within the industry as well as a lack of champions within public authorities both played a contributing factor here. Microfinance professionals can attest that 2010 marked the beginning of a new era, with positive signs of long-lasting, albeit arduous, change.

Kuwait's Boubyan Bank has received regulatory approval to issue a capital-boosting sukuk worth $250 million, the bank said in a bourse filing on Wednesday. The lender received approval from the Kuwaiti central bank to issue Basel III compliant Islamic bond that will enhance its Tier 1, or core, capital, it said. The bank will take a final decision on the sukuk and its timing after receiving all other approvals, the bank added.

London-based Cobalt Insurance Holdings Ltd. has announced a strategic investment by Armour Group Holdings Ltd., the Bermuda-based diversified insurance group. Financial considerations were not disclosed. The strategy of Armour focuses on niche operations in the re/insurance and asset management sectors. Armour’s operations include underwriting operations, re/insurance companies, asset management companies and specialist service companies. The investment coincides with additions to the board of Cobalt of former Lloyd’s Chairman Max Taylor as chairman, and Sean Dalton of Armour as a non-executive director. John Turner, chairman of Aon Risk Solutions (UK & Americas), and former Brit Insurance Group CFO Andrew Baddeley also join the board in non-executive capacities.

Banks from the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait have reportedly spent months drawing up plans for entering the Iranian market. There are certain regional institutions taking legal advice to manage very real risks associated with doing business with Iran, according to Stuart Jones Jr., an executive director at EY. Any re-engagement with Iran will take place in several stages and will require updates to policies, procedures, systems and controls as well as ongoing communication with regulators and correspondent banks, Emirates NBD said, adding it did not currently have any material assets or liabilities in Iran. The Persian Gulf banks are weighing re-entry into the Iranian financial system after it was announced that the implementation of a nuclear deal finalized by Tehran and world powers back in July 2015 has officially been started.

Book-building process for the Omantel sukuk via private placement is currently being done. The proposed OMR50 million issuance is the country’s first multi-denominated sukuk, offered in both Omani rials and US dollars. The bankers have been holding one-on-one meetings with key investors, and said that the issuance is gathering pace amongst both Omani and international investors. The sukuk will have a tenor of 5 years and mature in 2021. The minimum subscription amount for the sukuk is OMR100,000 or $260,000. The profit rate on the sukuk will be set through a uniform price auction and will be finalised upon closing of the subscription period. Interested investors can get further information on the sukuk from the Investment Banking Division of National Bank of Oman who are acting as the issue manager and collecting bank. Subscription closes on January 26.

The emirate of Sharjah priced a $500 million five-year Islamic bond issue on Wednesday. The deal will help Sharjah narrow its budget deficit and also pave the way for other regional borrowers to complete deals after a lull of nearly three months as Gulf financial markets wobbled under pressure from increased geopolitical risk and oil prices slumping to a 12-year low. The deal was priced at a spread of 250 basis points over midswaps, the document showed, at around the same level as the initial price thoughts set on Tuesday. Adjusting for the tenor extension, the current transaction paid a new issue premium of between 35 and 40 bps, several investors and bankers said. The bond performed well in the secondary market with bid/offer quotes of 100.15-100.35.

The Emirate of Sharjah priced a $500 million five-year Islamic bond issue on Wednesday. The deal will help Sharjah narrow its budget deficit and also pave the way for other regional borrowers. In the uncertain atmosphere, the five-year sukuk drew orders north of $950 million, a comfortable amount but much smaller than the $7.85 billion the emirate attracted for a $750 million, 10-year sukuk in September 2014. The shrinking orderbook reflects foreign investors' increasing nervousness about the impact of lower crude prices on the economy and local market appetite. The deal was priced at a spread of 250 basis points over midswaps, the document showed, at around the same level as the initial price thoughts set on Tuesday.

Qatar’s QInvest has announced another year of robust growth recording its highest revenue since inception of QR393m ($108m) and net profit of QR154m ($42m). QInvest generated consistent performance throughout 2015 despite challenging global economic conditions and regional volatility, culminating in an increase in both revenues and net profit of 32 percent and 76 percent respectively. The bank recommends doubling the dividend to shareholders for financial year 2015. The team is involved in a number of buy-side and sell-side mandates across multiple industries and geographies for both family offices and institutional investors. In the real estate sector, the business is at various stages of execution and completion on income generating transactions in London, elsewhere in Western Europe and in the USA.

The deputy governor of the State Bank of Pakistan has announced that the bank is setting up a Shariah-compliant open market to manage liquidity of the Islamic banking sector. Deputy Governor, Saeed Ahmed's announcement came on Wednesday as he addressed the global forum on Islamic economics, banking and finance arranged by the University of Management and Technology's Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance. In his speech, he reiterated his bank's commitment to promoting and developing the Islamic banking in Pakistan. The existing banking laws are being amended and soon this process will be finalised, he said. Those who too addressed the forum were Islamic finance scholars Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, Justice Khalil-ur-Rehma, among others.

As the pressure on federal revenue mounts following steady decline in oil revenue, the Federal Government would be resorting to a Sukuk Bond for funding the widening budget deficit. The Debt Management Office, DMO, and Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, are collaborating in an effort to issue the Nigerian sovereign Islamic bonds this year.Details of the expected revenue from the bond is not yet disclosed but officials said they expect significant bridging of the 2016 budget deficit which has exceeded the initial N2.2 trillion estimate. According to DMO issuing a sovereign Sukuk will attract significant amounts of affordable capital from the Gulf countries and other established Islamic markets around the world into Nigeria.