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Egyptian social entrepreneur Mohamed Ashraf Abdel Samad started Shagara (‘tree’ in Arabic) back in 2011! The idea of Shagara is to act by planting trees and plants inside cities to offset problems, increase environmental awareness, and—last but not least—help the economically disadvantaged. To do this, Shagara integrates vegetation into urban areas, blending design concepts with modern agricultural techniques and architecture. The flagship project is “Shagara at School”. It was carried out for the first time at a school in Egypt’s Al-Qalyubia Governorate in February 2013. Today, it is still going, the school extending it in 2015 by using its own resources after receiving an award for quality for the second year running.

Bahrain-based Ibdar Bank has announced its financial results for the first quarter of the year ended March 31, 2015 marked by strong performance and profitability. For the quarter, the Bank reported a net profit of USD3 million compared with USD1 million in the first quarter of 2014, an increase of 200%. Total income for the period also rose significantly by 65.8% to USD6.3 million versus USD3.8 million in the prior-year period. Strong profits can be attributed to an increase of 1778% in the Bank's income generated from investment banking services over the prior year as well as from income generated by gains made in the trading of investments and securities and profitable exits from existing investments.

Singapore's strength in conventional financing and capital markets can be adapted to meet the needs of Islamic banking, said Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) deputy managing director Jacqueline Loh yesterday. She added that conventional finance and Islamic banking are similarly cross-border in nature. Islamic capital-market activities in Singapore have taken off, with 31 sukuk issuances over the past five years. Ms Loh said sukuks are ideal for funding infrastructure projects and would complement work by Singapore as they are asset-backed and can involve more capital-market participants. MAS is also working with the industry and other government agencies to establish sukuk regulatory and tax regimes.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) signed a memorandum of understanding with China International Contractors Association (CHINCA) formalizing the parties’ cooperation in identifying and cultivating investment opportunities in the construction, infrastructure and other key industries by leveraging on areas of expertise and utilizing services currently offered by both parties. The strategic collaboration also aims to build a fruitful networking platform by developing and participating in business-matching forums as a means to identify forces shaping the industry and connect key industry players. CHINCA has more than 1,300 members to date, and about 800 members are engaged in international project contracting and investment.

The Thomson Reuters Global Sukuk Index is at 118.04136 points, down from 118.42537 at the end of last month but up from 115.79726 at the end of last year. The Thomson Reuters Investment Grade Sukuk Index is at 116.78976 against 117.32893 at end-May and 113.69014 at end-2014. Sukuk in the pipeline include: Malaysian mortgage lender Cagamas still hopes to issue sukuk this year off a $2.5 billion multi-currency programme set up last November, but foreign exchange volatility is hampering any issue in U.S. dollars. Shareholders of Qatar's Barwa Bank approved plans for a $2 billion senior unsecured sukuk programme that could be issued in various currencies. Dubai's Drake & Scull mandated five banks to arrange a series of fixed income investor meetings starting on June 4 for a potential issue of perpetual U.S. dollar sukuk.

Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) has assigned an international scale rating of 'B-/B' (Single B Minus / Single B) and national scale rating of 'A-(eg)/A2(eg)' (Single A Minus / A Two) to AlBaraka Bank Egypt. Outlook on the assigned ratings is 'Stable'. The fiduciary score has been assessed in the range of '66-70', reflecting adequate fiduciary standards wherein rights of various stakeholders are adequately protected. Ratings assigned to ABBE derive strength from the franchise of Albaraka Banking Group (ABG) as the bank's principal owner. The bank's sound liquidity and profitability indicators in addition to favorable and improving asset quality lend support to the ratings assigned.

Dubai Islamic Bank on Sunday said its $750 million sukuk issuance maturing in June 2020 carries a profit rate of 2.921 per cent and saw a strong oversubscription. The bank had held road show in London, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur for the issuance which is part of its $2.5 billion sukuk programme. The order book was driven by strong demand across the globe, and given the fact that it was oversubscribed nearly three times. Dubai Islamic Bank, First Gulf Bank, HSBC, Maybank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, and Standard Chartered Bank acted as joint lead managers. Arab Banking Corporation, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank and Union National Bank acted as co-lead managers.

Since the Islamic banking industry is still emerging in Bangladesh, it is essential to know at this stage if the products and services of Islamic banks are consistent with the practices that have been developed and universally accepted by the practitioners of Islamic banks across the globe. It is really important for Islamic banking industry in the country not only for the sake of outreach but also for the regulators to formulate policy which will enhance the credibility and international stakeholder's confidence. Until today, the development of Islamic financial products has generally been limited to the re-engineering of the conventional products to meet Shariah requirements. But there is a still scope for product innovation and differentiation.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has launched a new National Higher Education Savings Scheme (SSPN-i), the SSPN-i Plus, a scheme which incorporates education savings with affordable and comprehensive takaful coverage. Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said SSPN-i Plus was an initiative under the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN), aimed at promoting the habit of saving for higher education among Malaysians. Depositors in this syariah-compliant scheme not only invest for their education but will also receive takaful coverage, coupled with competitive dividend returns and tax relief of up to RM12,000 a year.

The annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank began in the Mozambique capital of Maputo on Sunday that would consider a report on the Medium-Term Sukuk Program for which the bank had already allocated $10 billion. The meeting will also consider the progress made so far in the implementation of its member country partnership strategic program; 20 member countries have so far signed up with the bank. In line with the four day official event, various activities will be organized on Thursday, one of which is a private sector forum where Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Investments and Export Credits will present the importance of export credit and investment insurance in Africa.

In line with the government's initiatives to boost the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector in the Sultanate, Sohar Islamic, Bank Sohar's dedicated Islamic Banking Window, continues to support the sector with its SME line of services. The bank provides financing up to 90 per cent at competitive profit rates for a maximum tenure reaching up to 5 years allowing SMEs to invest in construction equipment, machinery and commercial vehicles. The product is underpinned by simple application and approval process, thus ensuring quick turnaround time (TAT), tie ups with major dealers of equipment and commercial vehicles, collateral-free financing (financed asset constitutes the primary security), and less documentation. In addition to the SME finance, Sohar Islamic has banking solutions that cover retail and corporate financing needs.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday issued notices to the Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and others on the petition of a shareholder against amalgamation of KASB Bank with BankIslami. The petitioner, First Capital Equities Limited, who owned approximately 94,000,000 shares worth approximately Rs 210 million in the KASB Bank, moved the court against SBP’s moratorium and amalgamation of the bank with BankIslami. The petitioner maintained that its fully paid-up shares in the bank were unlawfully cancelled and extinguished due to the merger without its consent and opportunity of hearing.

Volatile currency markets could hamper Malaysian mortgage lender Cagamas Bhd's plans for its first foreign currency sukuk, the state-backed firm's chief executive Chung Chee Leong said. In November, Cagamas set up a US$2.5 billion (RM9.2 billion) programme to issue multi-currency sukuk in an effort to broaden its investor base. Chung said that at this moment, dollar was just not attractive, adding that US dollar issue was still the most likely option. He hopes the issue could still come this year. Asked about expansion plans, Chung said Cagamas was not working on opening subsidiaries in other countries, but would rather aim to take on loans that Malaysian lenders made outside the country through their Malaysian offices.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has revised its outlook on Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) to stable from negative. At the same time, it affirmed the 'BB+' long-term and 'B' short-term counterparty credit ratings on the bank. The outlook revision reflects the agency's expectations that ABG's capitalisation will improve in the next quarters, which would allow it to maintain a Standard & Poor's risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio above five per cent. It also reflects the lower pressure in the operating environments - namely Egypt and Jordan - of some of ABG's major subsidiaries. S&P views funding as average and liquidity as adequate. Although ABG has no access to its central bank's funding mechanisms, all subsidiaries are self-funded and would have access to funding mechanisms provided by their domestic authorities in case of need.

KazanSummit 2015, the 7th International Economic Summit of Russia and OIC countries, will be held in in Kazan, Russia on June 15-16, 2015. The international partner of KazanSummit 2015 is the Islamic Development Bank. Within the framework of KazanSummit 2015, the Russian-Arab Business Council will organize an event called «Business dialogue Russia– the Arabic world. New stage of interaction: trade, suborders, investment, and finance». TATNEFT became the golden partner of KazanSummit 2015. Find more information on the website http://www.kazansummit.com/

Dubai Women Establishment today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hawkamah, the Institute for Corporate Governance (HICG), aimed at creating a framework to advocate greater female representation in directorship positions in both the public and the private sectors. The MOU was signed by HE Mona Al Marri, Chairperson of the Dubai Women Establishment board and Director General of Dubai Media Office, and HE Hamad Buamim, Chairman of Hawkamah. The MoU will focus on areas of cooperation and will include opportunities for all signatories to participate in knowledge sharing activities and research, report creation and strengthening corporate government frameworks to encourage greater female participation at the board level.

Against a backdrop of low interest rates globally and relatively volatile financial markets regionally, the flow of capital into real estate has continued, according to the latest Dubai Real Estate Investment Report released by Knight Frank. Developed property markets such as those of the UK and Europe should continue to see strong levels of demand from GCC investors. Knight Frank’s Middle East Capital Tracker – which monitors professional real estate investors’ favoured global destinations – shows that the UK remains a firm favourite for almost 60 per cent of investors from this region. The GCC itself, as well as Continental Europe, also rank highly.

Drake & Scull International (DSI) announced it has mandated five banks for an issue of perpetual USD sukuk, subject to market conditions. Emirates NBD Capital and HSBC have been mandated as joint global coordinators, and Al Hilal Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank as joint lead managers to arrange a series of fixed income investor meetings in the Middle East and Europe commencing on 4 June, 2015. DSI reported $302m (AED1.11bn) in revenues and $7.6m (AED27.8m) in net profit in Q1 2015. DSI's order backlog closed at $375m (AED13.8bn) as of March 31, 2015.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said on Tuesday that Bank Asya is in the hands of the Turkish banking watchdog and its insurance fund. On May 29, Turkey's Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), the country’s banking watchdog, ruled for the complete takeover of all shares of Bank Asya by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF). The deputy minister stressed that the BDDK and TMSF are independent organizations. Separately, Turkish stock exchange regulators on Tuesday lifted the ban on the trading of Bank Asya’s shares one day after it was halted. The bank’s shares opened at Friday’s closing prices 0.76 Turkish lira. The shares dropped to 0.69 lira, a loss of 9.21 percent.

Regulators announced on Friday they would take over the lender, saying its financial structure and management presented a threat to the financial system. Shareholders of the bank will bring charges against both the banking watchdog and Turkey's insurance deposit fund, lawyer Suleyman Ta?ba? said. The lawyer disputed that the latest regulatory action had been done to protect depositors, noting that Asya was profitable again. The editor of the Gülen-affiliated Zaman newspaper said he was concerned about further arrests and seizures of businesses with links to the cleric. Shares of Bank Asya were suspended temporarily on the Istanbul watchlist market on Monday after Friday's seizure of the bank, the Istanbul bourse said.