IslamicFinance.de

A midnight police raid on the headquarters of Turkey's largest Islamic bank after a banking watchdog's decision to take over the bank's management on Tuesday lacks legal grounds and will likely stir further speculation in financial markets, pundits warned. The bank vowed to take legal action in response to Tuesday's decision. Economists highlighted on Wednesday that intervention in the bank's board can only be temporary, because the bank cannot technically be seized unless depositors withdraw their money from Bank Asya. Early on Wednesday, loyal Bank Asya clients flocked to branches across Turkey to shore up the Islamic lender with new deposits.

Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp (Malaysia) Bhd, which has launched its first bancatakaful product offerings in collaboration with Great Eastern Takaful Bhd, is confident that takaful products will contribute 20% to its fee-based income for 2015 or RM15 million worth of contributions. Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia acting CEO Selamat Sirat said the collaboration marks the introduction of its first syariah compliant protection plan products, which are i-Great Raudhah and i-Great Bakti. Selamat added that it is looking at a 50% growth year-on-year for its fee-based income. It is also looking for the opportunity to expand the fee-based income business through its range of wealth management products.

The shareholders of Jahangir Siddiqui & Co Ltd, the flagship company of JS Group, in their general meeting held on February 2, have unanimously approved to invest up to Rs1.669 billion in the Bank Islami Pakistan Limited. On December 30, 2014, the Board of Directors of Bank Islami Pakistan Limited had approved to issue ordinary shares of Rs10/- each by way of rights to its members to raise the paid up capital of the bank by Rs4.320 billion.

Indonesian authorities are pushing ahead with a plan to create an $8 billion Islamic megabank, even after a similar proposal fell through in Malaysia. A potential merger of the shariah-compliant units of government-controlled Bank Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Bank Negara Indonesia could happen as soon as this year, Financial Services Authority (OJK) chairman Muliaman Hadad said. Talks are ongoing with the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry, which first proposed the merger in May 2013. The megabank could help drive a quadrupling in Islamic banks’ market share to 20 percent by 2018, compared with 10 percent without it.

Bahrain-based Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) standards will be made available online through Thomson Reuters' range of digital information platforms, including Zawya Islamic. AAOIFI Sharia standards are approved and developed under the guidance of its Sharia Board. The standards represent the broadest consensus of rules that govern the Islamic finance industry and cover Sharia, accounting, auditing, governance and ethics. By making the standards available online, accessibility to the standards will be greatly improved which in turn promotes their wider adoption.

Bahrain's central bank is drafting legal documentation to set up a sharia board of scholars that would oversee the kingdom's Islamic finance sector. The central bank already has a sharia board but its scope is limited to vetting its own products. A country-level approach could help to limit differences between products, speed the design of new products and boost investor confidence. A "legal instrument" is now being prepared that would set out details of the sharia board, Khalid Hamad, the central bank's executive director of banking supervision, said. He did not specify a timeframe. The United Arab Emirates is the only other regulator in the Gulf to have announced a plan to adopt a centralised sharia approach.

Turkey’s banking regulator took control of Bank Asya, stepping up a year-long campaign against the Islamic lender a day after self-exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen criticized the government from his base in the U.S. The Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, or TMSF, the agency responsible for resolving failed banks, appointed a new chief executive officer and board of directors late Tuesday, the bank said in a filing. Its activities will continue without “any disruption” under the new management. The government’s move against Bank Asya has been expected for quite some time now. The timing of the Bank Asya move intends to minimize the damage of the decline in investor confidence.

A new takaful model is being implemented by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) this month onwards and is expected to attract new entrants to the market and foster competition. The objective of modifying the existing takaful rules is to facilitate a faster growth of the business in Bahrain while protecting the interest of all stakeholders, vis-ˆ-vis participants, shareholders and operator, CBB executive director for financial institutions supervision Abdul Rahman Al Baker said. The new CBB rules on client money aim at enhancing the regulatory framework in relation to appointed representatives and insurance brokers. Since their release in October last year, the market response has been quite positive, he added.

The thematic workshop on Development of Islamic Banking in Africa held in Ilorin, Nigeria recently became apt in appraising the current challenges inhibiting the development of Islamic banking in Nigeria particularly and Africa in general. The workshop was organised by the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) in collaboration with the University of Ilorin and Al-Hikmah University. The workshop brought together experts in Islamic Banking, Regulations and Financial Economics in order to take stock of current academic research, policies, practice and developments on Islamic Banking in Africa. The major challenge to the development of Islamic banking is considered to be the absence of regulations.

The Islamic Finance Gateway (IFG) Briefing, published from Sunday to Thursday, carries market-moving news and data for institutions offering Islamic financial services. Stories include: Islamic finance looks to outgrow bad habits as it expands. The United Arab Emirates Insurance Authority has issued new rules for conventional and Islamic insurance firms. Pakistan's central bank governor has urged the country's Islamic banks to develop ways to reward their customers in line with a surge in the sector's profitability, or face regulatory action. The Islamic Finance Briefings also include Islamic Interbank Benchmark Rates, major FX and equity market movements and indicators for all sharia-compliant asset classes. You can view the full IFG briefin http://tmsnrt.rs/1D83Hb0 under IFG Briefings Subject.

H. E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Insurance Authority, issued Decision No. (25) of 2014 Pertinent to Financial Regulations for Traditional Insurance Companies and Decision No. (26) of 2014 Pertinent to Financial Regulations for Takaful Insurance Companies, which regulate the financial, technical, investment, and accounting operations of Traditional and Takaful insurers operating in the UAE. Included in the regulations, an actuary is accredited for every insurance company operating in the UAE and there are new investment rules to protect the rights of policyholders and companies against risks.

Vodafone Qatar has completed the process to become a fully Shariah-compliant company. Professor Dr Ali Qaradaghi, commissioned by Vodafone Qatar 's Board of Directors with the responsibility of transforming the company, said Vodafone Qatar successfully refinanced its conventional interest-bearing borrowings with a Shariah-compliant 'wakala' investment agreement in December. A Shariah compliance review was conducted by the Islamic Finance consultant. Vodafone Qatar said all these activities have been performed under the supervision of Prof Qaradaghi, followed by a comments review and the arrangement of Shariah-compliant alternatives when necessary. All non-compliant activities have been discontinued.

After a year of landmark deals which are opening new markets for Islamic finance, the industry is under fresh pressure to address some of its shortcomings and prove that it is not just an imitation of conventional finance. Islamic finance was launched to promote Muslim values such as equity, risk-sharing and social inclusion, but those values may sometimes be getting lost. That's why the Islamic Development Bank is leading calls for Islamic banks to strengthen their moral foundations and promote real economic activity instead of monetary speculation. This will require the sector to go back to the drawing board and develop genuine Islamic finance products that are not only profitable but support socioeconomic development.

A unit of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank has provided $80 million worth of sharia-compliant reinsurance to cover political risk for oil and gas projects in Egypt. The deal covers the Overseas Private Investment Corporation for its own insurance policy on the exploration projects of Houston-based Apache Corporation, the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment & Export Credit (ICIEC) said in a statement. The announcement comes as Egypt is seeking new sources of energy to cope with its worst energy crisis in decades, caused by declining gas production and rising consumption. The policy would allow the country to retain foreign direct investment during a critical transtional period.

Maybank Islamic Bhd, the Islamic banking arm of the Maybank Group, has introduced its latest offering – Maybank Islamic Custody Services, both domestic and abroad. Maybank Islamic will be targeting prospective clients such as the Government-linked Companies (GLCs) in Malaysia, fund management companies, institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds, which in total would have an estimated asset under management of about RM1.4 trillion. Maybank Islamic Custody Services also has the capability of monitoring non-syariah compliant securities should clients accidentally purchase them or should the syariah compliant securities subsequently deemed non-syariah compliant.

The Thomson Reuters Global Sukuk Index is at 117.48601 points, up from 115.79726 at the end of last year. The Thomson Reuters Investment Grade Sukuk Index is at 115.34912 against 113.69014 at end-2014. Some of the sukuk in the pipeline are: Ivory Coast plans to make a debut 200 billion CFA franc ($340 million) sukuk issue in 2015. Qatar Islamic Bank plans to raise up to 2 billion riyals ($549 million) through a capital-boosting sukuk issue. The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector plans to tap Islamic capital markets to raise as much as $1.2 billion in long-term funds during its current financial year.

The UK and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding to help boost business opportunities and create jobs for thousands of women across the Middle East and North Africa. The Arab Women's Enterprise Fund will see the IDB and the Department for International Development working together to improve the competitiveness of women entrepreneurs in the Arab world. It will also address legal and cultural barriers that block women getting ahead in business. DFID will contribute £10 million to provide grants to help poor women access markets. IDB will match this with a further £10 million in Sharia-compliant Islamic finance.

Une dizaine de demandes d’agrément ont été soumises à Bank Al-Maghrib par des institutions jugées leaders dans l’industrie de la finance islamique. Ces institutions viennent essentiellement d’Asie, plus particulièrement du Moyen-Orient. Une bonne partie de ces institutions ont l’intention de créer des joint-ventures avec des banques marocaines. Certaines se sont déjà engagées avec des accords, d’autres sont toujours en négociation. Le PDG d’Al Baraka Banking Group Adnan Ahmed Yousif avait lui aussi confirmé un projet de banque islamique au Maroc avec un partenaire local. Concernant Attijariwafa bank, le groupe est toujours sollicité par les leaders mondiaux de la finance islamique.

Aston Martin has plans to reveal an overhauled model lineup at the Geneva auto show in March. Investindustrial S.p.A., owner of 37.5 percent of Aston Martin’s shares since 2012, has now announced new cash investments into the automaker if needed, according to the private-equity firm’s chairman, Andrea Bonomi. He also added that Investindustrial has no intentions in selling the holding in the near future – disclosing that their investment needs to mature over a period of seven to 10 years. The automaker has other main shareholders such as Kuwaiti companies Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co. Daimler also acquired a five percent stake in the company.

près Salam Epargne et Placement, de Swiss Life/Noorassur, et Amâne Exclusive Life, de Vitis Life, c’est au tour du courtier grossiste Azurite Courtage, basé à Vitrolles (Bouches-du-Rhône), de proposer un contrat d’assurance vie Takaful répondant aux principes de la charia. Intitulé Ethra’a Takaful Famille, il a été lancé au tout début du mois de janvier, en partenariat avec AtlanticLux, filiale luxembourgeoise du groupe allemand FWU AG. Erwin Marzolf, dirigeant de Azurite Courtage, s’est fixé pour objectif un millier de contrats d’ici la fin de l’année.