IslamicFinance.de

A more systematic endowment management would enhance the strength and potential of Muslims to use their wealth to help the community. The administration of endowment property ought to be conducted in a professional manner to protect its value for the benefit of the Muslim community. It could be done by setting up a special organisation, instead of the current practise of having these properties managed temporarily by various Islamic welfare bodies. The administration of endowment property would need to be re-examined in line with the global economic context to fully maximise its value and to avoid deterioration.

The Bank of Karthoum will add 12 new retail branches and cash points, mainly in eastern and central Sudan, bringing the total number to 75 by next year and has steadily expanded its business in Africa. Its main shareholders, Dubai Islamic Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, are more than tripling the capital. In a second expansion step, the bank will launch several dedicated funds for private firms to finance the export of livestock and agricultural products such as sesame seeds to Gulf Arab countries, Jordan and Egypt. Faced with the loss of most oil reserves to South Sudan, Sudan is trying to boost exports of gold and farming exports such as cotton, cash crops or gum arabic from its vast farmlands.

BIMB Holdings Bhd announced it has notified Bank Negara Malaysia that the security for its proposed sukuk will only comprise the legal assignment over the proceeds from the exercise of its proposed warrants. It includes the legal assignment and charge over a sinking fund account into which all proceeds from the exercise of the warrants will be deposited. The exchange has approved the listing of new shares, warrants and rights in relation to its proposed purchase of the remaining 49% stake in Bank Islam.

Malaysia's two biggest state-owned pension funds plan to boost holdings of dollar sukuk.
It is said that their increasing presence in the global arena will help strengthen Malaysia's position as a global Islamic hub and enhance the country's visibility. It will also encourage more local and international issuers to sell dollar sukuk in Kuala Lumpur and around the world.

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.

Turkey mandated banks for its second sovereign sukuk issue in international markets and will hold a series of investor meetings in the Middle East and Asia. HSBC, QInvest and Standard Chartered have been mandated to explore opportunities for a possible lease certificate issuance in the international capital markets. Turkey has borrowed $4.2 billion from international capital markets so far this year and plans to borrow a total of up to $6.5 billion through a mix of Eurobond, Samurai and sukuk issues by the end of the year.

Dubai Islamic Bank announced that it has settled all bilateral liabilities of mortgage provider Tamweel, two years ahead of scheduled maturity. The outstanding liabilities were part of a five-year moratorium. The bank cited “robust capitalisation and ample liquidity” as the reasons for early repayment.

Growth of Shariah-compliant banks in Qatar is poised to outpace that of the UAE lenders as borrowing rises amid $200bn in government spending for the 2022 soccer World Cup. Qatar's four Islamic lenders will almost double their asset base to $100bn by 2017, Standard & Poor's has said in a report. Last year, the assets of the largest Shariah-compliant bank in the country, Qatar Islamic Bank, grew five times faster than those of the biggest one in the UAE, Dubai Islamic Bank. Spending for the world's most-watched sporting event will spur lending for roads, stadiums and hotels.

A task force to encourage British banks to establish sharia-compliant products, aims to position London as a Western hub for a fast-growing Islamic finance sector. The country hopes to step up the challenge to Islamic finance centres such as Dubai and Kuala Lumpur and wants to be the leading (Islamic) finance sector outside of the Muslim world. It will make it easier for banks in London to have Islamic products. Britain currently has 22 financial institutions, including five fully sharia-compliant banks, offering Islamic finance products, and 30 London law firms offering expertise on the sector.

BAJ’s financial strength rating has been affirmed at “BBB” with a stable outlook. The bank’s long-term foreign currency rating has been affirmed at “BBB+” and its short-term foreign currency rating at “A2.” The ratings agency Capital Intelligence noted BAJ’s sound liquidity, strong customer deposit growth and improved profitability and highlighted the benefits of a reviving equity market to BAJ’s business. Nabil Al-Hoshan, CEO and MD of the Bank, was pleased that the banks strong underlying fundamentals had been recognized with this affirmation.

WOMEN IN PHILANTHROPY
SEPTEMBER 23, 2013, CASS BUSINESS SCHOOL, LONDON

The Academy of Philanthropy will be featuring some of the world's renowned philanthropists, academician, and social innovators to lead a discussion on the vital role women play in the domain of philanthropy

Women in Philanthropy - Why Women?
September 23, Cass Business School, London

To register for the event, visit http:// www.academyofphilanthropy.org or contact Dr. Yunus Sola, Director, Academy of Philanthropy at ysola@thewcmp.org or +44 751 309 4502

In December 2012, the Supreme Council for the Environment was established in Bahrain. It consists of six ministers, who bring with them an expertise in various sectors. The Council’s declared aim is to protect Bahrain’s natural environment and to monitor potentially harmful industrial activity. The most important issues that the Council has to deal with are protecting marine life from urban sprawl and pollution and creating a balance between infrastructure growth and safeguarding natural resources. In addition, the Council is also responsible for the formulation of Bahrain’s 2020 environmental strategy. Thus, as of today, Saudi Arabia is the only Gulf country without a ministry of environment or a centralized governmental organ dealing with environmental issues.

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.

The $490 million short-term sukuk program issued by the International Liquidity Management Corporation is an important stage in the evolution of Sukuk product, according to Abdulwahab Al-Roshood, Kuwait Treasury General Manager at Kuwait Finance House (KFH). The corporation has recently issued the first issuance for 3 months with the participation of 8 gulf and foreign banks including KFH. The sukuk issued by the corporation enjoys the privilege of being short term, rated as the short- term highest credit rating A-1 by the international Standard and Poor's. Al-Roshood expressed his confidence that KFH 's participation of the corporation's businesses since establishment will add value to its efforts and its role in sukuk market.

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

Maisarah, Islamic window of BankDhofar announced the launch of Oman's pioneering Sharia compliant priority banking services. Maisarah's teams of relationship managers are offering special products and personalised services. Ease of access is one of the features among other privileges that Maisarah has to offer through priority banking centers in the Muscat and Dhofar region. Customers can reap the benefits of savings accounts based on the Mudharaba contract as well as auto financing based on the Murabaha concept without lengthy procedures at preferential prices and services. Under the guidance of the Sharia compliant Board of Directors, Maisarah's banking solutions are on display at their stand-alone branches, which have been designed to minimize wait time and enhance each customer's experience.

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.

Standard Chartered has appointed Christos Papadopoulos as chairman of Standard Chartered Saadiq Islamic Banking. Christos, currently the Bank's Regional CEO, Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan, will take on additional responsibility for the Islamic banking business as its Chairman and continue to be based in Dubai. He has been with Standard Chartered for seven years and was previously Global Head, Financial Institutions prior to being appointed Regional CEO in 2010.