IslamicFinance.de

According to Abdelilah Belatik, secretary-general of the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI), Turkey can play a leading role in Islamic finance. Belatik sees Turkey as a bridge between the Muslim world and the West. He said through Turkey's support Islamic finance was discussed among G20 countries, which was a milestone. Belatik added that Turkey had a key role to play in raising awareness about Islamic finance. CIBAFI expects the volume of the sector to reach $4 trillion by the end of 2020.

Reputable Muslim scholars participated at Forum For Islamic Education & Welfare in Nigeria. The President of MUSWEN, Alhaji Sakariyau Babalola said the adoption of the Islamic financial system was growing in the country. Central Bank of Nigeria expert Dr. Bashir Umar said that Islamic finance was the way to finance infrastructure projects and had an integrated cooperative model which can eradicate poverty and enhance economic empowerment. He noted that financial inclusion was the key element to achieve inclusive development needed for sustainable growth in the country. Umar added that the presence of Islamic banking in the country has brought the unserved and undeserved members of the society into the formal financial sector.

If you are in Geneva, please feel free to join the "networking Apero in Geneva for people working related to or interested in Islamic finance."

In fact over years I made the acquaintance of a number of professionals, but we rarely come together.

Please check the time scheduler, and vote for the best suitable date for you; multiple votes possible:

http://www.propoodle.net/index.php/propoodle/vote?key=K31RHmxuWhKAMDJCpq...

As there are no sponsors, this is private, including everybody's food & beverage.

Once we have the number of participants the venue will be finalised. Tentatively I think about the Brasserie Quai de l'Ile.

If interest is there I am happy to repeat the Islamic Finance Apero and look into formalising it further.

Additionally, there is large Islamic finance summit coming up, also in 26-27 April 2018 in Zurich: http://rfi-summit.org/ - plan to be there on the first day at least.

The organizers of the Responsible Finance & Investment Summit have announced the judging panel for the "Support Disruption for Good" Challenge. The judging panel will select one winner in each category, against transparent criteria of each entrant’s relevance to the Priority Sectors (agri/food, healthcare, sustainable cities and education).

The judges, who serve in their personal capacity, are:
• Dr. Mohammed Kroessin, Head of Islamic Microfinance, IRW
• Rachel Zedeck, Director, Climate Smart Agri & Impact Investment Strategies at Peterson and Control Union
• AlDana Banihashem, General Manager, Al Naser Engineering
• Conrad Young, MBA, Managing Director, Food Forward Ltd
• Dr. Farid Khan, Executive Chairman, Simply Capital Partners
• Dr. Natalie Schoon, Principal Consultant, Formabb Ltd
• Julian Osborne, Head of Operations, Swiss Finance + Technology Association
• Boris Battistini, Partner, Metellus AG

According to Moody’s, Islamic banking has grown in a decade from less than a third of the GCC banking market to account for 45% of the sector. Moody's senior analyst Nitish Bhojnagarwala said that growth in the Islamic finance sector would continue to outstrip that of conventional assets in coming years. In his view, growth will be supported by governments looking for diversification, as well as by continued demand for Islamic products from individuals. Another growth factor will be Islamic insurers' penetration into Southeast Asia and North Africa. Annual sukuk issuances have more than doubled to $100 billion from $42 billion from 2008 until September 2017. Moody's expects a similar level of activity in 2018.

Bahrain FinTech Bay is part of the kingdom's drive to revive its reputation as the Middle East's top banking and business center. After the plunge of oil prices in 2014, state revenues fell, credit ratings fell and debt soared. Large debts still pose a risk as interest rates rise, but Bahrain is starting to see initial signs of recovery. PayTabs, a Saudi company specializing in online payment solutions, will set up a base in Bahrain FinTech Bay in May. Tap Payments, a mobile payment company founded in Kuwait, moved to Fintech Bay last month. CEO Ali Abulhasan said Bahrain had regulatory advantages when compared to other Gulf Cooperation Countries. Foreign investment from 71 companies was $733 million last year, up from $281 million and 40 companies in 2016. This contributed to an average annual GDP growth of more than 3.5%. Central bank governor Rasheed Mohammed al-Maraj said that growth could accelerate further, as strong oil prices have bounced to around $65 a barrel from below $50 in mid-2017.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has arranged an Islamic financing transaction to fund the acquisition of The Hub, located at the Aztec West Business Park, Bristol. The transaction is worth GBP19.35 million and is arranged on behalf of a private Saudi-based client. The Hub is a regional UK office for Atkins, a multinational design, engineering and project management consultancy. The building has been awarded a BREEAM excellent rating, as overall carbon emissions are more than a third lower than expected for a building of its size. ADIB opened its office at One Hyde Park in London in May 2012 and was the first UAE-based bank providing Islamic financial services to be licenced to operate in the UK, being one of the six banks that are fully Shari'ah-compliant.

The Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (Baft) and International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) are creating an industry standard for buying and selling Islamic trade-related risk. The two parties have announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding to create a so-called master risk participation agreement. The industry already has such a standard, which was introduced 10 years ago and became the industry benchmark for such trade finance transactions. Baft president Tod Burwell said the association aims to repeat that success in the Islamic trade finance space, where standardisation is much needed. The Islamic risk participation agreement will incorporate considerations for funded and unfunded risk participations in trade assets within a Sharia-compliant framework. IIFM chairman Khalid Hamad said the cooperation with Baft would contribute to increasing the trade finance business on a Sharia-compliant basis.

According to Moody's Investors Service, the growth of the Islamic finance sector will continue to outstrip that of conventional assets across core Islamic finance markets. Islamic banking penetration in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) increased to 45% of the total banking market, as of September 2017 from 31% in 2008. Moody's Senior Analyst Nitish Bhojnagarwala, said the Islamic finance sector would be supported by governments, as well as by continued demand for Islamic products from individuals. Another growth factor will be Islamic insurers' penetration into Southeast Asia and North Africa. Sukuk issuances grew 17% in 2017 to $100 billion, driven largely by GCC sovereigns. A similar level of issuance is expected in 2018, although the recent recovery in oil prices could lower financing needs for some sovereigns. Corporate and asset-backed sukuk activity was muted in 2017 because of more attractive conventional market opportunities and Moody's expects the same for 2018.

The infrastructure gap is nowhere more pronounced than in sub-Saharan Africa. The Boston Consulting Group/Africa Finance Corporation report of May 2017 states that the sub-Saharan Africa infrastructure gap amounts to about $100bn in yearly infrastructure investment. Islamic finance is fundamentally aligned with economic and social development, poverty alleviation and advancement towards the UN sustainable development goals. The asset-based approach of Islamic finance is in line with traditional infrastructure-financing models that involve the procurement or construction of a tangible asset. In the past decade, Islamic finance has been growing steadily in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa was the first African sovereign to issue sukuk, followed by Senegal, Ivory Coast, Togo and Nigeria. Most Islamic funding for infrastructure development is flowing through governmental channels. In sub-Saharan Africa large infrastructure investment is still mainly the preserve of the public sector and public-private partnerships are still in their infancy.

Financial technology investors are calling for policies that promote development to achieve the World Bank target of universal financial access by 2020. Financial experts who attended the Africa Payments Innovation Summit in Nairobi said digital disruption could increase the continent's banked population. The emergence of mobile money services over the past decade has contributed to financial inclusion in Africa. According to the mobile operators association GSMA, there were 277 million registered mobile money accounts in sub-Saharan Africa at the end of 2016. But despite the progress, at least 85% of transactions in the region are still in cash. There is a mistrust between banks and telcos about whose customer they are serving, who owns the infrastructure, and the loading of additional costs on transactions between the two. Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge warned innovators against getting carried away by technology.

Religion-based philanthropy entails sharing and assistance activities conducted without discrimination between ethnicity, religion or race. In Indonesia it is increasingly common for philanthropic agencies to collaborate and develop interfaith partnerships to carry out humanitarian missions in conflict and disaster areas. For example, The Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation assists the community of pesantren and builds housing for Muara Angke residents, who are predominantly Muslim. The catholic Karina Foundation develops emergency response and disaster risk reduction programs. Islamic Philanthropy Institutions such as Dompet Dhuafa, Lazismu, Rumah Zakat, PKPU, Aksi Cepat Tanggap, Wahid Institute, also work together and readily help non-Muslim communities. Interfaith philanthropy is especially important in the current environment in which the unity of Indonesia is under attack by religious separatists. Many institutions collaborate on running programs. Through collaboration, suspicion can be minimized and the programs can be run optimally.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) will divide the ownership structure of its Turkish asset management firm between local and Kuwaiti units, as the Islamic lender continues to build on its Turkey franchise. KT Asset Management will transfer 5 million shares representing a 50% stake to KFH Capital. Both Kuveyt Turk and KFH Capital are subsidiaries of KFH. KFH Capital is the main investment arm of KFH, which has restructured activities in recent years to streamline operations and focus on growth markets such as Turkey.

ICB Islamic Bank has sought restructuring of the repayment package for depositors of its predecessor Oriental Bank on grounds of a liquidity crunch. The bank still has to return Tk 444.34 crore of now-defunct Oriental Bank's clients, which it was supposed to do by November 2021. ICB Islamic was supposed to refund all clients that had deposits of up to Tk 20 lakh with the Oriental Bank within the next three years. Once returning those clients' funds, ICB Islamic would have to move to refunding those who had deposits of up to Tk 50 lakh. Their claims will have to be settled over the next one and a half years. ICB Islamic has so far repaid Tk 1,521 crore of its predecessor's deposits of Tk 1,946 crore.

The Government of Sharjah has issued a $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) dollar sukuk on a 10 year maturity. The lead arrangers for the issue were Sharjah Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered. Walid Al Sayegh, Director-General of Sharjah Finance Department, pointed out that the timing behind the issuance makes this the first sovereign sukuk issued in 2018 in the region. It is also the largest sukuk issuance by the government of Sharjah, which previously carried out two issuances. Al Sayegh said that the revenue from these sukuk would be used for infrastructure projects, as well as urban and financial development of Sharjah.

According to experts, the adoption of Islamic fintech will soon see a global increase as nations focus on financial inclusion across emerging economies. At the 11th edition of Innovation Arabia, Mohamed Roushdy, founder of Fintech Bazaar, revealed that traditional fintech has been existing for long as a service provider supporting financial services, but not customers. When it comes to fintech adoption today, adoption is highest in Asia in emerging economies. China leads the way with 69% adoption, followed by India at 52%. In terms of financial inclusion, Roushdy said the situation looks rather bleak across many Muslim nations. According to the Global Findex Database, 71% of Muslims have no bank account. Professor Nabil Baydoun, vice-chancellor at Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU), said the importance of the Islamic economy is seen as a vital resource and a contributing factor in the transition to the post-oil economy. The 11th edition of the event is being held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has launched an Investor Relations app for Android and iOS smartphones. The QIB IR App keeps the investors updated on the latest financial developments related to share prices, stock performance, bank news, financial results and key financial reports. It includes interactive financial screens enabling investors to see QIB’s historical share price and results while providing comparison with peers. As QIB’s investors are global, the app supports 17 languages and enables the display of share prices in different currencies as well. QIB cooperated with Euroland, a leading fintech company, to launch the app and update the information available on the website. All interested parties can download the QIB IR app from the Apple Store or Google Play Store and visit the Investor Relations (IR) section on QIB’s website.

Leading Islamic finance experts gathered at the London Stock Exchange for the Sukuk Summit organized by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). IDB President Dr Bandar Hajjar highlighted the need for London to be at the heart of the "Islamic finance revolution" and for it to leverage its global marketplace. He highlighted the continued global growth of the Islamic finance market, in particular the growth within the UK. He also cited the financial inclusion and shared prosperity model which is at the heart of Islamic finance transactions. The London Stock Exchange is home to a number of sukuk listings, with 65 sukuk having been listed on the London Stock Exchange valued at $48 billion. John Glenn MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury said the UK had supported market-driven innovations in the field of Islamic FinTech and the government was determined to ensure continuation.

A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb+” of Qatar Islamic Insurance Company (QIIC). The outlook of these Credit Ratings is stable. QIIC adopts a hybrid takaful model, whereby the shareholders’ fund (SHF) charges the policyholders’ fund (PHF) a Wakala fee based on gross written contributions (GWC) and a Muderaba fee based on investment income. QIIC has a track record of strong operating and technical profitability, highlighted by a five-year average combined ratio of 79% that has remained very stable over recent years. Although the company is concentrated to its domestic market of Qatar, the company maintains a niche market position as an established provider of Shari’a compliant products.

The Bahrain-based Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) is working to establish standards and norms for Shariah-compliant banking practices worldwide. The AAOIFI has hundreds of member institutions from over 45 countries. In October 2017, Saudi Arabia’s central bank, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, joined AAOIFI. Its standards are widely used in the industry and are compulsory in some countries such as Bahrain and Oman. To homogenize industry practices, in 2017 the AAOIFI adopted guidelines for centralised Shariah boards and new standards for gold-based products. In 2018, the AAOIFI is developing new draft rules on Shariah compliance and fiduciary ratings.