IslamicFinance.de

Dubai Islamic Bank offered to buy back up to USD 200 mn of sukuk. Pricing shall be at least 86 % of face value, but not more than 90 % determined by an auction.

Dubai Islamic has USD 750 mn of sukuk due 2012.

Noor Islamic Bank closes its representative office in Tunis. The decision shall be taken as expansion plans have been revisited towards focussing on the Gulf region.

Addendum: Noor Islamic Bank denied the closure of the rep office in a press release.

Fattah Finance was launched in March, immediately after Kazakhstan's law on Islamic finance came into force.
A subsidiary of Almaty-based financial services provider Almaty Financial Centre, Fattah currently offers only brokerage services, but plans to expand its range of activities later this year as it grows its team. It offers its clients shares that are listed both in Kazakhstan and in other markets. "It doesn't matter where the shares are listed, only whether they are Sharia compliant or not," says Ussenzhan Turdiev, head of Fattah's information and analysis department.

The full interview by Clare Nuttal can be read via the link below.

Quantis was founded recently to provide expertise in responsible Islamic finance combined with quantitative methods by Marwan Muhammad and others.

http://www.quantislam.com

Fitch Ratings affirmed Al-Rajhi's long-term issuer default rating (IDR) at "A+" with a stable outlook. Its short-term IDR at "F1", individual rating at "B/C" and support rating at '1'. The bank continues to dominate the Islamic market segment and retail banking, which has been historically its main focus. The bank's long-term IDR is unlikely to change unless the sovereign rating changes.

ABC International Bank plc ("ABCIB") has appointed Faisal Alshowaikh as Head of Islamic Financial Services, based in London, to grow and develop its Islamic finance business, which was first established in late 1999, and includes Real Estate, Leasing and Islamic home finance through its alburaq retail finance business

Gatehouse Bank launches with Sustainable Assets Management (SAM) an Islamic compliant mutual fund focussing on sustainability-oriented companies that offer technologies, products and services throughout the entire value chain of the water industry.

At the 6th Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) Summit on 7 May, MAS announced that it has issued a set of Guidelines on the Application of Banking Regulations to Islamic Banking. The Guidelines consolidate the various regulations and clarifications which MAS has issued, and offers specific information on the regulatory treatment of various Islamic structures. This set of Guidelines will provide greater clarity and certainty for financial institutions offering Islamic banking products in Singapore.

MAS has also issued two regulations clarifying that, with immediate effect, Singapore-based banks may enter into Diminishing Musharaka financing and Spot Murabaha transactions. In addition, MAS has ensured equal tax, regulatory and liquidity treatment of the Singapore dollar sukuk with Singapore Government Securities, effective immediately. Taken together, these various changes will allow banks to conduct a wide range of Islamic financing activities, and to have greater flexibility in structuring instruments to meet their risk management needs.

Please view the Guidelines here:

Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, a unit of Islamic Development Bank plans to invest as much as USD 500 mn in PT Bank Negara Indonesia’s Shariah- compliant banking unit to help it expand in Asia, specifically Indonesia, Southern Thailand and Malaysia.

The nation’s Shariah-compliant banking assets rose 47 % to 48.4 trillion rupiah (USD 4.6 bn) at the end of 2008, according to Bank Indonesia data.

The new Islamic National Bank is regarded as sign of divide between the Palestinians. The Palestinian Monethariy Authority refused the license, being the recognised body according to the Oslo agreement in 1993 and Paris economic agreement on 1994 between the Palestinians and Israelis. Alternatively the bank has sent its establishing papers to the Prime Minister's office in Gaza and they have given it authorisation to start banking activities in Gaza.

Unlike other banks, it has no global serial number (swift code) which makes it impossible to work with other banks around the world or even in the Palestinian territories. The main clientele of the bank are Gaza Government employees, approximately 31,000.

Investors from Dubai are negotiating with government officials of Malta on a number of assets and projects in the Mediterranean island state. Dubai has already become a leading investor in Malta's economy with investments totalling near USD 1 bn over the last few years including the USD 300 mn SmartCity project, Euro 500 mn in International Hotel Investments (IHI) Group which owns Corinthia Hotels, as well as Tecom Investments' acquisition of a stake in Maltese telecom operator Go, with many more to come.

Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Development Bank (IDB), plans to sell USD 500 mn Sukuk by end of June, reported Shanty Nambiar on Bloomberg. The Jeddah-based bank plans to raise as much as USD 5 bn over the next 5 years through 2014 to fund the bank's projects in member countries.

IDB also plans to start a new USD 1.5 bn to USD 2 bn infrastructure fund funded by public and privat sector as joint investors.

Paul Rosenberg and Hala Matar Choufany are giving in a contribution to 4hoteliers a set of criteria for Sharia compliant hotels, distinguishing it from merely alcohol free, "dry" hotels:

In order for a hotel to be fully Sharia-compliant, it is extremely important that most of the facilities (such as floors, spa, gym and guest and function rooms) be separate for males and females. This is especially significant at the development stage when designing floor plans of the hotel. Beds and toilets should not be placed in the direction of Mecca.

Neither alcohol nor pork should be served in any of the food and beverage outlets at the hotel and there should be no minibar in the rooms.

See full article for more details as below.

Research conducted by Shariah-Fortune screened around 810 companies in 50 countries worldwide offering Shariah compliant financial services. The Middle East covers more than half (around 56 %) of the Islamic Finance market. Around 450 companies are located in this region. Leading countries are the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Asian companies compound to a market share of about 20 %. In particular. Malaysia is one of the key players, not only in Asia, but also globally.

114 companies have been screened in Europe, which accounts for around 14 % of the global market share. On top position in Europe is the UK, boosted by the FSA´s regulatory initiatives. Compared to its global importance North America takes only a small part in the listing for Islamic Finance. Around 44 companies (ca. 5 %) are located in the USA and Canada.

Azerbaijan, the oil-rich Caspian country with a population of about 9 million and a member of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB), is reaching out to Islamic finance. Faig Mammdov, special adviser to the chairman of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), Jahangir Hajiyev, focuses on the current developments and future prospects for Islamic finance in the country and region and gave an interview to Mushtak Parker, Arab News. Currently there is no specific regulation and no stand alone Islamic banks, but some products, as well as Islamic microfinance.

Islamic Arab Insurance Co (Salama) is looking for acquisitions in a number of markets including Turkey.

The USD Islamic Placement is similar to a conventional fixed deposit, except it is based on the Shariah principle of Murabaha, with a minimum of USD 500.000.

Sara Hamdan reported on The National that market participants interviewed seeing the Gulf Corporate bond sales to grow, specifically as recent sovereign issues have completed a yield curve previously not avalaibe to benchmark against.

Islamic Bank of Asia reacts positive on the announcement that Malaysia would issue up to 6 new licences for foreign institutions.

Barwa is studying acquisition of a number of financial and investment companies in Qatar, under the umbrella of Barwa Bank, including "The First Finance", "The First Investor" and "The First for Renting" companies.