IslamicFinance.de

Les Afriques reported on 27 January that the Egyptian central bank has approved the request to create an Islamic fund by Bank of Alexandria. Details are not given.

Al-Khabeer Merchant Finance Corporation built a Joint-Venture with Al Mutajara installments company to establish ‘Dari for Home Loans,’ a new SAR 1 bn capitalised Saudi joint-stock company-under development stage, which will specialise in financing the construction and purchase of houses and residential properties in accordance with Islamic Sharia principles.

Dari Home Loans will become one of the first real estate financing companies in the Kingdom to specifically cater to the middle income sector. It will not include property developers among its pool of clients.

Dari Home Loans is currently appointing personnel and officials for managing its human resources and is negotiating with a global partner for the transfer of management experience to this sector in the Kingdom. Al-Khabeer is adopting its turnkey and integrated banking solutions to develop Dari, as Al-Khabeer directs the finance and advisory for the company. The new property funding firm’s founders are confident that it will be fully established in a short span of time given the strength of the Kingdom’s economy.

Mohammad Sheikh is Chief Operating Officer of Dari Home Loans.

Gatehouse Bank plc has announced the establishment of a USD 1 bn Sukuk programme by Milestone Capital PCC ("Milestone"). Gatehouse Bank is the Arranger and Dealer of the Milestone programme as published in a press release via Zawya on 27 January.

The first Sukuk issue under the Milestone platform was successfully completed recently. The Milestone programme is listed on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange and certificates issued under the programme are entered into the Euroclear and Clearstream clearing systems, with BNP Paribas Securities Services acting as common depositary. Milestone Capital PCC is a Jersey based orphan Protected Cell Company, designed to allow the efficient creation of new, segregated, bankruptcy remote cells. Each cell has the ability to issue a diverse range of Sukuk certificates, which is proving very appealing for issuers and investors alike.

David Testa is the CEO of Gatehouse. Ashurst LLP is the legal advisor to Gatehouse Bank on the transaction.

TradeArabia reported on 27 January that the Bank of London and the Middle East (BLME), will be extending its wealth management division with the launch of a private banking business. The new project will be headed by the newly appointed head of private banking Adrian Gayler, who joins BLME from Merrill Lynch International Bank Limited. Gayler will be based in BLME’s new private banking offices in Mayfair, London, along with the already established specialist wealth management team

Press Release

London, 27 January, 2009 – Bank Of London And The Middle East plc (BLME), the London based wholesale, Sharia’a compliant bank, today announced that it is providing a £10 million leasing facility to Ocado Ltd (Ocado), the UK independent online grocer.

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Press Release - full text attached:

New York (January 27, 2009) — Based on the close of trading on January 26, the global Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 Index, which measures the performance of 100 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks globally, lost -5.55% month-to-date, closing at 1646.71. In comparison, the Dow Jones Global Titans 50 Index, which measures the 50 biggest companies worldwide, posted a loss of -9.00%, closing at 131.03.

- The Dow Jones Islamic Market Asia/Pacific Titans 25 Index, which measures the performance of 25 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks in the Asia/Pacific region, decreased -9.90%, closing at 1252.00. The Dow Jones Asian Titans 50 Index, in comparison, posted a loss of -11.40%, closing at 90.89.

- Measuring Europe, the Dow Jones Islamic Market Europe Titans 25 Index, which measures the performance of the 25 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks in Europe, closed at 1596.39, a loss of -7.60%, while the pan-European blue chip Dow Jones STOXX 50 Index lost -10.97%, closing at 1926.07.

Press Release
PARIS (Standard & Poor's) Jan. 26, 2009--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it revised its outlook on Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House (GFH) to negative from stable. At the same time, we affirmed the 'BBB-/A-3' long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on the bank.

"The outlook revision reflects the increasingly difficult environment in which the bank operates, which is likely to limit its capacity to execute new transactions and therefore lead to a weaker financial performance," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Emmanuel Volland.

In addition, the value of GFH's own investments, largely illiquid by nature, is set to decline. On a positive note, we believe that the nature of these assets means that they are less subject to marked-to-market deterioration than those of GFH's peers.

Mushtak Parker reported in Arab News on 26 January about the launch of Falcom Sharia Index licensed by Tadawul (the Saudi stock exchange). The promoters claim that this index is the first of its kind on the Tadawul, and comprises some 112 companies which in turn comprise nearly 78 percent of the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI).

AMEinfo reported on 25 January that Kuwait-based financial services company Investment Dar has appointed Credit Suisse Group to advise the firm on its financial strategy.

Joanna Hartley reported on 24 January that the Saudi banking sector has posted poor results for the last quarter of 2008 impacted by the global economic environment according to Fitch rating, saying that 2009 will be challenging. The preliminary 2008 results released by the 10 main commercial banks in the kingdom confirmed that the last quarter of 2008 was the worst quarter of the year for all. Despite this the 10 banks remain among the highest rated by Fitch Ratings across the GCC region and generally have sound domestic franchises.

The expectation of tougher conditions for the banks and lower profitability in the coming months resulted in most banks' individual ratings being downgraded in December 2008. Their long-term issuer default ratings largely remain driven by the extremely high probability of support from the Saudi Arabian government (rated 'AA-').

The Star Malaysia reported on January 24 that AXIS Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is looking at various options to raise capital, including Islamic financing, to buy more properties. The REIT became Sharia compliant last December.

CEO is Stewart LaBrooy.

IFIS published a report on 24 January discussed on Albawaba that Sukuk or Islamic bond markets have witnessed a dramatic decline during 2008, especially during the 4th Quarter, which was the lowest since 2002, and 2008 was a worse year for sukuk than both 2006 and 2007 with no issuances even of a Dollar Sukuk and the total amount dropping to only USD 584 mn in Q4 2008. South East Asia was more severely impacted than the GCC in 2008, with issuance falling by 76% down to USD 6.57 bn for the entire year. The decline in the GCC was quite severe as well, however, with issuance falling to USD 9.06 bn, a 51% drop. The global total for sukuk issuance, USD 15.77 bn, was 66% lower than the figure for 2007. This is the first year on year drop in sukuk issuance since the year 2000.

Islamic syndicated lending expanded from USD 19.6 bn in 2007 to USD 27.2 bn in 2008, a 32% increase. But as with credit markets worldwide, Islamic syndicated lending froze almost completely in Q4 2008.

Bahrain Islamic Bank announced on 21 January that its financial results for the year 2008, decreased to BD 22.3 mn net income from BD 25 mn for the year 2007, after making provisions against contingences that may arise in case the current international financial and economic crisis continues further.

The board of Directors has decided to propose to the Bank's AGM the distribution of 20% of dividends of paid up capital as of 31st December 2008 as 10% cash and another 10% bonus shares.

Liau Y-Sing reported on 23 January that the largest Islamic bank is announced to be launched in June operating out of Bahrain with a paid up capital of USD 11 bn; the Islamic Development Bank being the largest shareholder according to Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, chairman of the General Council of Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions. The bank, which has yet to be formally named, has been in the pipeline for several years and is currently undergoing final review by IDB on its capital input. While a total of $1 billion will be raised by private investors, including IDB, the other $10 billion is expected to come from an IPO on the Bahrain stock exchange, Sheikh Saleh Abdulla Kamel is cited.

Tradearabia reported on 22 January that Moody's Investors Service has placed the A2 local and foreign currency issuer ratings for Qatar Real Estate Investment Company (Alaqaria) under review for possible downgrade. The moves comes following the new Qatari government directive to merge Alaqari with Barwa Real Estate Company. Moody's has also placed the $300 million Trust Certificates (sukuk) issued by Qatar Alaqaria Sukuk Company (QASC) under review.

The Treasury of Turkey announced it will sell bonds linked to income at four state enterprises. The Treasury will issue the bonds in Turkish Liras and dollars Jan. 28 after collecting bids Jan. 26 and 27. The total issuance will be YTL 1.89 bn, or USD 1.15 bn. The papers will be linked to income at four state enterprises, namely oil company TPAO, the state stationary office DMO, the government-run airports authority DHMI and the coast safety authority, or KIYEM. The Treasury statement did not clarify whether the new revenue-index bonds were compliant with Islamic investment principles. Last month, Selim Ye?ilba?, the head of the international finance markets department at the Turkish Undersecretariat of Treasury, said to Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review the new borrowing method would be "based on rent certificates."

Ghazanfar Ali Khan reported in Arab News on 22 January that the Islamic insurance (Takaful) market will grow five fold over the next 10 years while the market for Shariah-compliant insurance will be worth USD 14 bn by 2015 being said at an Islamic insurance conference. Since 2000, Islamic insurance has been growing at more than 15 percent per annum, yet the market is still at its tip, especially in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, said a report released on the occasion.

According to the report, insurance premiums paid in Muslim nations are equal to between 0.5 percent and 5 percent of gross domestic product. That compares with between 10 percent and 15 percent in developed markets. The event has been organized by the Islamic International Foundation for Economics and Finance, an affiliate of the Muslim World League, in cooperation with the Islamic Research and Training Institute.

Shanthy Nambiar and Aloysius Unditu reported on Bloomberg on 21 January about the outlook of the Sukuk market. A long line of sovereign and corporate issuers in GCC and Asia are delaying their issuance due to market constraints.

The average extra yield on corporate and government sukuk above the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, is now 11.1 %, up from 1.9 % a year ago, according to HSBC-DIFX indices. That spread widened to a record 11.9 % in December, compared with 6.97 % for non-Islamic bonds in the Middle East.

The portfolio management services division of HSBC Asset Management has launched the actively managed, open-ended HSBC Amanah India Shariah Portfolio. The portfolio will be benchmarked against the Dow Jones Islamic Market India Index and the BSE 500.

CEO of HSBC Asset Management is Mr Vikramaaditya.

Stanley Carvalho reported on 21 January in Arabianbusiness that two financial institutions in the Gulf may be licensed to introduce Islamic banking in france later this year according to a member of the French banking delegation, one of them being Qatar Islamic Bank, the second possibly located in Bahrain.