IslamicFinance.de

Maybank Islamic Bhd has clinched major mandates valued at RM9 billion under its Islamic custody services in less than a year since its launch, with more new clients expected to be on board by end-2015, the bank said. Maybank Group’s Islamic banking arm stated by year-end, the financial offering will have assets under custody (AUC) amounting to RM13 billion on the back of these new clients. The clients comprise mainly from financial institutions, inclusive of non-bank entities, the bank said. Maybank Islamic’s custody services offering also provides value-added services such as Islamic performance measurement and attributes, and compliance monitoring.

Maybank Islamic Bhd has so far secured major mandates valued at RM9 billion. More clients are expected to come on board by end of this year, which will bring the assets under custody to RM13 billion, its Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Head of Product Management Nor Shahrizan Sulaiman said. He said assets under management of Malaysia's institutional investors, government-linked companies and sovereign wealth funds were valued at about RM1.4 trillion. Nor Shahrizan said Maybank Islamic's custody services also provided Islamic performance measurement and attributes, and compliance monitoring for both domestic and global funds' portfolios.

Maybank Islamic, is one of the leading arrangers of sukuk in the world, has viewed Gulf Cooperation Council, including Qatar, as its priority region in mobilising funds through Shariah-principled bonds.
“The GCC is definitely on our radar. It all depends on what kind of opportunities are available,” said Nor Shahrizan Sulaiman, deputy chief executive of Maybank Islamic, which is wholly-owned by Maybank Group with strong credit ratings from Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.
The lender, a leading Islamic bank in the Asean region with assets to the tune of $42.65bn as on June 30, 2015, has a branch in Bahrain and a 30% stake in Anfaal Capital in Saudi Arabia.
Maybank is exploring opportunities in the Middle East through its stake in the Saudi Arabia’s Anfaal Capital. Almost 90% of the Maybank Islamic’s balance sheet is domestic and the remaining 10% is from overseas operations, according to Sulaiman.

R&A Telecommunication Group Bhd's major subsidiary, R&A Telecommunication Sdn Bhd (RASB), has been served a writ and a statement of claim by Maybank Islamic Bhd for defaulting a loan payment of RM30.54 million. R&A said it plans to address the issue via a regularisation plan. The filing of the writ and statement of claim is a result of the outstanding amount for various Islamic financing facilities granted by the plaintiff including murabahah cashlines and Islamic tradeliness facilities, R&A said. The financial of operational impact of the writ and statement of claim on the group will be severe, it said, adding that it will severely impact the group's cash position.

Maybank Islamic Bhd is optimistic that Malaysia's financial sector will hold strong in the current turmoil and weather through the storm. Its chief executive officer Datuk Muzaffar Hisham is also confident that foreign investors will continue to invest in Malaysia's financial sector for the long run. Muzaffar was speaking to reporters after the signing ceremony between Maybank Islamic and the Selangor State Government for a new home financing package. On Thursday, Maybank Islamic recorded a revenue of RM1.9 billion for the first half ended June 30, 2015. Muzaffar said the group is expecting a lower loan growth for the second half of this year and will continue to monitor closely to maintain sustainability for the next few quarters.

Maybank Islamic Bhd expects the bulk of its mudarabah deposit account holders to reclassify their accounts to mudarabah investment account (IA), in compliance with Bank Negara’s requirement. Chief executive officer Muzaffar Hisham said the 350,000 customers of the bank’s existing mudarabah deposit products had been given until May 31 to consent to either have their accounts reclassified as IA or other syariah-compliant deposit products. Some 70%-80% of the bank’s customers were expected to make the switch as the IA was a compliance requirement arising from the central bank’s Islamic Financial Services Act 2013.

Maybank Islamic has launched its Shariah Centre of Excellence (SCOE), which focuses on research and education, talent development, thought leadership and community welfare. Its chief executive officer Muzaffar Hisham said the center was a virtual centre, which aimed to be a repository of Shariah knowledge and reference point on best practices for industry players, academic fraternities and the general public. The bank has collaborated with INCEIF, the Global University of Islamic Finance, including sponsoring the university’s auditorium and post-graduate students. Maybank Islamic has also rolled out other programmes under the SCOE initiative, including a public lecture series as well as Islamic finance publications.

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.

Maybank Islamic Bhd will provide RM20 million of seed capital to a Waqf Fund which will be invested into investment portfolios, to include fixed income, equities, balanced fund and real estate. The local financial institution said that majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (MAIWP) will be the trustee of the Waqf fund while the bank will be the project manager. Profits or capital yield from the investment portfolio will be used to fund programmes related to development of educational and health care infrastructures, as well as to develop young entrepreneurs. Maybank Islamic Chief Executive Officer, Muzaffar Hisham said Waqf was one of the potential investments which can be developed to fund various economic activities for the benefit of the community.

MAYBANK Islamic Bhd hopes the government will introduce tax incentives for corporations, particularly to support the development of waqf and zakat. Potential growth in the two major sectors of Islamic endowments is given and they could benefit from tax breaks. The bank also hopes the government will continue its favourable policy on foreign currency transaction in Islamic banking, such as the International Currency Business Unit (ICBU) initiative which allows local players to conduct Islamic banking in international currencies via a division set up under the Islamic Banking Act 1983.

Maybank Islamic Bhd has dimissed speculations that it is in talks with Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd over a potential merger and acqusition (M&A). Its chief executive officer Muzaffar Hisham said the proposed merger of three local financial institutions to create a mega Islamic bank has not prompted Maybank Islamic to rush into M&A for expansion. Muzaffar said Maybank Islamic will continue to focus on its key objective, namely humanising financial services, which has been the driver of the bank’s outstanding track record over the last three to four years. Meanwhile, Muzaffar said Maybank Islamic is optimistic of maintaining its growth momentum in the second half of the year after recording an encouraging performance in the first half.

Maybank Islamic Bhd is optimistic of up to 12% growth this year, news that bode well for its parent Malayan Banking Bhd’s (Maybank) aspiration of 15% return on equity (ROE) for 2014. Maybank Islamic accounts for 40% of the group’s revenue and profit for the first-quarter ended March 31, 2014 (1Q14). In 1Q14, total income grew 26% to RM1.319 billion. Nevertheless, pretax profit and zakat for the same period dropped 7% to RM315.1 million, mainly due to the increase in the overhead expenses. This was disclosed at Maybank Islamic launch of its MasterCard Ikhwan Card-i, the bank’s first Mastercard offering.

Maybank Islamic Bhd, a unit of Malaysia's Malayan Banking Bhd, has raised 1.5 billion ringgit ($458.65 million) with its first Basel III-compliant Islamic bond. The sukuk has a tenure of 10 years and was priced at 4.75 percent. It was oversubscribed by 2.9 times and increased in size from an initial plan for one billion ringgit. It is the first issuance under a 10 billion ringgit subordinated sukuk programme announced by the bank in March.

Maybank Islamic is confident of continuing its growth trajectory this year. Chief executive officer Muzaffar Hisham said the bank is looking at a pre-tax profit and zakat growth of between 10 and 15 per cent, after a 25 per cent growth to RM1.19 billion last year. The bank's growth will be led by an increase in cross-border transactions, which he said are on a steady rise. Indonesia and Singapore are the next key growth areas for Maybank Islamic. Muzaffar said he wants to grow the bank's cross-border investments via its treasury services window at Maybank Hong Kong. The bank has a strong retail banking presence in Singapore and has issued one sukuk in the island state. In Indonesia, its Islamic banking reach is through Maybank Group's subsidiary, Bank Internasional Indonesia. He added that the bank is also targeting to attract corporations from the United Kingdom wanting to expand in Asia.

Maybank Islamic Bhd, the Islamic banking arm of Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), aims to expand to all Asean member countries that Maybank has a presence in. According to its CEO Muzaffar Hisham, the bank intends to continue its regional expansion to other Asean nations after focusing on Singapore and Indonesia as part of its internationalisation initiative. Muzaffar said the bank has invested a lot of time and effort in the expansion opportunities, which were in line with the aspiration of Bank Negara Malaysia to internationalise Islamic finance. The bank grew by an average of 25% per year, held 30% market share locally and contributed 30% to the loans portfolio of Maybank domestically. Up to the first quarter of this year, Maybank Islamic has 4 million depositors with a deposit value of RM70 billion.

Malaysian Rating Corporation (MARC) has affirmed its AAA/MARC-1 financial institution (FI) ratings on Maybank Islamic and AA+IS rating on Maybank Islamic's 1.0 billion ringgit Islamic Subordinated Sukuk (Subordinated Sukuk). The outlook on the ratings is stable. The Subordinated Sukuk, which qualifies as Tier-2 capital for Maybank Islamic, is rated one notch lower than the bank's FI rating in accordance with MARC's notching policy for subordinated debt issued by a AAA-rated bank. Positive rating drivers include Maybank Islamic's leading position as the largest Islamic bank in Malaysia, healthy capitalisation, sustainable earnings, and sound liquidity and funding profile. The ratings also factor in the high likelihood of full financial support from the parent/group Malayan Banking. Constraining the ratings are continued margin compression and fierce competition as well as Maybank Islamic's increased exposure to risks associated with regional expansion.

Singapore’s path to Shari’ah compliant home financing is being chocked by bureaucracy. The Islamic Globe recently noted on the absence of Islamic home financing products despite the Monetary Authority of Singapore having legislated for a range of Shari’ah compliant Islamic banking structures.
Furthermore, The Islamic Globe has learnt from a well-placed source that Maybank Islamic in Singapore has for the past two years been in discussion with local government agencies to pave the way for Shari’ah compliant home financing.
However, the source added that the greatest hurdle lies with the Central Provident Fund, which offers three elements of financial security – retirement, home ownership and healthcare.

Maybank Islamic, Asia-Pacific's largest syariah lender, is going to expand its business in the Asean region and may offer Islamic stockbroking services through Singapore stockbroker Kim Eng, which its parent recently acquired.
The bank's parent Maybank is embarking on an expansion drive to become a regional bank. It operates in 14 countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bahrain.

MARC considers Maybank Islamic to be one of the core subsidiaries of Maybank and an integral part of the Group.
Maybank Islamic’s ratings therefore, reflect a very high probability of support from its parent.
Maybank’s ownership in Maybank Islamic, the operational integration and shared branding, in addition to the strategic role of Maybank Islamic in the Group’s Islamic banking operations are key factors underpinning MARC’s opinion that Maybank Islamic will benefit from the full support and credit strength of the Maybank Group.

Jakarta-based Bank Syariah Mandiri joined Islamic lenders worldwide to use Ramadan to remind Muslims to obey the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad that ban interest. Emirates NBD of Dubai waived payments on personal loans during Ramadan, while Maybank Islamic in Kuala Lumpur started automating charitable donations. Banks in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, offered limited-edition products to generate Ramadan-linked revenue and publicity. Bank Syariah Mandiri, the Islamic unit of Indonesia’s largest bank by assets, Bank Mandiri, collaborated with a local TV operator on a program aimed at promoting Shariah-compliant banking during the holy month. Shariah finance prohibits the charging of interest as well as investments tied to gambling and alcohol. Returns are generated as a share of profits from assets.