IslamicFinance.de

Saudi Arabia’s Al Moammar Information Systems (MIS) signed an Islamic facility agreement with Riyad Bank for 290 million Saudi riyals ($77.15 million). The revolving facility will be renewable every year. MIS’s listing on Tadawul last year marked the first listing for a company from the IT sector on the Saudi bourse. The company reported a net profit after zakat and tax of 76 million riyals in 2019, compared to 64.5 million riyals in 2018. Revenues rose to 997.5 million riyals last year, compared to 886.2 million riyals in 2018.

The Saudi Ministry of Culture announced its launch of the first electronic platform to teach Arabic calligraphy and Islamic decoration. The electronic platform will be supervised by a group of professional calligraphers from the Kingdom and the Arab world. The platform offers various training courses, including professional courses in the types of Arabic calligraphy, making calligraphic paintings and artwork, letter formations, gilding, Islamic decoration, drawing and coloring, the art of paper marbling and Ebru (needle art). The platform will also give the trainee the opportunity to develop Arabic computer fonts by learning designs and programming fonts. The online platform was launched in 2018 and has over 19,000 users from 30 different countries around the world.

Saudi Arabia has raised 5.55 billion riyals in sukuk. The first tranche of the sukuk issue has a size of 1.3 billion riyals, and a total tranche size of 2.523 billion riyals, maturing in 2027. The second tranche has a size of 4.25 billion riyals, and a total tranche size of 8.238 billion riyals, maturing in 2035.

The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adhanom thanked Saudi Arabia for donating 500 million dollars to support the international efforts in combating and preventing the spread of novel Coronavirus (Covid-19). Saudi Arabia will allocate 150 million dollars to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation, 150 million dollars to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations and 200 million dollars to the other international and regional health organizations and programs. The novel Coronavirus has killed more than 150,000 people worldwide and infected over 2.2 million people in 193 countries and territories.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held a videoconference on the COVID-19 outbreak. The symposium reviewed Sharia provisions on isolating confirmed and suspected patients; social distancing; acts of worship, including congregational prayer, Friday prayer and Ramadan fasting during the lockdown; personal hygiene; and adherence to health directives issued by authorities. The symposium followed an extraordinary meeting of the OIC Steering Committee on Health on COVID-19 held a few days ago, which called on jurists and preachers to urge Muslims to follow the true teachings of Islam in terms of hygiene and adhering to the required preventive measures.

Ayman Amin Sejiny has been the chief executive officer of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) since October 2018. The ICD is the private sector arm of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank Group. Recently, ICD announced a rapid response initiative to combat the repercussions of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by allocating $250 million in emergency funding. ICD will aid the private health care industries of affected member countries. ICD will also work closely with more than 100 local and regional financial institutions so that they can continue to finance small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Leaders of the most powerful countries in the world will today come together in a virtual summit organized by the Saudi Arabia G20 presidency to tackle the accelerating coronavirus crisis. Among world leaders expected to participate in the meeting are US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The World Health Organization, the UN, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are among the international organizations that will take part, as well as other development organizations. Saudi Arabia’s efforts at global coordination will continue after the virtual summit. Another forum of G20 finance ministers is planned for next month, as well as a virtual gathering of G20 health ministers.

A grocery delivery app in Saudi Arabia has raised funds to expand across the Middle East as lockdown measures related to the coronavirus boost demand for online shopping. The Nana app raised $18 million from investors including venture capital fund STV and Middle East Venture Partners. Dubai-based start-up ecosystem enabler Wamda also participated in the investment round, along with Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC), Impact46 and Watar Partners. Nana founder Sami Alhelwah said the penetration of online grocery shopping in the region is very low and the target is to expand across the region and beyond groceries into other products. Nana wants to become the Amazon of the Middle East and wants to be one of the first technology companies listed in Saudi Arabia.

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud has joined Bill Gates and other leading figures to announce the first round of funding to a major global initiative to end polio. Alwaleed Philanthropies’ donation of $2 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) will support the creation of action plans to expand access to polio vaccination and help reach children everywhere. Alwaleed Philanthropies has also worked with key partners such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carter Center and UNICEF to tackle Guinea Worm disease, river blindness, measles and rubella, amongst other preventable and treatable diseases. The GPEI pledging event launched a fundraising push to fill the $3.27 billion funding gap. So far, $2.6 billion has been raised.

Alinma Investment has recently launched its Sukuk Bond ETF in order to provide a low risk investment vehicle for the end investor. The world is currently awash with volatility and there has never been a better time to reap the benefits of a well-diversified multi-asset model portfolio. Until the recent launches of Sukuk Bond ETFs, it had proven very difficult to construct a Model Portfolio for GCC based investors, but this is no longer the case and it is not out of the question that this opening up of the Saudi Arabia Government Bond market could prove a key step going forward for other investors outside of the region. Alinma’s stunning ETF launch has more than a USD300 million in seed, so this fund is already large enough to be used by institutional investors across the globe.

Saudi-listed retail group Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Company has signed a Murabaha facility and a revolving credit facility agreement with a syndicate of Saudi banks. The $800 million debt facility is composed of two tranches, including a $650 million Murabaha to be fully utilized in refinancing existing debt, and a $150 million revolving standby credit facility to finance the business’ operational and expansion needs. The Murabaha matures in 7 years, while the revolving credit facility’s tenure is 3 years. The banks participating in the loan agreement are: Al Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation, the National Commercial Bank, Samba Financial Group, Arab National Bank, Mashreqbank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.

The private Saudi art organisation Art Jameel has bought a vast collection of works by leading artists commissioned by the now defunct, Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj. The collection had been planned to go on long-term loan to Art Jameel’s Dubai space, Jameel Arts Centre, before the financial company went bankrupt in 2018. It will now be managed as part of the Art Jameel Collection and part will be housed at the centre in Dubai. The 29 pieces, created over ten years from 2008 as part of the annual Abraaj Group Art Prize, are by artists from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia including Kader Attia, Shezad Dawood, Rana Begum and Wael Shawky.

Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Development Bank began marketing a five-year dollar sukuk at high-40s basis points over mid-swaps. The bank has hired Citi, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, LBBW, Natixis and Standard Chartered Bank to arrange the potential debt sale. The issuance is under Islamic Development Bank’s $25 billion trust certificate issuance programme and is expected to be of benchmark size. Benchmark size generally means upwards of $500 million.

Saudi Arabia’s Riyad Bank has started marketing 10-year dollar sukuk at around 225 basis points over mid-swaps. The Tier 2 subordinated sukuk sale is part of a $3 billion issuance programme. The bank hired JPMorgan, Riyad Capital and Standard Chartered to lead the deal. First Abu Dhabi Bank and HSBC are also involved in arranging the potential debt sale.

Saudi Arabia's Riyad Bank is planning to issue an international Tier 2 U.S. dollar sukuk under a new programme. Funds raised from the first issuance under the new programme will diversify the bank's sources of finance, strengthen its capital base, support the expansion of its credit business and other activities. Riyad Bank has mandated J.P. Morgan, Riyad Capital, Standard Chartered Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank and HSBC as joint lead managers for the upcoming sukuk. Fitch rated the sukuk programme BBB+(EXP)'/'F2(EXP).

The Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC), a subsidiary of the Saudi Public Investment Fund signed an agreement with Bank Aljazira to buy a SAR 250 million mortgage portfolio. The two entities signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that allows SRC to buy more mortgage portfolios from the bank. SRC seeks to inject more liquidity into the Saudi mortgage sector through the acquisition of mortgage portfolios. Bank Aljazira’s net profit increased by 3.8% to SAR 256.9 million in Q3-19, compared to SAR 247.4 million in Q3-18.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad brought an idea of a gold dinar as an international reserve currency for Muslim countries in preference to the US dollar as the dollar was sometimes unstable. Nazari Ismail, a professor of economics at Universiti Malaya thinks, that the idea is not reliable, as countries as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan and Indonesia would be not interested in the prime ministers proposal.

The Saudi Company for Hardware has signed 100 million riyals ($26.67 million) worth of Islamic financing. The finance was obtained from the Gulf International Bank in a five-year Shariah-compliant facilities. SACO Hardware posted 14.64 million riyals in net profit for July-September, a decrease of some 40% compared to the same quarter in 2018.

Winner of the 2019 Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Prize in Islamic Economics, Dr. Mabid Al-Jarhi, has delivered a lecture on the gains of switching from conventional to Islamic Finance. He argues that mainstream economics has many limitations, and therefore economists need to be able to identify the weaknesses and propose alternative frameworks. The principles of Islamic Economics provide such a framework. Prohibiting interest on money is not sufficient from an Islamic Finance point of view. Financing through trade contributes to addressing the inefficiency arising from search for trade partners. Together, prohibition of interest and financing through trade would improve allocation of resources in the economy. Dr. Al-Jarhi warns that there is a lot to be done to have a proper Islamic financial system in place. Proper regulations and governance are neccessary to address other kinds of inefficiencies arising from partnership of equity financing.

Malath Insurance announced today the assignment of Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB) certification and Sharia audit services to help maintain and supervise Sharia compliance. Malath offers comprehensive solutions covering classes of insurances like property, engineering, construction, health and medical for its retail and corporate customers. It currently has about 336 employees and 5 offices throughout Saudi Arabia. Malath CEO Fawaz A. Al Hijji believes that bringing Shariyah Review Bureau on board will strengthen trust in stakeholders and will provide significant scale with low input costs for certifying and auditing Sharia compliant products and investments.