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Singapore's central bank has asked financial institutions to provide details of any transactions linked to Malaysian state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) as part of its probe into possible money-laundering in the city state. The statement came late Thursday after it was reported earlier this week that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has reportedly asked close to 40 banks with a presence in Singapore to provide information linked to 1MDB. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) and National Australia Bank (NAB) are believed to be among those queried. ANZ and NAB both declined to comment.

Authorities in Singapore say they have seized a "large number" of bank accounts that various media have linked to a Malaysian government-run fund that stirred controversy around Prime Minister Najib Razak. While Singaporean authorities didn't confirm the link, the move comes days after Switzerland said it would submit evidence of illegal transactions to Malaysian authorities, asking them to help pursue the investigation. The developments come just before Najib and other Southeast Asian leaders hold a special summit with U.S. President Barack Obama in California this month. Obama is strengthening ties with the region to help counter China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and to tap the region's large and fast-growing economies.

Singapore has seized a “large number” of bank accounts over possible money laundering offences linked to an international investigation into the Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB, authorities in the city-state said on Monday. In an illustration of the mounting pressure from global regulators on the troubled fund, Singapore confirmed that it was “cooperating closely” with relevant authorities in Switzerland and the US. The Swiss attorney general announced on Friday that there were “serious indications” that $4bn had been misappropriated from Malaysian state companies and that a portion of the funds was transferred to accounts held in Switzerland.

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Standard Chartered has appointed Rehan Shaikh as chief executive of its global Islamic banking business, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
Shaikh moves to Standard Chartered Saadiq from Dubai Islamic Bank, where he was senior vice president and business head, private sector and transaction banking. He previously worked for StanChart in Pakistan from 1998 to 2007, the statement said.
He takes over from Sohail Akbar, who was interim chief executive of the Islamic banking operation after the departure of Afaq Khan earlier this year.
StanChart remains committed to the business despite a period of hiatus across other parts of the bank as global chief executive Bill Winters moves to restore profitability. It announced plans this month to reduce costs by $2.9 billion by 2018 and cut 15,000 jobs.
"Islamic finance is an integral part of the business at Standard Chartered and we continue to see growing demand from clients in many of our markets," said Sunil Kaushal, the bank's regional chief executive for Africa and the Middle East.

The launch of MyETF-AGRI, the firm’s second Islamic ETF issued this year, brings the number of Shari’ah compliant ETFs in Malaysia to four and 18 in total in the world.
The global ETF market has closed in on the $3 trillion mark with Shari’ah-compliant ETFs only registering about $320 million of that total. In Malaysia, Shari’ah-compliant ETFs make up of over 30 % of the ETF market.
Malaysia does lead the pack, however, with the most Shari’ah-compliant ETF products in the world. Malaysia’s four Shari’ah-compliant ETFs account for some $75 million or 23 % of the global Shari’ah-Compliant ETF segment.
The launch of this landmark Fund represents many firsts for the industry including being the first agricultural-related Islamic ETF globally and the first sectoral Islamic ETF in the region while reinforcing Malaysia’s position as the global hub for Islamic finance and investment products.
MyETF-AGRI will look to invest in the 30 constituent companies that make up the Thomson Reuters Asia Pacific ex-Japan Islamic Agribusiness Index and in substantially the same weightings as they appear on the benchmark index.

Malaysia's RHB Islamic Bank Bhd is set to launch a window in Singapore by year-end, New Straits Times reported on Monday, citing managing director and chief executive officer Ibrahim Hassan. Right now the bank is keen on Singapore and Indonesia mostly, Ibrahim was quoted as saying. Singapore because it is one of the world's most vibrant financial hubs, thus allowing RHB to tap further into capital markets and eventually Indonesia, which has the biggest Muslim population.

News that Islamic Bank of Asia, a subsidiary of Singapore’s banking major DBS, will be closing down left the Islamic finance community in the city state baffled. The institution was founded just eight years ago by DBS to tap the Islamic finance potential in Southeast Asia and beyond – with $500mn of paid-up capital shared between DBS and prominent Gulf investors. However, DBS announced in a statement to the Singapore stock exchange on September 14 that IB Asia “will be gradually wound down as it was unable to achieve economies of scale.” The wind-down will likely take two to three years. The apparent failure of IB Asia has been partly attributed to Singapore’s lacklustre regulatory framework for Islamic finance and the absence of a larger local client base.

DBS Group Holdings is winding down its Islamic banking unit, The Islamic Bank of Asia (IB Asia), which it said has been unable to achieve economies of scale. The process of winding down the unit will likely take two to three years. IB Asia, which had been named "Best Islamic Bank in Singapore" by Islamic Finance News in January this year, offers wealth management services to high net worth customers. It also provides treasury, corporate advisory and capital market services to businesses. The move to wind down IB Asia is subject to obtaining approval from its shareholders and receiving regulatory approvals, DBS said.

Singapore's strength in conventional financing and capital markets can be adapted to meet the needs of Islamic banking, said Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) deputy managing director Jacqueline Loh yesterday. She added that conventional finance and Islamic banking are similarly cross-border in nature. Islamic capital-market activities in Singapore have taken off, with 31 sukuk issuances over the past five years. Ms Loh said sukuks are ideal for funding infrastructure projects and would complement work by Singapore as they are asset-backed and can involve more capital-market participants. MAS is also working with the industry and other government agencies to establish sukuk regulatory and tax regimes.

Sabana Shariah Compliant REIT (SGX: M1GU) had released its fiscal first-quarter earnings yesterday evening. The real estate investment trust is sponsored by the small conglomerate Vibrant Group Ltd (SGX: F01). Currently, Sabana REIT owns a portfolio of 23 properties in Singapore, with assets worth a collective S$1.3 billion. Sabana REIT had achieved revenue of S$25.4 million in its fiscal first-quarter (three months ended 31 March 2015), a slight 3.2% year-on-year increase. However, its net property income only managed to grow by 1.1% from a year ago to S$18.6 million as a result of much higher property expenses. Besides, Sabana REIT’s net asset value per unit has decreased slightly to S$1.06 as at 31 March 2015 from S$1.09 a year ago.

A new guide by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has been launched to help banks in Singapore implement environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice into their frameworks and develop sustainable solutions to risks of climate change and resource scarcity. The ESG Integration for Banks: A Guide to Starting Implementation gives advice to financial advisors and lenders in socially responsible banking. The guide maps out ‘how to’ steps for financial institutions in the earlier stages of their ESG journey. It shows them how to manage their risk exposure to unsustainable business practices and lead the trend toward green business.

Retail investors will soon get to invest in Singapore’s first syariah-compliant real estate investment trust (Reit), the Sabana Reit – set to hold about $850 million of Singapore industrial properties. Maybank Singapore is offering smaller firms an Islamic commercial property loan that comes with one of the longest fixed interest rate terms here. The product, called Maybank Islamic Term Financing, will provide small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) with financing for completed commercial and industrial properties, on a mid- to long-term basis. Maybank Singapore head of Islamic banking Ismail Hussein said the product had contributed significantly to Maybank’s Islamic SME financing portfolio.

Almost half of the 150 million Singapore dollar ($118 million) sukuk issued by Swiber went to investors from Brunei, helping Swiber clinch pricing that was more competitive than conventional debt. Swiber's five-year deal priced last week to yield 6.5 percent and was backed by strong anchor demand from high-quality institutional investors before books opened. About half of the bonds were allocated to Islamic institutions. The biggest chunk, 46.3 percent, went to Brunei, while Malaysia took 10.0 percent and Singapore 43.7 percent. Institutional buyers accounted for a huge 96.5 percent share of the deal. Maybank Kim Eng was sole lead arranger and global coordinator for the programme. Proceeds from the issue will be used to refinance debt and support capital expenditure.

Sabana Real Estate Investment Management, as the manager of Sabana Shari'ah-compliant Real Estate Investment Trust (Sabana REIT) has announced that SGD 1.5 million in aggregate principal amount of the SGD 80.0 million 4.50 per cent Convertible Sukuk due 2017, issued by Sabana Treasury, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sabana REIT and convertible into units of Sabana REIT have been converted and cancelled pursuant to the exercise of conversion rights by the holders thereof. Following the above conversion, an aggregate of 1,257,018 new Units have been issued at the conversion price of SGD 1.1933 per Unit, and the total Units in issue is 648,711,000. As at 21 June 2013, the aggregate principal amount of Convertible Sukuk remaining outstanding following such conversion and cancellation is SGD 72.5 million.

At the 4th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit (WIBC Asia 2013) in Singapore, Bahrain based international standard-setting body the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) announced the launch of IIFM Inter-Bank Unrestricted Master Investment Wakalah Agreement. This global standard document is supplemented with an Operational Guidance Memorandum. It is developed to be used in the Islamic inter-bank market between financial institutions in order to manage their liquidity requirements. It is also aimed to minimise the over reliance on the use of the Commodity Murabaha in the inter-bank market transactions. The key main features of this Agreement is that the Investor, the Muwakkil, will appoint the Wakil as its Agent to invest its funds in a Shari’ah compliant manner in exchange for a fee.

Experts say the growth potential for Islamic finance in Singapore is still strong. Sukuk or Islamic bond issuances totalled US$137 billion in 2012, up from US$92b in 2011. Yet there is still a gap to fill in the Islamic capital market. According to Mr Ng Nam Sin, Assistant Managing Director (Development) at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the increased volume of issuance is still insufficient to meet the huge demand for Islamic assets for investments and Islamic financial institutions to manage their liabilities. Moreover, there is also a need to broaden the range of Islamic capital market products. Singapore already has the right infrastructure and good regulations already in place. Experts say Singapore's strong regulatory environment and the depth and diversity of its capital markets will enable it to capture a bigger slice of the Islamic financing market.

Insurance group Great Eastern Holdings Ltd has no plans for merger and acquisition activities (M&A) as the valuations are high, according to its group chief executive officer Chris Wei. However, the company is closely watching the market. Wei added that the lofty offer prices were underpinned by multiple reasons, aptly that Asia being one of the most attractive markets compared with Europe and the United States, hence, attracting foreign capital. He said the group would continue to grow responsibly and further strengthen its position as a life company rather than just a life insurance company by promoting health in the communities it operated in.

Ng Nam Sin, Assistant Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), pointed out that, despite the expiry of certain tax incentives, Singapore is still looking to develop the city's Islamic finance capabilities. To ensure that level playing field between Islamic finance and conventional financial products, Islamic finance activities will continue to be incentivized alongside conventional finance activities under Singapore's other existing schemes. However, others have remarked that Singapore is now lagging behind Malaysia, which is establishing itself as the major Islamic financial hub in the region.

It is expected that in the next 10 to 15 years Islamic Finance will offer significant opportunities for growth and diversification. Tharman Shanmugaratnam - Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance - expressed his optimistic attitude towards the prospects of Islamic finance. He pointed out that Islamic financial institutions have largly escaped significant damage in the global financial crisis as one of the main reasons for his attitude. In addition, he explained that this financial area has the opportunity to diversify into new growth areas such as trade and infrastructure financing in Asia and the emerging markets.