IslamicFinance.de

Dear Reader,

IslamicFinance.de is privately funded for many years. Now, for the first time, you have the possibility to make a contribution, from one Dollar upwards!

The technical details, and the money transfer via paypal is organised by Kapipal a new online fundraising tool:

http://www.kapipal.com/islamicfinance

On the blog I gave some more thoughts about Islamic finance media for those interested: http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/3454

Please also note: The fundraising action has a deadline, so act today, not tomorrow and tell your friends about it!

All donors who will leave a message will be listed in the article, which follows after closure of the fundraising period.

I am happy to meet you in person either on 19th March in Milano (http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/3396) or on 10th May in Frankfurt (http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=BAFINII) at the respective Islamic finance conference.

Wa at Taufiq min Allah, all the best,

Michael Saleh Gassner

Dear Readers,

Islamic finance media are a tricky service. This is true for various reasons: The Internet eats up the revenues, because everything ought to be free. Islamic banks are still a niche phenomena, and international banks like UBS or Deutsche are almost as large as the entire global Islamic finance industry. Consequently the marketing budgets are much lower, too.

Last not least, who should advertise? The banks among themselves or to the clients? Advertising from bank to bank, does usually not make much sense, but real client oriented formats are hard to find, too. May be this is a niche. Others, who could finance Islamic finance media are basically the service providers to the banks, but due to the limited number of Islamic financial insitutions, direct marketing, e.g. face to face meetings will be preferred.

This in short is the background why Islamic finance media are not so well established in terms of journalism and research, but mostly reflecting the press release as criticised by the makers of the Islamic Globe. See: http://www.theislamicglobe.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article...

CALL FOR PAPERS - Islamic capital markets, Deadline: Submission of Abstract: March 15, 2012
Islamic Research and Training Istitute – Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Islamic capital markets are to become an important part of the Islamic financial system. While new products are steadily coming into the market and the Islamic investment instrument are growing, Islamic capital markets still constitute a very small niche. For a discernible impact on the investment promotion, market stability, and equitable socio-economic development there is a growing need to accelerate the process of product development, to create conducive regulatory environment and to improve the market practices. This task requires development of new human capital and knowledge base.

With this larger objective, the immediate focus of this conference is on three issues:
• Design and use of Islamic financial products for Islamic capital markets.
• Identification of the needs for and the implications of market regulations for development of Islamic capital market.

The 2nd Quarter 2011 issue of the Malaysian ICM quarterly bulletin published by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) is now available online at:
http://www.sc.com.my/eng/html/icm/11_2Q_msianicm.pdf

Steuerliche Würdigung im nationalen und internationalen Kontext

Der Markt Islamic Finance wächst rasant und umfasst bereits heute ein erhebliches Anlagevolumen. Demgegenüber besteht ein großer Kapitalbedarf in der europäischen, speziell auch in der deutschen Realwirtschaft ebenso wie ein Bedarf an Investoren.

Bei der Umsetzung von Islamic-Finance-Vertragsmodellen kann die Besteuerung im Einzelfall eine ausschlaggebende Rolle spielen. Daher erläutert die Autorin in diesem Buch für ausgewählte schariakonforme Finanzierungs- und Anlageformen zunächst die Scharia-Rahmenbedingungen der jeweiligen Vertragsmodelle aus deutscher rechtlicher, ertragsteuerlicher und verkehrsteuerlicher Sicht. Die steuerlichen Fragestellungen werden anhand von Beispielen im grenzüberschreitenden Corporate Bereich im Schnittpunkt von deutschem internationalem Steuerrecht und ausländischem Steuerrecht der weiteren beteiligen Staaten verdeutlicht.

Inhalt

* Einleitung
* Grundzüge von Islamic-Finance-Vertragsmodellen
- eigenkapitalbasierte („Musharaka“ und „Mudaraba“),
- fremdkapitalbasierte („Murabaha“ und „Tawarruq“) sowie

ResearchGATE is the largest social network for academic research globally. Dedicated social profiles of researchers allow to enter academic careers, published articles in journals and books, announce fields of research for international exchange just to name a few of the features.

IslamicFinance.de took another effort to create a dedicated group and invite researchers globally to use this platform and foster research in Islamic finance. The last academic initiative taken was to sponsor and start a full fledged platform for the Islamic Finance WIKI, the online encyclopedia.

Researchers are invited to participate in these initiatives.

Please visit:
http://www.researchgate.net/group/Islamic_Finance/

Press Release

Today sees the launch of a new Journal on Islamic finance from dedicated Islamic finance media entity Yasaar Media.

The Journal, called So Far – the Journal of Strategic Thinking in Islamic Finance, is written and edited by members of an Islamic finance Think Tank and is modelled on traditional academic journals. The difference with So Far is that the members of the Think Tank are predominantly practitioners rather than academics.
Member of the Think Tank are drawn from the ranks of committed Islamic finance professionals around the world and range from the Gulf and the Far East to the USA and Europe.

Each issue of So Far is dedicated to a single topic of core importance to the Islamic finance industry – and the launch issue looks at the thorny issue of the problems facing the Sukuk market. Unlike many other journals So Far is distributed free in PDF format and is available from a variety of sources including Yasaar Media thus guaranteeing maximum readership and exposure.

IslamicFinance.de has created a fanpage on Facebook - for all the users wishing to follow the news abstracts on the Facebook platform. Please join and enjoy!

IslamicFinance.de is calling Islamic financial institutions to become member of the UNEP Finance Inititiave to learn and contribute to international best practice in ethical and faith based finance:

"UNEP FI is a global partnership between UNEP and the financial sector. Over 180 institutions, including banks, insurers and fund managers, work with UNEP to understand the impacts of environmental and social considerations on financial performance."

membership information package:
http://www.unepfi.org/fileadmin/forms/MembershipInformationPack.pdf

King & Spalding published a briefing on the recent request by Dubai World that all its creditors agree to a standstill on any amounts payable to them until at least 30 May 2010 and the new law issued by the Ruler of Dubai, HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, setting out what will occur in the event that Dubai World or any of its subsidiaries are in an insolvency situation.

The briefing is authored by Michael Rainey and Sara Carmody of King & Spalding London and Dubai offices.

There has been a significant increase in syndication deals since the start of 2009, with a total of 36 deals announced or closed worth a cumulative total of $9.5bn. If the rest of the year continues as it started it would suggest that total Islamic syndicated loans for 2009 will end in the region of $21bn, which would be broadly in line with 2007 levels, analyses Paul McNamara from Yasaar Media.

Dubai tries to restore its reputation on Thursday, assuring investors that major property and leisure projects would go ahead and dispatching two top officials on a public relations drive to Washington.

A consortium of four banks namely, National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Arab African International Bank, and Banque du Caire arranged, underwrote and syndicated a facility for the Egyptian Nitrogen Products Company (ENPC). Faisal Islamic Bank was among the co-arrangers.

The government of Abu Dhabi and the Central Bank of the UAE has announced that it has agreed to provide $10 billion to the Dubai Financial Support Fund.

The Dubai Financial Support Fund can therefore enable Nakheel to pay its Sukuk due today.

The Financial Times produced a special looking into the Future of Islamic Finance.

The download is free of charge.

Press Release

Several Dubai Government-Related Entities Downgraded And On Watch Negative Following
Debt Restructuring Announcement

DUBAI (Standard & Poor's) Nov. 25, 2009--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it
had taken rating actions on a number of Dubai-based government related entities
(GREs) and transactions (for full details see "Ratings List" below). Standard &
Poor's has downgraded DIFC Investments LLC, DP World Ltd., Jebel Ali Free Zone
(FZE), Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group LLC (DHCOG), and Emaar Properties
PJSC. All of these entities have been placed on CreditWatch with negative
implications. The ratings on Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority (DMCC) were
affirmed, although they were placed on CreditWatch negative. A CreditWatch negative
placement also applies to the notes issued by Thor Asset Purchase (Cayman) Ltd.
(Thor), which are securitized by cash flows from a revolving pool of existing and
future receivables originated by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA; not
rated).

The rating actions are the result of the announcement on Nov. 25 of the

Dubai World, a conglomerate owned by the government of Dubai, is asking its creditors for a six-month “standstill” on its obligations. Dubai World includes Nakheel, which has USD 4 bn in outstanding Islamic debt falling due next month.

Yasaar media published a new report called Islamic Finance in North America 2009 for free download, which is co-published by Codexa Capital, UM Financial Group, King & Spalding, and Doha Islamic.

According to the report Islamic finance in North America has developed along two quite separate paths:

• The first path focuses on retail Islamic finance and centres mostly on home financing products and credit cards.

• The second path involves a number of high profile GCC-based Islamic investment banks and their deployment of hundreds of millions of dollars in private equity and real estate developments in North America.

Read the full report for free at the link below.

Syndication of the two-year murabaha facility has launched to the senior phase of selldown via bookrunners Banque Saudi Fransi, Calyon and Al Rajhi Bank and is being targeted at a small number of close relationship banks including Saudi and international banks. The margin is said to be 425 bps.

Andrew England in Abu Dhabi and Abeer Allam in Riyadh reported in the Financial Times about the Saudi conglomerate owned by Maan Al-Sanea.

The statement by Saad Group – its first admission that it is facing difficulties – came after bankers said the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama) had frozen the personal accounts of Mr Sanea and members of his family.

IslamicFinance.de: Saad Group is related to the Golden Belt Sukuk. No information was given in the article hereto.