IslamicFinance.de

The Finance Ministry is planning to establish a special-purpose Buddhist bank which wil be similar to the Islamic Bank of Thailand. The decision is based on an estimated savings amount of temples accross the country in weight of over 200 billion baht. In the first step, a particular outlet of the Government Savings Bank will be used as an alternative for temples to make deposits. The management of the deposits will be in accordance with the rules of Buddhism.

MAYBANK Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB) wants to use the acquisition of Singapore’s banking franchise, Kim Eng Holdings, as a springboard to become a regional financial powerhouse.
The company now has operations in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia as well as in London and New York.
Maybank IB is focusing at this moment on establishing and expanding its line of business – investment banking and advisory, retail equities, institutional equities, derivatives and asset management – in its home markets, which are Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

Bahraini group is helping universities begin courses in Sharia-compliant business practices to avoid a shortage of experts in the US$1 trillion (Dh3.67tn) market.
Khairul Nizam, the deputy secretary general of the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions, stated that the industry will need 15 % more personnel over the next five years and 25 % more in a decade.
Countries like Nigeria, Thailand, Australia and France plan to present legislation to facilitate Islamic financing, moves that will increase demand for scholars to certify that the products meet requirements on no interest payments.

The Thai laws were discussed by Siripen Kaodara and Stephen Jaggs.
Although Thailand had a Muslim population of approximately nine million and an Islamic banking system which dates back to 1998, it previously lacked the necessary legal infrastructure for high profile Islamic products such as sukuk.
Three years ago, Thailand passed the Act on Trusts for Capital Market Transactions (Trust Act) which introduced the concept of ‘trust’ into the Thai civil law system. The main regulation, which sets out the approval and filing requirements for sukuk, took effect on the 16th January 2011 (Sukuk Regulation).

The Governor of Bank of Thailand (BoT), Prasarn Trairatvorakul, suggested to the government to consider categorising credit card debtors for refinancing by state-owned banks with caution to prevent a rise in problem debts.
But the problem is that Thailand's banks must have efficient tools to monitor and categorise credit card debtors. Otherwise, it might lead to an increase in non-performing loans.

State-owned Islamic Bank of Thailand expects to finalise details of its long-delayed Islamic bond in the second quarter.
The planned sale of Islamic bonds worth 5 billion baht ($164 million) has been repeatedly delayed, pending regulations governing the issue of sukuk in Thailand.

Qatar Charity is spearheading a campaign to collect funds to be donated to relief initiatives benefiting flood victims from Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The “Fight the Floods” campaign was launched offering the people in Qatar the opportunity to directly deposit to the authorised Qatar Charity "Fight the Floods" bank account: A/C Number: 100024470 at Qatar Islamic Bank.

KFHR Limited prepared a report on the Islamic Sukuk market.
The report notes the following:
- In 2011 the Sukuk market will be driven by the recovery made in the global economic activities, flexible monetary policies, and sovereign fund-raising efforts to support economic growth as well as the revival of private sector projects
- the entry of new players in the emerging markets, as well as new non-Islamic exporters willing to take advantage of Sukuk market with potential debut in Thailand, Japan and Europe, which will boost demand for Islamic Sukuk

The Islamic Bank of Thailand plans to issue THB5 billion ($169.15 million) in long-awaited Islamic bonds by the first half of next year if the interest rate environment remains conducive.
In 2011, income contribution from the retail business is expected to rise to 40%-45% of operations and reach 60% in 2012.

Until recently the issuance of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, was confined to the Muslim world. But now a number of international borrowers are tapping the markets, including Nomura Holdings in Japan and Europe's first corporate borrower, International Innovative Technologies.
The ratings agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s say they expect to see a rise in the number of sukuk issues by new players over the next 12 months, including issues by borrowers in Singapore, Australia, Luxembourg, Thailand, Hong Kong, France and Russia.
While the Islamic Financial Service Board and the accounting and auditing organization have defined standards for sukuk, defaults over the past year have shown that new guidelines must be set as problems arise, particularly as sukuk start to generate global attention.

Cagamas Bhd, the national mortgage corporation, will look at issuing up to RM2bil in new Islamic medium term notes, said chief executive officer Steven Choy.
A business daily reported recently that Cagamas was expected to issue another landmark sukuk after the success of its benchmark Sukuk Al-Amanah Li Al-Istithmar (Sukuk ALIm) in July.
During the panel discussionon Islamic Finance Developments and Expansions in Asia, Choy said Cagamas experienced its fair share of challenges in the secondary market for its mortgage loan deals.
Islam Bank of Thailand president Dheerasak Suwannayos added that political will was needed to back the acceptance of Islamic finance in a country.
Businesses among the Muslim community were predominantly family-owned, hence the hesitation in letting strangers into the businesses.

The state-run Islamic Bank of Thailand will delay the nation’s first sale of sukuk until early next year as it awaits new guidelines from the securities commission.
Thai Securities & Exchange Commission spokeswoman Charuphan Intararoong said in July that the guidelines would be published in the fourth quarter.
The Thai government is also considering selling 40 billion baht to 50 billion baht of Islamic bonds to fund infrastructure projects.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has advocated more development aid for the region, where separatists have fought for an independent state since Thailand formally annexed the autonomous Malay-Muslim sultanate in 1902.

The growing demand for securities that meet Islamic religious principles may lead Canadian governments and companies to start issuing Shariah bonds.
HSBC Bank Canada may offer $500 million and three government-related borrowers from one Canadian province may issue $1.5 billion of sukuk, Omar Kalair, chief executive officer of Toronto-based UM Financial, said in an Oct. 14 interview. A “handful” of Canadian companies may sell C$1 billion ($980 million) of Islamic debt by 2013, said Daud Vicary Abdullah, global Islamic finance leader at Deloitte Corporate Advisory Services Sdn. in Kuala Lumpur.
Egypt, Nigeria, the Philippines and Thailand have announced plans to sell their first sukuk in the past three months, partly to tap Persian Gulf oil wealth.

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission planned to implement its first regulations governing the issuance of sukuk, or Islamic bonds, in October, the head of the watchdog agency said on Wednesday. SEC Secretary-General Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala told a debt market seminar that the long-awaited launch would be part of Thailand's moves to liberalise and expand its relatively small debt market. State-owned Islamic Bank of Thailand said in June it would be the first issuer of Thai sukuk with a planned offer of 5 billion baht of five- to seven-year Islamic bonds once regulations were in place. SEC chief Thirachai said his agency was in the process of drafting licensing rules for municipal authorities to issue and offer bonds to Thai investors. Thirachai said Thailand and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations had made progress in working out details for licensing cross-border bond issues within ASEAN.

The Islamic Bank of Thailand plans to float 55 billion baht worth of Islamic bonds in the local and overseas markets this year, says bank president Dheerasak Suwannayos. He said the bank hoped to raise 5 billion baht from a local Islamic bond issue in the second quarter, the first issued in the Thai market.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) will formally launch its first index tracking shariahcompliant Southeast Asian stocks on Monday, in a bid to attract Muslim investors. The FTSE SET Shariah Index, which has been available since April 23, comprises 55 stocks from the SET Index, representing 44 % of the SET's market capitalisation.

The Islamic Bank of Thailand (IBT) plans to rise between USD 70 mn to USD 200 mn via Sukuk in Malaysia and Middle East countries by this year. Malaysia's second largest banking group CIMB, and its newly acquired BankThai, had approached the IBT to launch the Sukuk bond in Malaysia.

Siriporn Chanjindamanee reported in The Nation on 3 February that the Stock Exchange of Thailand is planning to launch a Shariah 50 index early next quarter before going on a roadshow to the Middle East in the second half. The index would combine 50 listed stocks, making up 47 per cent of the SET's market capitalisation, that are Sharia tolerated.

According to Santi Kiranand, head of market development, have SET and FTSE jointly developed the Shariah index while the selection of the 50 firms was performed by the Yasaar.

The SET also plans to launch a social responsibility index. It is selecting foreign experts, including FTSE, to help develop the index by the third quarter.