IslamicFinance.de

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) this morning listed its trust certificate issuance programme or sukuk programme on Bursa Malaysia.
The conferment is given to foreigncurrency denominated issuances with a focus to provide greater visibility to the Malaysian market in raising funds by local and foreign corporations.

National Commercial Bank are among five borrowers in the Persian Gulf that may offer Islamic bonds next year after sales dropped 40 percent in 2010.
There is a good opportunity to take advantage of the liquidity level among Islamic investors, which has remained high due to the shortage of sukuk sales this year.
Global sales of sukuk dropped 31 percent this year because of the concern about defaults prompted investors to demand higher returns from property-related issuers.

Islamic bonds slumped in November, snapping a five-month rally.
Average yields on sukuk climbed 19 basis points, or 0.19 percentage point, in November to 5.04 percent, the highest level in two months.
Scott Lim embraces the oppinion that the sukuk market doesn’t work in isolation.

Nakheel is returning to health and plans to issue a sukuk (Islamic bond) to its trade creditors in the first quarter of 2011.
However, there are some unresolved challenges.
In a reminder that emirate's debt troubles are far from over, financial services firm Dubai Group recently missed two payments on separate loans.

The government hired CIMB Investment Bank Bhd., a Kuala Lumpur-based unit of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. as a lead manager to sell between $1 billion and $1.5 billion of the securities.
This sell won't however appeal to most local funds unless the emirate obtains a rating.
Dubai is tapping international debt markets to raise funds as the government and state-controlled companies grapple to service borrowings that Barclays Capital estimated in a September report at about $112 billion.

The government sold 3 billion ringgit ($952 million) of Shariah-compliant notes due 2020 at an average yield of 3.998 percent, Bank Negara Malaysia announced on its website. Demand exceeded the amount of debt offered by 2.46 times.
It can be seen more demand arising from more Islamic banks operating in Malaysia, as well as a spillover from foreign investors.

An Islamic trade body has been set up in the UK to promote Islamic finance and to campaign for a sterling-based Sharia bond.
The group consists of bankers, accountants, lawyers, and educational bodies that want to lobby the government to launch a Sukuk (Islamic bond) to enable the UK's five Islamic banks to get funds, based on Sharia principles, that would allow them to widen their pool of lending.

Dubai's government has hired CIMB Investment Bank Bhd as a lead arranger to help sell Islamic bonds in Malaysia. The plan is still being discussed and timing of the sale hasn't been decided.

A new global Islamic liquidity management corporation backed by central banks will start issuing Islamic bonds next year to help Islamic banks manage their liquidity.
The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) said in October it would set up the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation to issue sharia-compliant instruments.
The liquidity management company will be backed by 11 central banks, including Malaysia, Iran and Turkey and some Gulf states and is expected to have up to $1 billion in authorised capital.

The asset-backed sukuk is set to be reality soon largely due to the efforts of the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) to develop a master agreement on this new form of Islamic bonds.
All concerned parties have been consulted to prepare a master agreement paving the way for a shift from the asset-based to asset-backed sukuk, or Islamic bond structure.
Besides the founding members, IIFM is supported by its permanent members, namely State Bank of Pakistan and Dubai International Financial Center Authority.

Senegal is the latest African nation looking to tap the growing Islamic finance market by issuing its first sovereign Islamic bond in 2011.
94% of the population are Muslims, therefor is the potential for Islamic banking strong within the West African nation.
The country has emerged as a relatively stable hub for regional business, which is attracting increasing investment interest from the oil producing Gulf.

Islamic bonds slumped last week by the most since May.
Sales of Islamic bonds dropped this year due to debt restructurings and falling property prices in the Middle East.
The difference between the average yield for sukuk and the London interbank offered rate widened eight basis points last week to 341 basis points.

The bonds of five-to-15-year maturity were issued in the Malaysian market by Trans Thai-Malaysia (Thailand)’s special-purpose vehicle TTM Sukuk.
The sukuk was awarded the highest rating of “AAA” by Malaysian Rating Corp.

The last few issuances had been oversubscribed and a similar trend was expected next year.
Amanie president and chief executive officer Dr Mohd Daud Bakar said elements of structured products were now being incorporated into sukuk as it helped render capital projection and certainty of return to investors.
Organised by Amanie, the Securities Commission and Bursa Malaysia, the International Syariah Investment Convention will be held from Nov 30 to Dec 1 in Kuala Lumpur.

At the Islamic finance forum held at George Washington University Law School in Washington recently were discussed various aspects of contemporary Islamic finance.
The forum was organised by the US-Qatar Business Council and the Arab Bankers Association of North America, in collaboration with the National Council for US Arab Relations.
The discussions were moderated by Jean-Francois Seznec, visiting associate professor at Georgetown University’s Centre for Contemporary Arab Studies.

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announces that the monthly issue of the short-term Islamic leasing bonds, Sukuk Al-Ijara, has been oversubscribed by 215%.
The Sukuk Al-Ijara are issued by the CBB on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Managers of Islamic endowments with $105 billion in assets are seeking to diversify out of bank deposits, providing Shariah-compliant funds with the chance to capture new business.
Assets held by Islamic funds have stagnated at around $52 billion since 2008.
Islamic endowment institutions should diversify their real- estate holdings into government sukuk and other products.

Islamic bonds rose this week extending two quarters of underperformance relative to emerging-market securities, on concern slumping sales will reduce trading.
Sales of Islamic bonds dropped this year as defaults, debt restructuring and falling property prices in the Middle East hurt investor confidence. Issuance from Malaysia, the world’s biggest sukuk market, fell 31 percent as companies cut infrastructure spending following last year’s recession.

A rebound in Gulf Islamic bond market depends on the performance of the property prices.
Real estate prices in Dubai have tumbled more than 50 percent since their 2008 peak and 30 percent in neighboring Abu Dhabi as banks tightened mortgage lending and speculators fled the market.
The average yield on Sukuk sold by GCC issuers rose six basis points yesterday to 5.37 percent, paring its decline this quarter to 72 points.
Since Sept. 30 the difference between the average yield for emerging-market Sukuk and the London interbank offered rate widened 0.8 basis point to 336.6 yesterday and has narrowed 36 points.

Konsortium Lebuhraya Utara-Timur (KL) Sdn Bhd (Kesturi) has completed a restructuring exercise of its RM780 million Sukuk Istisna.
The exercise was expected to improve Kesturi's liquidity and overall financial position.