IslamicFinance.de

Gulf Finance House (GFH) yesterday reported a net profit of $10.03 million last year as compared to $0.38m in 2011. The profitability is attributed to profitable investments as well as significant restructuring, including the Leeds United football club investment and others. Operating profit before provisions for the year saw an increase of 140 per cent to $20.43m. Additionally, the bank saw a 31pc year-on-year reduction in operating costs mainly due to streamlined operations and reduced facilities. Moreover, GFH settled more than $100m of debt, which will now all mature gradually by 2018 and therefore the bank has been in a stronger liquidity position.

Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C. (ABG) announced that it has achieved a net income of $235m in 2012, an increase of 11% on the income achieved in 2011. Other financial position items witnessed good increases as well, including total assets (11%), total financing and investments (21%), deposits including equity of investment account-holders (12%) and total equity (9%). The financial statements of the Group for 2012 showed that the continued expansion in business reflected positively on income, with total operating income of $880m in 2012, an increase of 21% over 2011. According to H.E Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, Chairman of Al Baraka Banking Group, the success is based on its geographic expansion programs and branch network as well as strong financial means, human resources and technical capabilities. Furthermore, he emphasized the importance of ABG's commitment to the Islamic banking model.

Standard Chartered Saadiq Bhd (Saadiq), a wholly-owned Islamic bank subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia, launched its first branch in the state Sarawak. Saadiq chief executive officer (CEO) Wasim Saifi opened the branch located in Kuching, which was witnessed by Standard Chartered Malaysia consumer banking country head Sonia Wedrychowicz and government officials as well as the bank’s customers, partners and staff. Saadiq stated that the new branch opened seven days a week, extending its operations to weekends in order to improve customer access to the bank’s facilities and services.

Finanzkrise, Bankenkrise, Eurokrise – und kein Ende. In den drei monotheistischen Religionen gibt es ziemlich präzise Vorstellungen über den Umgang mit Geld und Schulden. Bieten sie uns Lösungsansätze für die heutigen Probleme?

Dienstag, 5. März 2013, 20 Uhr, IGB Leimenstr. 24, 4051 Basel

Michael Gassner: Geld und Ethik im Islam

„Jüdische“ oder „christliche“ Banken gibt es nicht, wohl aber islamische, deren Geschäftstätigkeit sich nach dem islamischen Religionsgesetz, der Schari‘a, richtet. Der zweite Vortrag in der Reihe „Geld & Ethik“ beschäftigt sich mit den Regeln des Geldwesens im Islam und deren Anwendung im modernen islamischen Bankwesen. Michael Gassner ist muslimischer Bankfachmann und entwickelt islamische Finanzprodukte für eine Schweizer Privatbank.

Oman's non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) posted decent growth in income and profits in 2012. And analysts believe that the sector will see strong growth in 2013 on the back of project and infrastructure spending by the government. An analysis of the six listed NBFCs shows that aggregate income rose 11.94 per cent to RO65.30mn in 2012, while their combined net profit rose 17 per cent to RO24.14mn. NBFCs expect some competition for the leasing sector from Islamic banks, especially in auto financing.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken a positive approach to the suggestion of an alternative banking system for Muslims after K. Rahman Khan, Minister for Minority Affairs, emphasized that it was the duty of the State to facilitate every citizen to practice and follow his/her religion. The RBI Governor pointed to the need for certain amendments to the laws concerned. The Minister said, in India the biggest issue was who should regulate the proposed alternative system, as it needed a strong monitoring mechanism. He added that concrete efforts should be made, such as setting up an expert committee to draw up a framework of an alternative banking system, along with a strong legal system to back it.

There has been growing interest recently among conventional banks in Egypt who own licences to provide Sharia-compliant services, to restructure their branches which offer such services. Banque Misr, National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and The Principal Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit (PBDAC) are among the traditional banks that offer Sharia-compliant services. Meanwhile, Islamic banks themselves are preparing to apply their new investment plans. Financing for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) has also seen a spike in interest so far this year, with conventional banks aiming to strike agreements with the Social Fund for Development (SFD) in order to increase their presence within the SME segment.

Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajuddin, Bank Islam’s recently suspended chief economist, is a member of the party PKR. However, PKR vice-president Mohd Azmin Ali said that Azrul’s party membership was irrelevant to his recent prediction that Pakatan Rakyat would win the 13th general election and that the analysis he gave is a professional opinion based on strong figures. However, Bank Islam released a statement yesterday saying the suspension was unrelated to Azrul’s personal political views.

Talal Yassine, founder of Islamic investment fund Crescent Wealth, believes Australia's Muslim population offers growth potential for sharia-compliant financial products. Crescent Wealth's criteria exclude investing in banks or other financial stocks as well as companies that have investments in alcohol, gambling, pornography, arms or the production of pork. They also consider the companies' debt-to-asset ratio, receivables outstanding and levels of cash or liquid assets. Yassine believes Crescent Wealth will attract funds from the vast Muslim community in Malaysia, Indonesia and, potentially, China.

Former executives of the Islamic Bank of Thailand who did not adequately pay attention to cash flow, collateral value and monitoring, are to be blamed for the high amount of bad dept at IBank, according to its new president Thanin Angsurarangsit. Non-performing loans at IBank currently amount to Bt39 billion, or about 30 per cent of outstanding loans. Moreover, the Finance Ministry is investigating possible corruption at IBank. The bank will try to maintain its lending at Bt120 billion this year. New lending to large corporates will be reduced as the bank focuses on retail clients who are Muslims.

Egypt's Principal Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit (PBDAC) is launching sharia-compliant retail banking services this month to meet increasing demand in rural areas. According to Abdel Rahman Al Kafrawi, head of Islamic transactions at PBDAC, the bank will offer retail finance at 18 Islamic branches through murabaha and musharaka structures. The new Islamic services cover areas including purchases of durable goods and agricultural equipment, the setting up of clinics and medical laboratories, and the financing of education fees. PBDAC launches its new services with a portfolio of 50 million pounds ($7.5 million), that can be raised to 100 million next June based on demand.

The Finance Ministry is supervising and working on a restructuring of The Islamic Bank of Thailand, or IBank. The ministry's approval for a capital increase depends on the success in the restructuring plan, according to Somchai Sujjapongse, the director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office. The bank is pursuing several options to recover debt, including filing court foreclosures or restructuring debt with clients. Mr Somchai stressed that IBank continues to operate normally, particularly retail lending operations, but has tightened underwriting practices for large corporate lending.

Bank of Whittier, a community bank in Los Angeles, offers Shariah-compliant products and is one of few institutions specialized in Islamic finance in the United States. The bank, whose staffers speak more than a dozen languages, markets itself to observant Muslim entrepreneurs. Deals are structured so that the bank buys into the venture with the entrepreneur, who runs the company and buys the bank out, with payments structured so that the bank is compensated for its investment. Profits and losses are shared; the overall cost tracks with a traditional loan repayment at a standard interest rate.

The Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) has assigned a national scale long-term credit rating of 'AA-' (Double A Minus) to Bank of Khartoum (BOK) with a short-term rating of 'A-1' (A One). The outlook on the assigned rating is 'stable'. The fiduciary score has been assessed in the range of '70-75', reflecting adequate fiduciary standards wherein rights of various fund providers are adequately defined and protected. BOK is the first financial institution to have been rated in Sudan.

The Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) situated in Bahrain has upgraded the credit rating of Jordan Islamic Bank (JIB) on the national scale, whereas the international scale ratings of JIB have been reaffirmed. The outlook on the ratings is 'stable'. The report issued by the agency also reaffirmed JIB's Sharia Quality Rating of AA, which confirms the bank's conformance to very high standards of Islamic Shari'a principles in its dealings and finances.

The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) is hoping to introduce Islamic banking services for its Muslim and non-Muslim clients within one year. In order to educate the public about Islamic banking methods and strategies, ADB sought the help of experts from Deloitte and Touche. Jail Leladhasingh, corporate manager, business development at ADB, said the ADB is exploring the possibility of setting up the bank to offer this alternative service to farmers.

Oman's Ahlibank, which launched its Al Hilal Islamic banking services in the sultanate, is considering to convert all its conventional branches to Islamic banking. According to Abdullah al Jabri, DGM and head of Al Hilal Islamic Banking Services, the bank is planning to start with branches in Ibra, Nizwa and Sur in the coming month.

Texas-based Jafari No-Interest Credit Union, designed for Shia Muslims, will cover costs with fees instead of interest. The current blueprint is to charge members a $3 monthly fee while the credit union tries to keep costs down. However, additional fees may also be charged to members in order to cover operating expenses and build capital.

DURBAN-based Al Baraka Bank launched a full international foreign exchange service and now offers a full range of international banking services. As part of the Al Baraka Banking Group it can leverage off the group and its 14 subsidiaries around the world. According to the bank's CE Shabir Chohan, the full foreign exchange service coupled with the recently launched chequebook facility will position the bank as a competitive commercial bank in South Africa.

Bank Syariah Mandiri is set to sell shares in an initial public offering next year, aiming to raise more than Rp 1 trillion ($103 million) as the first Islamic lender at the Stock Exchange. Having the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia lags behind its neighbor Malaysia in terms of the development of Islamic finance. The total assets of Islamic compliant lenders in Indonesia accounts for around 4.7 percent of the total banking assets in the country. Moreover, it is home to 120 commercial lenders with combined total assets of Rp 4,000 trillion.
Bank Syariah Mandiri is one of a few units of Bank Mandiri, the country’s largest lender by assets. Other units include Bank Sinar Harapan Bali and Mandiri Sekuritas.