IslamicFinance.de

Persian Gulf Islamic bond issuers are avoiding collateral based on real estate after Dubai property prices plunged 50 percent.
Debt linked to returns from oil fields, aluminum and manufacturing plants are more popular with investors than property.
Defaults by some companies have increased concern among investors about risks associated with Islamic bonds. International Investment Group KSCC, an Islamic financial company based in Safat, Kuwait, said July 26 it was unable to pay $152.5 million to bondholders who demanded immediate repayment after it defaulted on a $200 million Islamic bond.

It is a step in the right direction, but in terms of adding critical mass to the pool of issuances of international sukuk, it is a mere drop in the ocean. Nevertheless, the successful closure in early October 2010 by Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the largest Islamic bank in Qatar, of its debut $750 million fixed-rate Wakala sukuk underlines the fact that despite the huge latent appetite for "A" rated Islamic commercial paper from investors all over the world, such issuances are too few and far between to stimulate an effective global sukuk market and its attendant secondary trading.
Despite the fact that QIB stresses that this issue could pave the way for future issuances, it settled for a single transaction as opposed to a program of which this $750 million sukuk issued on its behalf through a special purpose vehicle (SPV), QIB Sukuk Funding Limited, would have represented the first tranche.

Egypt, home to the Arab world’s largest Muslim population, will issue its first Islamic debt guidelines in 2011 to catch up with the Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia and help spur sales.
Al Baraka Bank Egypt ESC, a Cairo unit of Bahrain-based Islamic lender Albaraka Banking Group, may sell dollar- denominated Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, in the second half of 2011.
Al Baraka, Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt and National Bank for Development are the nation’s only Shariah- compliant financial institutions.

From Dow Jones: Indonesia raised IDR2 trillion ($224 million) from a private placement of non-tradable Islamic debt, or sukuk, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
The ministry sold the four-year sukuk at a yield of 7.13% to the Haj Fund, managed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

The following prospectus has been approved by the UK Listing Authority and is available for viewing:
Prospectus for the issue by QIB Sukuk Funding Limited of sukuk certificates due in 2015 and to the value of $750,000,000.
To view the full document, please paste the following URL into the address bar of your browser.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/9373T_1-2010-10-6.pdf

The first Sharia-compliant insurance company in Kenya has been formed as the race for Islamic cash intensifies.
The firm, which will operate as Gulf Takaful Company Ltd, is being fronted by GulfCap Investments — the principal shareholder in Gulf African Bank.
Under the model, people seeking insurance cover will pay premiums to a collective fund from which payments will be made to members who suffer from the risks covered.
But unlike conventional insurance practice, the new insurance model, known in Islamic parlance as Takaful, is both an investment offering as much as it covers members.
Gulf African Bank will act as the fund manager for the insurance company, earning fees for its services to the insurance scheme.
Analysts say that by introducing Sukuk, the government could diversify the base of investors bidding for government debt papers, given the cash flush investors from the East who have shown interest in Africa as an investment destination.

AL BARAKA BANK EGYPT ESC, a unit of Bahrain-based Albaraka Banking Group, may sell dollar-denominated Islamic bonds in the second half of 2011, the bank’s chairman said Sept. 29. The bank has not decided on the size of the bond, he said.

Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has hired CIMB (KUL:COMMERZ), Citigroup (NYSE: C | PowerRating), HSBC (LON:HSBA) and Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) to serve as lead-managers of its planned sukuk offer, Reuters reports today, citing a source at one of the arrangers.
IDB will also launch a roadshow ahead of the dollar-denominated debt issue, according to the source.

Indonesia's finance ministry said the average weighted yield for its five-year sukuk was 7.18862 percent in an auction on Tuesday, down 68 basis points from a previous auction in July.

The 26 percent slowdown in Malaysia’s local-currency Islamic bond sales this year may get a boost in 2011 from the country’s 10-year development plan.
Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd., a government-owned agency that oversees the water services industry, may sell bonds next year to finance acquisitions, while the eastern state of Sarawak will need to fund the takeover of hydroelectric plants, according to RAM Rating Services Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur.
Prime Minister Najib Razak is seeking to increase spending in the next decade to bolster growth in Southeast Asia’s third- largest economy.

Zawya, in partnership with Funds@Work, has enabled Islamic finance institutions to identify and connect to more than 300 Shari’ah scholars, who will also convene their own Shari’ah board.
The platform aims to facilitate Shari’ah governance through transparency and connectivity to the Shari’ah scholar landscape.
Amongst its functions, Zawya Shari’ah Scholars enables an institution to view scholars’ affiliations with one another, as well as to identify those that have already worked closely with the current members of its Shari’ah board.
Zawya Shari’ah Scholars feeds from the extensive data provided by Funds@Work to enable institutions to search over 300 scholars globally, to understand their affiliations and expertise, and connect to them. It also places further efficiency in the Shari’ah system by enabling institutions to identify partnerships with others that share similar Shari’ah boards. Sukuk structurers and investors are able to view and assess Sukuk approved by scholars; they specify and further understand their caveats and acceptances on structures.

Qatar Islamic Bank said last week following a report from Zawya Dow Jones that it would kick off a global investor roadshow on Sept. 24 in Asia ahead of a planned sukuk. The roadshow began in Asia and then moved to the Middle East and Europe this week.
HSBC Bank Middle East, QInvest and Credit Suisse are advising QIB on the deal.
The chunky order book signals strong demand among investors, who are scrambling to get exposure to the oil-rich Gulf. Qatar, the wealthy gas-rich Arab state, has seen a string of bond issuances this year, including a $3.5 billion offering from the property arm of its sovereign wealth fund earlier in the summer, as the country tries to deepen its capital markets and create a yield curve.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will more than double the size of bonds, or sukuk, issued under an ongoing programme to $3.5 billion to help meet financing needs mainly from flood-ravaged Pakistan.
In 2009, the Saudi-based triple-A lender issued an $850 million sukuk which was the first tranche of a $1.5 billion bond. The issue was part of the $6 billion programme it established to soften the impact of the financial crisis on its member countries.

The Cabinet has recently allowed Al Rajhi Group to issue Islamic Sukkuk (bonds) to expand its investments in the Kingdom. The government requested the group to coordinate with the Iftaa Department and to sell the bonds to local banks in order to obtain the approval.
Al Rajhi group has previously asked the government to work on procedures for issuing Islamic sukuk in order to be able to finance the establishment of two factories for manufacturing glass and steel on the basis of Islamic Shari? principles.

IDb will more than double the size of bonds, or Sukuk, issued under an ongoing program to $3.5 billion to help meet financing needs mainly from flood-ravaged Pakistan.
In 2009, the Saudi-based triple-A lender issued an $850 million Sukuk which was the first tranche of a $1.5 billion bond. The issue was part of the $6 billion program it established to soften the impact of the financial crisis on its member countries.
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Senegal, among the world's 50 poorest nations, are turning to Islamic banking to spur economic growth by encouraging people to take out loans and open savings accounts.

Corporate sukuks by UK organisations are expected in the coming few months following the recent launching of the first corporate sukuk out of United Kingdom by Gateshead-based International Innovative Technologies, or IIT.
A major GCC-based sukuk arranger, which is reportedly working on a corporate sukuk issuance for a UK healthcare company for the last year, hopes to launch the issuance in September. A London-based Islamic bank is also working on a sukuk issuance for a UK client which is near to being finalised. Tom Wilkinson, chairman of IIT, is confident that there is potential for other UK companies to access Islamic finance including sukuk as an alternative source of funding.
The sukuk issue was placed privately with Millennium Private Equity Ltd, leading private equity firm based in the Dubai International Financial Centre and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The sukuk is essentially a convertible sukuk, whereby Millennium Private Equity Ltd can convert the sukuk into equity.

Islamic bonds are poised to advance for a fourth straight quarter and post their longest stretch of gains since 2007 as increased confidence in Persian Gulf issuers’ ability to pay obligations helps lure funds.
Sukuk handed investors a 4.9 percent return in the third quarter, according to the HSBC/NASDAQ Dubai US Dollar Sukuk Index, extending a rally of 0.8 percent in the previous three months and a 5.1 percent gain in the first quarter. The last time Islamic bonds posted a yearlong winning streak was three years ago when issuance rose to a record.
Investors will prefer sovereign securities with “clearly defined cash flow” over corporate debt and equities because they are worried about weakness in the recovery of U.S. and European economies said Ahmed Talhaoui, the head of portfolio management at Royal Capital

As part of its efforts to promote Islamic finance around the world, the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) secretary-general Dr Mohamad Nedal Alchaar, and the Grand Mufti of the Shura Council of Russian Muftis, met in Moscow with the Russian Association of Experts in Islamic Finance.
The purpose of the meeting was to enhance the prospects of the development of Islamic financial institutions and products in Russia and the application of AAOIFI standards to regulate them.
Dr Alchaar highlighted the importance of establishing a suitable legal and regulatory environment to help accommodate and promote the Islamic financial industry in Russia, noting that the Islamic sukuks in particular have a promising market in the Russian economy.

YARIKAT Borcos Shipping Sdn Bhd, Malaysia’s second-largest provider of offshore support vessels, had the A1 rating on RM160 million of Islamic medium-term notes placed on rating watch with a negative outlook at RAM Rating Services Sdn Bhd.
This reflects a decline in daily charter rates and low utilization of its offshore support vessels. A1 is RAM’s fifth-highest investment grade.

Indonesia, the world’s most- populous Muslim nation, is reviving sales of Islamic bonds two months after consecutive auctions fell short of target because of concern over insufficient trading volume.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy, home to more than 192 million Muslims, is seeking to develop its Islamic finance industry to catch up with Malaysia, the world’s biggest sukuk market. Indonesia’s finance ministry is seeking to spur growth in the market after sales dropped 9 percent in the first four months of the year from 2009, government data show. The Religious Affairs Ministry, which manages money collected from Muslims to fund pilgrimages to Mecca, will buy 2 trillion rupiah of the debt in a private placement next month.