IslamicFinance.de

Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance will launch a template for sukuk ijarah. The purpose is to cut the cost of issuing the debt and strengthen the Islamic finance business. Thi statement comes from Nasser Saidi, the executive director.
The institute expects to release the document by year-end.

In order to spur investments from the neighbouring Arab region and Southeast Asia, Egypt will launch its first Islamic debt guidelines and amend its capital market law.
This move will allow Islamic investors to invest in the 180 companies listed on the Egyptian stock market.

HE Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE, stated that the number of Islamic banks operating in the UAE now stands at eight. The Governor also congratulated the Sultanate of Oman on the licensing of its first Islamic bank and welcomed the Central Bank of Oman to the Islamic finance community of regulators.
Despite this, Al Suwaidi was the one that directed the majority of his remarks to the state of Islamic finance within the UAE itself.

Malaysia is going to invest in 5 projects from Kazahstan. This projects include investments in a Kazakh Islamic bank, oil and gas exploration by Petronas, cattle breeding, energy generation and the construction of a hotel.
The projects are expxcted to begin as soon as possible.
Jambul district of Kazakhstan and National Feedlot Corp Sdn Bhd signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cattle rearing, while their produce would be exported to Malaysia and neighbouring countries.

Al khaliji Board of Directors discussed the latest developments with regard to the possible merger with IBQ and other matters. Other agendas like strategic and governance items were also reviewed.
Al Khalij Commercial Bank (al khaliji) QSC was incorporated on January 9, 2007 as a Qatari Shareholding Company under Commercial Registration No. 34548.
It operates from its head office and three branches in Qatar, one branch in France and four branches in the United Arab Emirates.

Because of their losses and after political unrest in the Arabian Gulf nation, Moody’s Investors Service cut off Bahrain Islamic Bank's credit ratings.
Moody's statement was that the decision "reflects a material weakening in the institution’s stand-alone financial profile, as shown in the significant losses it posted in the last two years and the erosion of its capital base in the absence of new capital injections".

The real estate bust in 2008 left investors ith half-finished projects sitting in the desert sun and losses that were unlikely to be recovered.
But it appears that the emergence of Islamic real estate investment trusts (REIT) in the Middle East could help these investors. Islamic REITS differ from their conventional counterparts by banning investment in any assets that pay interest or conduct business in any forbidden industry, like gambling, alcohol or adult entertainment.
Beside the fact that it is providing an alternative investment in the Gulf Islamic finance industry it could also inject more transparency and regulation in a property sector plagued by unrealistic expectations of returns and occasionally murky dealings.

There are already 8 Islamic banks in the UAE with 260 branches and assets and liabilities of AED 269 Billion (US$ 73.1 Billion). This represents 17% of total assets and liabilities of the banking system in the UAE.
Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, UAE Central Bank Governor, congratulated the Sultanate of Oman for licensing its first Islamic bank at a seminar on "Islamic Finance in a global perspective" which was held at the Central Bank.

In order to increase the Shariah-compliant banking assets by 35 percent this year, Indonesia's Foreign Ministry and central bank are seeking investment from the Persian Gulf.
Mulya Siregar, the Jakarta-based director of Islamic services at Bank Indonesia, announced that it is possible that the delegation is going to meet officials in the Middle East as soon as this month, with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait the most likely destinations.

In the path of rebuilding its once dominant financial services sector, Ireland aims to become the home of Islamic finance in Europe.
The taoiseach, Enda Kenny, stated that the Irish tax laws and financial regulations are now sharia-compliant. It seems that the government had recently signed double-taxation agreements with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

The Islamic certificates of deposit launched by the UAE Central Bank are now the equivalent of $3.27 billion. This statement was given by Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, Central Bank Governor.
He added that although such figures are impressive, there are some challenges, first one of the kind being the short-term liquidity management at Islamic banks and other Islamic financial institutions. Another challenge for Islamic finance is the distinction between profit to shareholders and profit to investors/depositors, which is still unclear.

A new study reveals that for its population, Saudi Arabia has the highest proportion of "hyper-rich" households in the world. The study also reveals the fact that Dubai's financial services industry is reaping rewards from wealthy investors from Saudi Arabia.
Kuwait and the UAE were among the top 10 countries worldwide on the number of millionaires per capital.

Ranhill Power Sdn Bhd has launched a RM800mil nominal value sukuk musharakah, with a tenure of between two and 15 years.
The issue raised will finance in full the redemption of the US$220 million guaranteed notes issued by Ranhill (L) Ltd and to fund the finance service reserve account requirements.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has opened up a three-year Islamic certificate structured to return 90 % of invested capital to customers five business days after the issue date of the certificate.
The main idea is that through this product investors will be able to invest in commodity markets while benefiting from diversification across investment strategies.
The US dollar-denominated certificate, which is distributed by DIB and issued by Al Mi’yar Capital SA, is available from DIB with a minimum investment of $25,000, according to the statement.

Gulf Finance House (GFH) swung to a first-quarter (Q1) net profit helped by aggressive cost cutting and the reversal of a bonus scheme granted in 2008. GFH, which is aiming to raise 500 million US dollars in new capital, said net profit for the quarter ended March 31 was $11.9 million, compared with a net loss of $7.5 million a year earlier.
The bank expects continued interest from shareholders and investors' throughout 2011 to support its business growth and strengthen its position in the market also in the future.

At this year's Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) annual conference came 400 delegates from more than 20 countries from as far afield as South Africa, North Africa, Asia and Europe.
Despite the recent unrest in the kingdom, the conference wasn't affected, it was a big success. The conference closed at the Gulf Hotel and AAOIFI will now carry out training workshops in Bahrain until Friday.

Esso Malaysia Bhd has redeemed and cancelled its RM300m ($98m) Islamic commercial paper notes from their 2004/2011 program because it has decided to propose a new 2011/2018 Islamic commercial paper program of the same size that received a preliminary short-term P1 rating from RAM Ratings.

It appears that Malaysia is planning a 10-year Sukuk denominated in the beleaguered currency.
Before 2010 issue Malaysia had only tapped the international Islamic debt capital market on two occasions before: once in 2002 and once in 2001. The 2002 issue was also a 5-year Ijarah Sukuk and was for $600m.

In a recent survey, HSBC shows that 68% of the Malaysians worry about their retirement. The survey contains interviews with more than 17,000 people in 17 countries.
The survey reveiles that although 69 per cent of Malaysians are looking forward for the freedom that retirement gives you, 24 per cent are concerned about the cost of caring for their parents in their old age.

The International conference's conclusions on "Prospects for Islamic Venture Capital Funds in India" were that India needs to make steps to allow various financial institutions to adopt Islamic products and practices and to lay foundations of a level playing field in economics and finance in which all players are alloud to take part in a fair and just manner.
The organizers of the two-day International conference were the Institute of Objective Studies, (IOS), New Delhi and Indo-Arab Economic Cooperation Forum. The conference was held on May 14 & 15 May at the Parliament House Annexe. Foreign participants at the conference were: Dr. Rudy Yaksick, Partner, Concord Capital Partners LLC, from USA and Khaled M. Al-Aboodi, CEO & General Manager of Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), Jeddah; Mr. Nabil El-Alami, Corporate Marketing & Communication Manager, ICD, Jeddah, KSA.