IslamicFinance.de

After the Government of Dubai obtained 100% shares in Dubai Bank, bankers and analysts think that the merger is more acceptable.
One of the reasons is that they now don't have to fear for value destruction stemming from acquisitions.

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is going to issue a benchmark dollar-denominated Islamic bond. So far they have limited to government-linked and high-rated bonds.
Arrangers are : BNP Paribas, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank.

Al Baraka Banking Group wants to sell sukuk worth $300 million (Dh1.1 billion) in September if possible, in order to try to clear up its balance sheet. It also aims at a target of a 15 per cent jump in profit this year by attracting new customers.

Dubai’s government took over Dubai Bank in order to avoid a collapse undermining the state’s banking sector. The options were to run the bank on a stand-alone basis or merge it with another state-owned bank.
At the end of 2009, Dubai Bank had total assets of AED17.4 billion ($4.74 billion) against total liabilities of 15.7 billion dirhams. It made a loss of AED290.6 million.
The government promised that the bank’s current management team will not be affected by the takeover.

The Islamic Development Bank wants to launch a dollar-denominated sukuk. The sukuk is expected to be launched after the completion of its fixed income investor meetings in the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

Sharjah Islamic Bank's investors want to sell as much as $500 million (Dh1.8 billion) of sukuk.
Bloomberg's dates show that sales of Islamic bonds from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) slumped 58 per cent to $964 million so far this year, compared with the same period of 2010.
The HSBC/Nasdaq Dubai GCC Sukuk Financial Services US Dollar Sukuk Index reveales yields on Islamic bonds of GCC financial services groups fell to a record 3.29 per cent on May 5. The rate was at 3.33 per cent Thursday.

Although Takaful in Malaysia is becoming an increasingly crowded marketplace, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia continues to believe that it can grow further in its home market.
Mohamed Hassan Kamil, the group managing director, suggested that the company will be taking more agents and will instigate both a retirement insurance scheme and an investment-linked product over the summer to stimulate further demand.

Al Baraka Banking Group announced an increase of 11% in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the net income achieved in the first quarter of 2010. Total assets increased by 3%, total financing and investments by 1%, deposits including equity of investment accountholders by 2% as at the end of March 2011 as compared with the end of December 2010.
Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, Chairman of Al Baraka Banking Group, stated that the operations of banks were affected because a number of Arab countries have witnessed during the first quarter of 2011 large political and social shifts that have had temporary implications on the environment of the banking sector in those countries.

The KFH Cash Management Solutions (CMS) was opened by Kuwait Finance House (KFH) Malaysia. CMS is an online portal designed specifically to manage business banking transactions.
Its services are available seven days a week for convenience. CMS is offering the following type of banking services: account management, cheque management, payable management, bulk payments, salary services, trade services and investment account.

In order to further ride on the high demand for Shariah-based products in the country, HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd will underline more the focus for Islamic banking.
Jonathan Addis, executive director and deputy chief executive officer, stated that HSBC Malaysia will continue to invest in the country by opening new branches while more Islamic-based offerings will be rolled out to cater to the growing demand for Shariah-based products.

Islamic finance is evolving very fast, being one of the most rapidly evolving sectors. There are estimated to be over 430 Islamic banks and financial institutions operating in more than 75 countries, and around 191 conventional banks that have Islamic banking windows.
At the Asia Summit (WIBC Asia 2011) there will be determined the future steps of the future development of Islamic finance by bringing together industry leaders to explore and capitalize on exciting new opportunities in Asia.

Mr. Oscar Silva was appointed Chief Executive Officer by Global Banking Corporation (GBCORP).
Before GBCORP, Mr. Silva worked with some of the leading banks in the region and also worked in international financial institutions in Toronto, New York, Tokyo and London.

Rasheed Al Maraj, Bahrain's central bank governor, stated that enders in the country have survived the 2008 financial crisis and the recent political unrest.
Although the first quarter brought a downside of 1.5%, the previous quarter was still up 8% compared to the same quarter last year.

HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and Standard Chartered Plc (STAN) were employed to take care of the sale of Islamic bonds for Sharjah Islamic Bank (NBS) PJSC.
The bank announced that the dollar-denominated sukuk will be sold subject to market conditions and after fixed-income investor meetings in the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

The first to receive the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry CSR Label during a special ceremony held at the Dubai Chamber’s premises recently were the following three: Dubai Chamber CSR Label to representatives from Emirates Gas, Intercoil International LLC and Mashreq bank for demonstrating commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the areas of environment, marketplace, workplace and communities.

It seems that Arabian Gulf companies are arranging their first Shariah-compliant real-estate investment trusts.
The city-state’s Sabana Shariah Compliant Industrial REIT has advanced 2.2% to 94 Singapore cents since the shares reached a low of 92 cents on March 31.
Dubai' purpose is to list its REIT on the local exchange in less than a year, while two UAE companies plan offerings in Malaysia.

In order to get on with the promovation of he sustainability agenda for corporate Malaysia, Bursa Malaysia Bhd hopes to open up a sustainability index next year.
Presenting a paper on Sustainability Agenda for Corporate Malaysia, Selvarany Rasiah, Chief Regulatory Officer, stated that the index will be a catalyst for attracting more Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) funds to Malaysia.

In order to grow its Islamic banking franchise in the region, DBS Group appointed a new chief executive officer for its Singapore-based Islamic unit.
The new CEO is Toby O'Connor. Until now, thsi position was vacant.

It appears that Oman has finally decided to open the door for islamic banking.
Reuters received a statement from a central bank official that said that everything is ready for the beginning of Oman's first standalone Islamic bank.
In spite of this, the banks that already exist are not allowed to become islamic banks.

Dubai Exports together with Invest France lead an Islamic Financial Services Trade Mission to France. Their obligation was to lead UAE companies in all areas of the Islamic financial sector from advisory firms and specialists in structuring of products to Shari’ah scholars and investment banks.
The main purpose is to ensure that Dubai Exports's firms are able to capitalise on global opportunities in the sector.