IslamicFinance.de

Islamic finance in India is strongly limited by the country's ban on sharia-compliant banking. However, the industry intends to create a work-around by developing specific products that can take this function. Due to the political and legal obstacles any progress is expected to be rather slow. Meanwhile, 177 million Muslims in India, which constitute the world's largest Muslim minority population, have no access to Islamic banking since laws covering the sector require banking to be based on interest, which is not allowed in Islam.

Malaysian's central bank governor has claimd that Islamic finance will contribute to the global agenda of developing sustainable growth. Providing financial services that add value to the real economy is the focal point of Islamic finance and tenets.

Indian private equity firms are more and more interested about entering Shariah-based funds market. According to Taqwaa Advisory and Shariah Investemt Solutions, there are at least six financial institutions with plans to issue Shariah-compliant funds in India.

Dr Yaqoub Al Naqbi assumes the responsibility of the Central Bank governor for breaking the law by offering Islamic services as other commercial activities. The governor Dr Al Naqbi has underlined that regulations were constantly developing and the criticized licensing practice was necessary to keep up with market demand.

Malaysian central bank's governor confirmed that the new legislation for Islamic banking and takaful products is in the final stages. The new legislation should give a stronger legal basis to financial institutions. However, there was no time frame set for launch of the legal framework.

The deadline for final takeover offer of Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) from Masraf Al Rayan has been prolonged to January 7. Islamic Bank of Britain that is owned by Qatar International Islamic Bank struggles to turn into profit since 2004. Management of the bank hopes that selling of the major stake to Masraf will help bank in renationalisation if its operations.

Islamic Banks expect rapid growth in 2013. According to a central bankier, Indonesian banks will register higher profits in upcoming year despite more stringent rules imposed by the Indonesian central bank. The total amount of Islamic assets including Islamic-compliant rural banks grew up by 37 percent comparing to last year, a deputy governor of Bank Indonesia said. He expects that the amount of Islamic assets will continue growing in the next year.

Standard Chartered (StanChart) extends its business activities in Oman by opening of its third branch in the country. According to officials, bankhouse considers establishing Islamic banking operations in the sultanate.

BankDhofar plans to launch 'Maisarah' Islamic banking services, according to the study that was carried out to ensure clients best in class Islamic banking experience. Maisarah Islamic banking services are subject to the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) approval.

The Jordanian government announced its intention to establish regional center for Islamic finance. By now, the total amount of Islamic assets in the country reaches 5% of total banking assets. Islamic banks of Jordan perform considerably better than traditional banks as they offer various unique services and products.

Islamic Bank of Britain plc (IBB) registered an increase of 63% in home financing and a 43% up in long-term savings deposits for this year's first three quarters. The launch and development of new savings products have played the main role for the development of the growth and demand. Examples are the IBB Home Purchase Plan and Buy to Let Purchase Plans which were strongly supported by effective sales and marketing strategies.

According to Ernst & Young’s World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report 2013 which was released on Monday, global Islamic banking assets of commercial banks will most probably exceed $1.8 trillion next year. Compared to that, in 2011 the assets were worth $1.3 trillion. The robust growth of the Islamic banking industry continues its course on a global scale. The top 20 Islamic banks registered 16% growth in the last three years. Saudi Arabia in particular emerged as the largest market for Islamic assets.

On Tuesday afternoon, Caretaker Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, Sheikh Jassim Ben Hamad Al Thani and Board of Directors' President of the Qatar Investment Bank "Qinvest" and Qatar International Islamic Bank had a conference. The meeting enabled examination of the means likely to boost co-operation between the Tunisian government and the Qatari banks in terms of finance and infrastructures. The key role of dollar denominated sukuk issuance was pointed out.

Alinma Bank has been assigned a long-term issuer default rating (IDR) of ‘A-’ with a stable outlook, a short-term IDR of ‘F2’, a viability rating (VR) of ‘bbb-’, a support rating of ‘1’ and a support rating floor of ‘A-’ by Fitch Ratings. The bank's IDRs, support rating and support rating floor reflect the view of the rating agency that if needed, support from the Saudi authorities is extremely probable.

Central Bank of Oman's (CBO) board of governors has made a revision of the legal framework of Oman's banking system. The goal of the revision is to implement Islamic banking activities in the sultanate. In a recent statement, the board made its decision to introduce amendments to the existing banking law concerning Islamic banking public. The issued last week Royal Decree made amendments to provisions of the banking law in order to allow for the inclusion of Islamic banking as a licensed banking activity. Specialized banks as well as independent windows at existing commercial banks can be used for this purpose.

Nakheel's bonds have brought their bondholders four times more returns than global peers this year. This year's return of the company's notes is 48%. Thus, the average gains of 11 per cent for the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Real Estate Index were surpassed by far. Compared to Nakheel, bonds of high-yielding American home builders registered an increase of 23%.

According to HSBC Holdings, bond sales by Gulf government-related companies will experience growth at the beginning of next year. Thus, more than $1trn can be invested in different planned projects. Georges Elhedery, head of global markets for the Middle East and North Africa at HSBC, supports the opinion that the optimistic attitude is very reasonable.

International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) considers to raise $150m using an Islamic syndicated loan at the beginning of 2013. Thus, the bank intends to double its Islamic banking assets by the end of next year. According to the bank's director of Islamic banking - Behnam Gurbanzada - signing a mandate in January and closing the deal in April is planned. The deal will be a one-year private syndication. It will contribute to IBA's intention to cater to the estimated 93% Muslims of its 9 million population.

HSBC claims that bond sales by government-related companies in the Persian Gulf will be able to pick up at the beginning of next year. Then, more than $1 trillion in planned spending will be supported. The reason for the optimism towards bond sales is that this year's issuance by government-related enterprises fell to about $9.9 billion. Compared to that, it was $13 billion last year and $8 billion in 2010.

It is expected that Islamic banks will expand further since they are currently competing more and more with conventional lenders in attracting mainstream customers. The Islamic assets of all commercial banks' in total are estimated to reach $1.55 trillion this year, $1.8 trillion in 2013 and over $2 trillion mark. Nearly 30% of the total - $450 billion in assets - are owned by Islamic banks in the Gulf region.