IslamicFinance.de

Indonesia has set the yield on the retail sukuk due to be issued next month at 8.70 percent. Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population and wants to develop the domestic Islamic finance market, plans to sell 3 trillion rupiah ($321.2 million) worth of retail sukuk next month.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) will issue $1.5 billion (Dh5.5bn) worth of bonds in April to fund its ongoing expansion plans. When sold, Dewa would have raised nearly Dh10bn from international markets over the period of 12 months. Dewa is also looking at nearly doubling the size of its Export Credit Agency facility in the next few months

Ingress Sukuk Bhd has obtained its sukuk holders’ approval to extend the maturity date of about RM48 million in Islamic bonds, the company said today.

The sukuk market, which has been gaining ground since the second half of 2009, is expected to chart stronger growth in 2010, buoyed by the global economic recovery, low interest rates and the Government's pump-priming initiatives.

Kuwait's Investment Dar, the Islamic firm that co-owns British luxury carmaker Aston Martin, has received approval from almost 80% of creditors for a five-year plan to restructure about one billion dinars ($3.5 billion) of debt, two persons familiar with the plan told Zawya Dow Jones.

Dubai World faces another test when it meets creditors next week to begin discussions on its other debts, totalling US$22 billion (Dh80.8billion).

Dubai-based mortgage lender Amlak Finance will make its semi-annual coupon payment for its 2010 Sukuk on January 18.

This is to advise that a periodic distribution is due on 19th of January 2010. The total funds due will amount to USD 10,312,500.00 for Periodic Distribution to Certificate Holders.

Dubai World is expected to soon make a formal standstill request to creditors for $22billion in debt while it devises a restructuring plan. Dubai sent shockwaves through global markets on November 25 when it said it would request a standstill on billions of dollars in debt linked to Dubai World and its property units Limitless World and Nakheel, developer of palm-shaped islands. Following are some answers to frequently asked questions about the upcoming standstill agreement:

Bursa Malaysia topped the world’s exchanges in terms of value of sukuk programme listings in 2009, recording a total of USD17.6 billion. Since its inaugural sukuk listing in August 2009, the Exchange listed 12 sukuk by end of December 2009 which contributed towards this development.

The comments from Barclays came in a report which recommended that investors sell their Nakheel Sukuk. How much money banks and investors are likely to obtain from Nakheel is under some dispute since the Dubai World conglomerate which Nakheel is a part of announced last December that it would be seeking to restructure its debt.

Nakheel bondholders will recover less than half of their investments as the property developer's parent company renegotiates US$22 billion (Dh80.80billion) of debt, Barclays Capital analysts estimate.

IslamicFinance.de is calling Islamic financial institutions to become member of the UNEP Finance Inititiave to learn and contribute to international best practice in ethical and faith based finance:

"UNEP FI is a global partnership between UNEP and the financial sector. Over 180 institutions, including banks, insurers and fund managers, work with UNEP to understand the impacts of environmental and social considerations on financial performance."

membership information package:
http://www.unepfi.org/fileadmin/forms/MembershipInformationPack.pdf

Ingress Sukuk Bhd (ISB) has issued a notice to the holders of the sukuk convening a meeting of sukukholders on Jan 6, 2010 to consider an extraordinary resolution to extend the maturity date of the first tranche of the sukuk due on Jan 9, 2010 to July 9, 2010 to enable the company to finalise the restructuring plan for the sukuk.

Gulf Finance House (GFH), the leading Middle Eastern Islamic investment bank announced Tuesday that it has bought back US$ 9 million of its sukuk during the 4th quarter of the year.

Korea's plan to tap into the Islamic finance market faces a setback as a parliamentary committee failed to approve a bill aimed at relieving tax burdens that have virtually blocked local companies from selling Sukuk. It will be discussed, however, in the February session.

A subsidiary of Saad Group, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate, has said it is unable to meet repayments on a sukuk (Islamic bonds) issue worth $650 million, which matures in 2012.

Despite the postponement by South Korea's National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee of pushing through a vote to approve a bill aimed at facilitating tax neutrality for the issuance of sukuk at end December 2009, local supporters of the introduction of Islamic finance products are confident that the delay is a minor setback.

The Government of Dubai announced that, with the backing of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (AA/Stable/A-1+), it would be providing US$10 billion in financing to Dubai World and its subsidiaries, through its financial support fund.

A number of Mediterranean basin countries are promoting themselves as Islamic finance hubs in an effort to attract sukuk, trust and investment funds business.