IslamicFinance.de

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the current framework governing Islamic Banking contains many gaps that need to be closed through the development of a more comprehensive enabling environment. In a recently adopted staff paper “Ensuring Financial Stability in Countries with Islamic Banking”, the IMF calls for further strengthening of the legal and regulatory environment and institutional framework in countries that have Islamic banking. The study notes that Islamic banking has established a presence in more than 60 countries and has become systemically important in 14 jurisdictions. International guidance is needed to address the limited progress that has been achieved in developing financial safety net frameworks. Country practices have diverged on several important fronts. The emergence of hybrid financial products in Islamic Banking that replicate aspects of conventional finance in an Islamic Banking context has raised financial stability concerns. The IMF has been providing technical advice to member countries for the past 20 years and plans even more involvement in policy advice and capacity development.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said it cannot disclose the Finance Ministry's response about the introduction of Sharia banking in India. The RBI had earlier proposed opening of Islamic window in conventional banks for gradual introduction of Sharia- compliant or interest-free banking in the country. RBI was asked to give the copy of the letter sent to it by the ministry on the recommendation of its Inter Departmental Group (IDG) regarding Islamic banking.
The central bank had sought response from the Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the finance minister whether their letter can be disclosed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. As advised by the DFS, the disclosure of information would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or the state legislature.

During the Arab-Africa Trade Bridges forum held in Rabat, bank president Bandar Al-Hajjar spoke about the strategic ties between Morocco and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). Al-Hajjar noted that Morocco has received a total of USD 7.6 billion from the IDB since its establishment in 1974 and currently the bank is carrying out a number of projects estimated at USD 1.2 billion. Al-Hajjar also praised Morocco’s efforts towards renewable energy, saying that there is a bilateral cooperation between the IDB and Morocco to share Moroccan experiments in this field with Sub-Saharan countries. The IDB has supplied Morocco with several loans over the past few years. In 2014, the IDB amounted to MAD 1.8 billion to Morocco in order to carry out drinking water supply projects, as well as the olive sector for small farmers. The IDB has also embarked on signing agreement with partners to invest in Morocco. In 2014, it signed a joint agreement with Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) to invest in the Moroccan private sector.

Qatar International Islamic Bank approves capital increase of a newly established morocco-based Umnia Bank to 600 million moroccan dirhams.

Turkish participation bank Kuveyt Turk has received regulatory approval to raise 2 billion lira ($555.8 million) via sukuk, as it expands its domestic footprint while winding-down its Dubai unit. Kuveyt Turk, 62% owned by Kuwait Finance House , would sell the lira-denominated sukuk to qualified investors through its asset-leasing company, KT Kira Sertifikalari Varlik Kiralama, according to a regulatory filing. No timeframe or tenor were given for a potential deal. New funding could help the bank's plans to expand its branch network to 400 offices this year from a current 385. The bank increased its net profit by 22% and total assets by 15% in 2016. In December, however, the bank said it would terminate all activities of its wholly-owned subsidiary in Dubai, as it had not established a commercial advantage. It will continue to service the Gulf region via its branch in Bahrain, while concentrating on its operations in Turkey and Germany.

The Jaiz Foundation is set to kick start Islamic ‘Takaful’ Insurance in Kaduna, Kano, Lagos with head office in Abuja. As part of the final preparation, the Foundation held a week induction training for the staff of the organization. The chairman of Jaiz Takaful Insurance advised Nigerians to take advantage of the new insurance concept. According to Mananging Director of Jaiz Islamic Takaful Insurance, Momodou Musa Joof, the company shares profit by 80% to its participants who have not suffered losses. In the meantime, those who suffer losses would have been paid first before the distribution of profit. The elements which goes to the needy, which is called Zakat is also distributed before profit is shared. Prominent scholars like Prof Muhammed Nasirudeen Maiturare, the Vice Chancellor of Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida University, also participated in the induction training for the staff of Jaiz Takaful Insurance.

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has carried out a 150 million US dollar Islamic financing transaction on the Murabaha platform of Nasdaq Dubai. Following high levels of investor interest, the initial target of 100 million US dollars was more than twice oversubscribed, resulting in a final order book of approximately 230 million US dollars. Banji Fehintola, Corporate Treasurer of AFC, expressed his gratitude to Nasdaq Dubai whose Murabaha platform greatly facilitated the issuance. AFC’s Sukuk, issued on January 24, 2017, is the highest rated USD Sukuk issuance from an African entity. The privately placed Murabaha Sukuk was awarded an A3 senior unsecured rating by Moody's Investors Service.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released its guidelines for the Islamic finance sector. The guidelines noted the need to develop a policy framework in the countries where Islamic banking has become systemically important. While accounting for a small share of global financial assets, Islamic banking has established a presence in more than 60 countries and has become systemically important in 14 jurisdictions.
Although Pakistan finished the IMF loan programme last year, there are still numerous reforms that need to be undertaken. In recent years, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has made efforts for the promotion of Islamic banking, but no real effort has been made by the private sector and the government. The growth of Islamic banking poses new challenges and risks for regulatory and supervisory authorities. The IMF has proposed support for developing and providing policy advice on Islamic banking-related issues in the context of fund surveillance, programme design, and capacity development activities.

In the conventional finance space asset-backed financings have proved a successful method of funding social and civil infrastructure. However, in Islamic finance, asset-backed sukuk have not yet taken off. The majority of sukuk are more dependent on the creditworthiness of the sponsor, rather than the performance of the assets. The concept of securitisation of assets, limited in recourse solely by the performance of the assets underpinning them, has only enjoyed limited application in the Islamic finance space so far. For asset-backed sukuk to succeed, investors have to go beyond simply looking at the credit standing of government and quasi governmental entities and start looking at the actual cash flow and exposure to asset values.

RHB Islamic Bank is expecting to disburse at least RM50 million this year to facilitate the development of entrepreneurs. The fund is part of the Teras Fund programme provided via the Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (Teraju). According to RHB Islamic Bank's CEO Datuk Adissadikin Ali, the collaboration with Teraju had so far disbursed RM200 million as of 2016 from the total fund raised of RM400 million. He said the original fund for the programme was RM80 million, but RHB Islamic managed to raise the fund by leveraging on resources to RM400 million.

Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani, Chairman of Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) inaugurated the bank’s new branch at the Mall of Qatar. CEO Abdulbasit Ahmad Al Shaibei said the bank is expected to start its operations in Morocco by the first quarter of 2017 with four branches. The lender had signed a joint venture agreement with the Moroccan Bank Credit Immobilier et Hotelier (CIH) for the establishment of a bank in Morocco in December 2015. Under the agreement, QIIB will have 40% stake in the proposed bank. The new QIIB branch is on the ground floor of the Mall of Qatar, considered to be one of the most important shopping destinations in the region.

Bahrain's Gulf Finance House (GFH) is distancing itself from its major Tunisian property project, Tunis Financial Harbour (TFH). GFH's local subsidiary, Tunis Bay Project Co is to drop out of the residential golf course project.

Islamic finance has largely been a priority area in Malaysia for three decades and it is not about to slow down. The World Bank's recent Global Report on Islamic Finance highlighted Malaysia as having the largest Islamic banking assets in the region with US$156.7 billion (RM697.15 billion) as at 2013. Malaysia is also the second-largest economy in terms of total syariah-compliant financial assets. However, the report also suggested the need to address several challenges like the need for alternative investments. On a positive note, the report said the syariah governance framework was advanced in Malaysia. Within Asia, Malaysia has been dominating the sukuk issuance market. The US dollar-denominated sukuk have been growing, but sukuk denominated in Malaysian ringgit are growing even faster and dominate the market.

US-based State Street Global Advisors announced that a huge exchange-traded fund for investment in gold has been certified as being sharia compliant. The question of whether ETFs themselves comply with Islamic law has not been addressed. The fund, called SPDR Gold Shares, is one of the world's largest ETFs, having a net asset balance of more than $30 billion. Managed and marketed by State Street Global, it is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The World Gold Council paved the way for certification by asking the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions to determine criteria for gold trading. The AAOIFI announced standards for gold trading in December 2016. Joseph Cavatoni, who is in charge of ETFs at the World Gold Council, said the certification is an important step toward meeting demand for gold in the Islamic financial market.

Saudi Arabia has sent a request for proposals (RFP) to banks for a planned U.S. dollar sukuk. The debt sale would be Saudi's second international bond offering, after the sovereign issued a debut $17.5 billion bond in October last year. Saudi Arabia is also expected to issue a conventional bond later this year. The kingdom's bond plans are part of its push towards a more diversified economy that is less reliant on oil exports. The RFP was issued at a busy time in the Gulf with other countries also planning to raise funds internationally to offset the impact of lower global oil prices. Bahrain launched a tap of its $1 billion 2028 bond on Tuesday, while Oman is expected to announce the launch of a new bond this week.

The Assembly General Meeting (AGM) of Qatar Islamic Bank has voted the proposal to increase the limit of the perpetual Sukuk “Additional Tier 1 Capital (AT1) Sukuk“ from QAR 5 Billion to QAR 7.5 Billion. The meeting, held on 21 February, also approved the board of directors’ proposal to distribute 47.5% cash dividends of the nominal value per share, i.e. QAR 4.75 per share.

Support Disruption for Good (SDG) #Challenge will showcase breakthrough models that also have material social impact

Zurich, Switzerland, February 22, 2017 – The RFI Foundation, in partnership with the Swiss Finance + Technology Association, Finocracy and the Responsible Finance & Investment (RFI) Summit partners, launched the Support Disruption for Good (SDG) Challenge to find the most promising ethical, responsible or Islamic FinTech innovation and connect them to the leading institutions in the responsible finance industry.

The SDG Challenge opens today and will remain open until March 17. All applicants will be judged against a transparent set of criteria by an independent judging panel drawn from across the responsible finance and FinTech industry. During the review process judges will evaluate the ability of each entrant to effectively scale, contribute to financial inclusion, contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals while being financially sustainable.

Al Rayan Bank has appointed Islamic Relief as its exclusive charity partner for 2017. The bank will work with Islamic Relief by supporting Sharia-compliant microfinance projects through fundraising activities. The projects will help people living in poverty to establish social enterprise businesses in their home countries and become financially independent. One of the projects is in Mali, West Africa. The project helps local women by making money available using the Islamic finance principle of Qard Hasan (loan without benefit). The women are then able to use the money to commercially harvest the nut of the African Shea tree and create Shea Butter, which they can then use to make various products. Seema Khan, head of major gifts at Islamic Relief UK, said the microfinance partnership with Al Rayan Bank is an intelligent solution to helping people around the world out of poverty.

The global Islamic finance industry will see a new entrant in Russia. Moscow Industrial Bank has already started the process of getting acclimatized with the Islamic finance industry by learning from the established model of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). Abubakar Arsamaskof, president of Moscow Industrial Bank, said that the bank has 7,000 employees working in 260 branches that provide different products and services. He added that their main focus is on industry, construction and agriculture. He also highlighted that they issue Muslim debt card to those wanting to perform Haj. He also indicated that Russian companies are moving towards the Halal industry in a big way and have investments that are estimated at $100 million. The Russian delegation was visiting the IDB to collaborate with regard to Awqaf and enhance the Islamic finance system in Russia. Other negotiations include collaboration between IDB and Moscow Industrial Bank to find investment opportunities and create jobs for youth.

Despite the global drop in oil prices, Islamic finance continues to thrive. According to the EY consultancy, Sharia-compliant banking grew at an annual rate of 17.6% between 2009 and 2013, and is now projected to grow by an estimated 19.7% annually by 2018. This rate of growth far outpaces that of conventional banks, putting pressure on traditional banks to diversify their operations by including Sharia-compliant services. Kuwait International Bank (KIB) converted to exclusively Sharia-compliant services in 2007 and paved the way for Islamic finance in Kuwait. Sheikh Mohammed Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah, Chairman of KIB, said the bank has adopted a new strategic outlook which had its first stage launched in 2015. This brought about a change in KIB’s franchise operations and its day-to-day activities. The second phase develops the bank's product and service offerings. The final stage scheduled for 2017 will focus on boosting KIB’s competitive edge within the banking industry.