IslamicFinance.de

The global Islamic capital markets advisory firm Amanie Advisors has launched an Irish operation aiming to boost Ireland's growing Islamic finance sector. It is also expected to facilitate both Irish and European companies to have access to funding means of the Islamic capital markets. Amanie's group chairman Dr Daud Bakar explained the choice of Ireland with the country's increasing reputation as a hub for operations in the branch of Islamic finance.

According to the Managing Director if Bank of Khyber (BoK) - Bilal Mustafa - the bank is committed to cater the banking requirements of all segments of society. He further added that, for the purpose of encouraging the economic developmental activities in the region, the bank is providing Islamic as well as conventional banking & financial requirements. Bilal Mustafa made a statement at the formal inauguration of BoK Raast Islamic Banking branch at Main Bazzar Topi District Swabi. Other notable people in the areas of Islamic banking and the business community attended the inauguration ceremony. Some of the bank's plans revealed at the event are increasing branch net-work by establishing more branches by December 2012 as well as further enhancement next year.

Two new Islamic banks are planned to be opened in Mali and Benin by the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). The openings are scheduled for next year. The initiative is part of the efforts to expand the industry's consumer base in Africa. According to Khaled Al-Aboodi, the development of Islamic banking in Africa is more important in terms of supplies than in terms of the potentially massive demand. ICD further intends to establish Islamic financial institutions including banks and takaful insurers in Africa. The established in 2009 Tamweel Africa Holding (TAH) is to contribute to the establishment, acquisition and management of Islamic financial institutions in West Africa.

The initial storm regarding the introduction of Non-Interest Banking (NIB) is gradually settling down. Now it is important to start exhuming the challenges that might crop up in its operations. Especially the taxation of the sub-sector by the relevant tax authorities and the corresponding setting of standards for the type of taxes that apply and that are to be collected from the transactions is extremely important. If the CBN manages to meet the regulatory requirements, it is empowered by law to issue licenses to appropriate entities for the establishment of non-interest banks.

According to Neil Miller - Global Head of Islamic Finance at KPMG - despite the global financial crisis, Islamic banking has demonstrated rapid development and lossless operation reaching an average growth rate of 10%. He further adds that the most significant development is observed in Malaysia. Azerbaijan should learn from Malaysia as well as from Kazakhstan. Azerbaijan should first take care of the lack of legislation in the area of Islamic finance in order to work on development in the spheres of Islamic banking and Islamic insurance.

The Islamic banking industry has been expecting the issuance of a standardised framework concerning the distribution of profit and pool management mechanism for the Islamic banking institutions. This framework is necessary for the procedure of financial reporting and general disclosure could be streamlined. According to a report by The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) authorities, the bank has developed a comprehensive profit distribution and pool management framework. The development was conducted with consultation with the industry so that transparency could be increased and standardisation could be brought to the Islamic banking institutions’ practices in terms of profit distribution and pool management.

According to the Development Commission of Almaty Regional Financial Center of Kazakhstan's National Bank, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has allocated $25 million for Kazakhstan farmers. In 11 regions of the country, a series of training seminars aiming to teach Islamic financing methods for personnel of branches and representative offices have started. Professor Adalet Dzhabiyev, Director of Badr Finance & Investment, conducts the training.

According to an announcement by alizz islamic bank SAOG, the Initial Public Offering worth RO 40.8 million had great success and was oversubscribed. Investors from category 1 had applied for up to 100,000 shares and received all of their application amounts. Category 2 investors had applied for more than 100,100 shares. They have been allotted 83.95% of their application amounts. It is planned for the constitutive general meeting of the bank to be held on November 20, 2012.

In cooperation with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Group, Egyptian National Bank for Development (NBD) signed up to Standard Chartered Bank's Islamic Euro Nostro Account. Using this Nostro product, NBD will be able to earn Shariah-compliant profits on its account balances at Standard Chartered Bank Germany Branch in Frankfurt. The agreement was made at SIBOS 2012 in Osaka, Japan. The main feature of the Standard Chartered Saadiq EUR Nostro Account is that it utilises a Shariah-compliant account sweep facility. Available EUR balance in NBD's Saadiq clearing account will be used for investment using the Islamic finance mode of Murabaha at the end of each business day.

Dear Reader,

The German language book on Islamic finance by the Editor of IslamicFinance.de and Dr Wackerbeck from Booz Consultants is now translated to Chinese.

Please find the biographical information below:

Authors: Michael Gassner / Philipp Wackerbeck
Title: Islamic Finance – Islam-gerechte Finanzanlagen und
Finanzierungen
ISBN number: 978-7-5139-0217-5
PUBLISHER: Beijing - Democracy and Construction Press
Pre-Publication Date: 2012.7

Full biographical details: http://db.lib.bua.edu.cn/asord/asorditem.php?asord_marc_no=0001344540

Orders: http://www.amazon.cn/%E4%BC%8A%E6%96%AF%E5%85%B0%E9%87%91%E8%9E%8D-%E7%B...

Book review about the German language original: http://www.rpi-virtuell.net/workspace/24686AD5-936C-476D-9EA0-65E2968590...

Best regards,

Michael Gassner

UBS recently closed the bank account of Islamic Relief. Because of nervousness about counter-terrorist regulations, the charity organisation is under constant scrutiny by other banks. Incoming as well as outgoing transactions are stopped on a daily basis. It is yet not known whether this is a temporary measure or a permanent one. Since 9/11, Islamic Relief and other similar charities have been object of high scrutiny and had to explain themselves at every juncture.

Just as HSBC Holdings announced it would shrink its Islamic banking operations in a number of countries, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi made plans to increase the contribution of its Shariah-compliant operations three times over the next eight years. Thus, it becomes clear that HSBC's move is nothing but a sign of its own priorities. While it is set to continue its operations mainly in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia with a limited presence in Indonesia, local banks have the opportunity to step in for it.

Banks of the Gulf region are poised to raise billions of dirhams of fresh funds in order to meet the impending funding rules. The deadline for the first set of new Central Bank liquidity regulations at the end of the year is approaching.

The total IT spending in the Islamic banking sector in the Gulf countries reached $400 million in 2011. Notable growth in the following years is expected. The financial crisis since 2008 has hit the Islamic financial sector as well, causing consolidation of institutions, merging of banks etc. Even though Islamic banks have remained on a positive financial footing during the post-crisis period in comparison with conventional banks, the former have had problems with profitability due to rising costs and operational inefficiencies. In order to optimize current infrastructure, banks invest in one major technology area - implementation and adoption of cutting-edge software and IT services.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) considers opening two new Islamic banks in the countroes of Mali and Benin in the coming year. This was announced by the CEO of the ICD - H.E. Khaled Mohammed Al-Aboodi - at the Islamic Banking Summit Africa in Djibouti. This way, Islamic financial services can be provided in a greatly underserved area. Furthermore, the corporation intends to issue a $200 million Sukuk which is to serve the Government of Senegal to provide liquid Islamic products for Islamic banks.

Central Bank of Libya's work on plans for the introduction of Sharia-compliant banking in the country's financial sector go on. According to Fatih Aqoub, a consultant engaged on the bank's project, rapid progress has already been made. Since January a special committee has been working on the issue and searching for best practice from other Islamic countries. Amendments to the banking laws were formulated aiming to enable Sharia banking for an interim period before separate legislation is enacted.

IslamicFinance.de offers an overview about new job openings of October 2012 herewith - firms aiming to be included please send a job profile/hyperlink to newsdesk@islamicfinance.de - the full details of the advert has to be accessed by the hyperlink below the brief description:

Product Manager, Islamic Banking

Standard Chartered Bank - United Arab Emirates-SCB (United Arab Emirates)
Job Description
?Development of Islamic wealth products across CBMS, insurance and investment streams to create customer value proposition.
?Ensure successful implementation of the Islamic banking strategy across high value segment.
?Concentrated responsibility to work with the Priority/Wealth/Private/SME product/frontline teams and support functions to build on the current Islamic banking capabilities and to create seamless customer experience
?Act as a product specialist for RMs on client meetings to introduce and explain the Saadiq solutions to meet their needs
?Financial budgeting and business forecast. Evaluation of financial performance.

The case of missing deposits worth over Dh1 million in total has been solved. On Wednesday, a banker was charged with embezzlement in a Dubai court. The 39-year-old Jordanian banker with Dubai Islamic Bank is said to have embezzled funds by squirrelling away payments from customers who had completed their bank loans via a loan recovery agency. The criminal acts took place during the period between 2009 and 2011 when the banker was working at Dubai Islamic Bank.

Read more on: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime/banker-charged-with-embezzling-m...

Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) intends to make a revision of its capital adequacy guidelines for Islamic financial institutions. The draft for industry feedback is to be released in November. Although IFSB determines the global guidelines for Islamic finance, national financial regulators have the final say regarding how much capital banks must maintain and in what form. The revision is necessary due to the change from Basel II standards to the stricter Basel III standards.

Read more on: http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/latest-news/212596-ifsb-to-revise-capital-a...

According to an announcement by the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Financial Forum (KLIFF), Al Rajhi Bank is awarded The Most Outstanding Islamic Finance Product for its Al Rajhi Collateralised Commodity Murabahah-i (CCM-i). The Islamic Finance Awards 2012 ceremony took place in conjunction with the 9th Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum (KLIFF 2012).

Read more on: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v6/newsindex.php?id=705234