IslamicFinance.de

A new international bond and grant scheme to help countries dealing with the fallout of war and instability in the Middle East and North Africa should be in place by spring, a senior World Bank official said.
In a Reuters interview, Hafez Ghanem, the World Bank's vice president for the Middle East and North Africa, said the type of investment targeted by the plan - education, infrastructure and jobs - was vital to addressing the region's refugee crises. He said that humanitarian aid alone was not enough and the alternative was “one or two lost generations” in a region with 15 million refugees or internally displaced people.

Following are major Islamic bond issues in the global pipeline.
The Thomson Reuters Global Sukuk Index is at 117.30055 points, down from 118.24280 at the end of last month but up from 115.79726 at the end of last year. The Thomson Reuters Investment Grade Sukuk Index is at 115.33833 points against 116.64293 at end-October and 113.69014 at end-2014.

Turkish Islamic bank Albaraka Turk has received initial pricing feedback in the 10 % area for a potential U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk issue which would bolster its supplementary or Tier 2 capital, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
The lender has received indications of interest totalling over $250 million, including those from joint lead managers, for the ten-year non-call five sukuk, the sources said. A potential deal is expected early next week subject to market conditions, they said.
Albaraka Turk, a unit of Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group, has chosen Barwa Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD, Nomura, Noor Bank, Standard Chartered and QInvest to arrange the sukuk issue.

The Islamic Development Bank wants to use Islamic bonds to help finance the reconstruction of countries ravaged by conflict, with the World Bank as a potential joint issuer, the head of the multilateral lender said.
Refugee and reconstruction financing is a priority for the Jeddah-based IDB, which last month launched an initiative with the World Bank and United Nations to help more than 15 million people displaced across the region.
Work is now underway to identify specific projects for the initiative, with a priority on war torn Yemen, which could see the IDB and World Bank as issuers of the sukuk.
"We need to finalize this with the World Bank, but most likely it will be a joint issuance", IDB president Ahmad Mohamed Ali said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Kuwait.
The IDB, which operates to promote economic development in Muslim communities, has 56 member countries including Saudi Arabia, Libya and Iran as its largest shareholders.

Kazakhstan's parliament has approved legislative amendments to facilitate Islamic finance, paving the way for Central Asia's largest economy to issue its first sovereign sukuk next year, a government official said.
The amendments, which still require the president's signature, would also allow for the conversion of conventional banks into Islamic ones, said Yerlan Baidaulet, an adviser to the Investments and Development Ministry.
"We expect the sovereign sukuk in early spring of next year. Probably in March, it depends on the decision of the Ministry of Finance as it has its own budgetary process," Baidaulet said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Kuwait.
The legal amendments to the banking services and securities laws are the latest steps by the majority Muslim state to help develop Islamic finance. A dedicated Islamic banking law is also currently in preparation, Baidaulet said.

Turkish Islamic bank Kuveyt Turk has mandated six institutions for a sukuk with a value of up to $400 million with a maturity of 10 years, it said in a statement to the Istanbul stock exchange late on Thursday.
Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank, which is 62 percent owned by Kuwait Finance House, said it had mandated KFH Capital, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC, Noor Bank, QInvest and Emirates NBD as joint lead managers. Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in September that seven banks had been picked to arrange a potential deal.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank repaid its maturing five-year, $750 million sukuk this week from its own sources without refinancing it, the bank said on Saturday.
Abu Dhabi's largest sharia-compliant bank made a net profit of 503.2 million dirhams ($137 million) in the quarter to Sept. 30, up from 476.8 million a year earlier, it reported previously.
Chief Executive Tirad al-Mahmoud told Reuters last month that the bank had no current plans to raise more capital after a recent rights issue, adding that it would eschew expansion to focus on existing markets.
Bank lending growth in the United Arab Emirates has been slowing as liquidity tightens because of low oil prices. Industry-wide lending growth slowed to an annual 7.0 % in September, the slowest pace since at least February 2014 when the current central bank data series began.

Japan's Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) has launched its Islamic finance business in Dubai, to focus on sharia-compliant loan syndications with later plans to offer project financing. In July, BTMU received approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority to operate an Islamic window, which it plans to use as a hub for the wider region, said Shichito Tobari, BTMU's regional head for the Middle East. BTMU will initially target commercial loans and trade finance equivalent services, leveraging its existing client base of government-related entities, Tobari said. The next step is to expand the product line to ijara and istisna during the first half of 2016.

Dubai-based retail and leisure developer Majid Al Futtaim has opened books for a benchmark U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk issue, which it expects to price as early as Tuesday. Initial price thoughts for the 10-year sukuk have been set in the area of 270 basis points over midswaps. The firm, which owns and operates the Carrefour franchise in the Middle East, has picked Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC, National Bank Of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered to arrange the sukuk. The sukuk will use the wakala structure, in which one party acts as an agent managing assets for another.

The Malaysian government announced new incentives for "ethical" Islamic bonds and home loans in the 2016 budget which was delivered in parliament on Friday, as Prime Minister Najib Razak doled out populist incentives to shore up support. Najib said Malaysia would cut taxes on issuance costs of SRI sukuk, and also that sharia-compliant loan instruments would be given a 20 percent stamp duty exemption when they were used to finance home purchases. Other initiatives for the Islamic finance sector will be announced later, Najib said without elaborating. Attracting private sector firms has become more important this year because the central bank has shifted away from selling its own sukuk.

Qatar Islamic Bank has opened order books for a five-year benchmark dollar-denominated sukuk issue, a document from lead arrangers showed on Tuesday. The initial price guidance for the offering has been set in the area of 145 basis points over midswaps, the document showed. The bank has mandated Barwa Bank, Citi, HSBC, Noor Bank, QInvest and Standard Chartered as joint lead managers for the issue. The sukuk issue will be under Qatar Islamic's existing $1.5 billion Trust Certificate Issuance Programme.

Saudi Arabia-based Arab Petroleum Investments Corp (APICORP) has tightened price guidance for its debut benchmark U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk issue, which could be priced as early as Monday. Guidance was revised to a range of 105 basis points plus/minus 5 bps over midswaps. Pricing was initially set in the area of 110 bps over midswaps earlier in the day. The sukuk will have a five-year tenor and be classified as a quasi-sovereign issue. The order book for the issue currently stands at $650 million. The wakala-structured sukuk is being arranged by Emirates NBD, First Gulf Bank, Goldman Sachs, NCB Capital, Noor Bank and Standard Chartered.

Turkish Islamic bank Albaraka Turk has reportedly picked seven arrangers for a potential dollar-denominated sukuk to bolster its supplementary or Tier 2 capital. The lender is expected to raise around $250 million, and the sukuk issue is planned before the end of the year. Albaraka Turk has chosen Barwa Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD, Nomura, Noor Bank, Standard Chartered and QInvest to arrange the sukuk issue. The bank, a unit of Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group , didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Malaysia's RHB Islamic Bank Bhd is set to launch a window in Singapore by year-end, New Straits Times reported on Monday, citing managing director and chief executive officer Ibrahim Hassan. Right now the bank is keen on Singapore and Indonesia mostly, Ibrahim was quoted as saying. Singapore because it is one of the world's most vibrant financial hubs, thus allowing RHB to tap further into capital markets and eventually Indonesia, which has the biggest Muslim population.

Qatar Islamic Bank will hold investor meetings in Asia, the Middle East and Europe starting on Friday for a possible benchmark offer of U.S. dollar-denominated Regulation S senior sukuk, leads said on Wednesday. The bank mandated Barwa Bank, Citi, HSBC, Noor Bank, QInvest and Standard Chartered as joint lead managers for the possible issue, which would be off Qatar Islamic's existing $1.5 billion Trust Certificate Issuance Programme. Benchmark usually means at least $500 million.

Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Bank posted its first quarterly rise in net profit in nine quarters, helped by lower expenses. Net profit rose 3.6 percent to 1.72 billion riyals ($458.8 million) for the three months to Sept. 30, in line with an average estimate from analysts of 1.77 billion. The bank had posted declining profits in the preceding eight quarters, which it attributed to higher provisioning and higher operating expenses. Al Rajhi said operating income fell by 4.1 percent to 10.15 billion riyals, while profits from special commissions increased 2.4 percent to 7.47 billion riyals. Loans and advances at the end September stood at 209.91 billion riyals, up 3.1 percent, while deposits rose 6.2 percent to 265.48 billion riyals.

Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC has reportedly obtained an approval from Indonesia's Financial Services Authority to increase its stake in PT Bank Panin Syariah Tbk to 40 percent from 24.9 percent currently, according to chief executive of Dubai Islamic Bank, Adnan Chilwan.

Turkish Islamic bank Kuveyt Turk has picked seven banks to arrange a potential dollar-denominated sukuk to bolster its supplementary or Tier 2 capital. Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank, which is 62 percent owned by Kuwait Finance House, is planning to issue the sukuk after the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha which begins this week. Kuveyt Turk has picked KFH Capital, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD, HSBC, Noor Bank and QInvest to arrange investor roadshows ahead of the potential issue. The lender is expected to raise around $400 million.

slamic finance is gaining prominence as a channel for China to expand its economic influence abroad as banks strengthen ties with Muslim-majority countries and Chinese companies start to tap offshore pools of Islamic funds. With a Muslim population of about 20 million, China has little reason to develop Islamic banking at home. But there are powerful reasons for it to get involved in the sector overseas. China wants to build stronger trade ties with Asian countries under its "One Belt, One Road" strategy to rebuild Silk Road trade links with Asia and Europe. The network will include the world's main centers of Islamic finance, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has ruled out a sale or merger for its Malaysian unit, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Mazin al-Nahedh added the lender, the largest Islamic bank in the Gulf Arab state, will begin restructuring the unit with immediate effect. The disclosure from KFH comes after a source familiar with the matter said last week that Qatar National Bank had bid to buy the unit, with the Qatari lender later acknowledging it was in early talks about an acquisition.