IslamicFinance.de

It seems that the U.S. Treasury Department set sanctions on the Syria International Islamic Bank for supposedly acting as a front for the Commercial Bank of Syria.
SIIB gave permission to the Commercial Bank to circumvent the measures against it by the U.S., European Union and Arab League.
Treasury claimed that financial arrangements purportedly made by SIIB were actually done by the Commercial Bank itself.

Sharjah Islamic Bank has signed a cooperation agreement with the University Hospital Sharjah to provide financing packages to patients, facilitating payment treatment fees to the University Hospital in convenient installments.
The agreement was signed by Dr Omar Abdul Hamid, Consultant of His Highness Ruler of Sharjah for Higher Education Affairs, and Mohammed Abdullah, CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank.

Thomson Reuters will add leading Islamic scholars and bankers to the supervisory bodies of the Islamic Interbank Benchmark Rate (IIBR), expanding geographic and community representation on both the IIBR Shariah Committee and Islamic Benchmark Committee.
The new members will offer credit to IIBR as a viable alternative for pricing Islamic instruments and implanting Islamic finance authenticity.
IIBR is set up to provide an objective and dedicated indicator for the average anticipated return on Shariah-compliant short-term interbank funding and an alternative to the conventional interest-based benchmarks used for mainstream finance.

Temenos revealed that United Installment Sales Co. Ltd. (UIS) and Lexus & Daihatsu in Saudi Arabia, has signed an agreement to utilise Temenos’ market leading core banking solution, T24, for its Islamic Real Estate Financing & Vehicle Leasing transactions.
The latest version of T24 contains significant enhancements that allow Temenos to improve its Islamic Banking offering, including Sharia-compliant automated workflows, permitting Islamic Banks to streamline processes such as booking Murabaha, Mudaraba, Istisnaa or Ijara contracts with enhanced operational efficiency.

Despite the fact that islamic banks have outperformed their conventional peers in most markets, a closer look presents the market dynamics are changing, revealing a new trend.
Two key indicators are cause for reflection: slowing growth rates and eroding profitability, as A T Kearney, a global management consultancy, states.
Cost income ratios are increasing in most markets, putting pressure on profitability. At the same time, declining growth rates are occurring in key geographies including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE.

The Shariah board of ‘Meethaq’ Islamic banking gave the approval for RO 150 million capital assigned by BankMuscat for its Islamic banking window operations awaiting regulatory approval. The board from Shariah perspective authorized the authenticity of capital allocation from BankMuscat shareholders’ fund for operations of independent Meethaq Islamic banking.
Sheikh Dr Ali Qaradaghi, Chairman of Shariah board, revealed that the capital allocation is in line with injunctions of al-Quran and as-Sunnah and the fact that various contemporary Shariah scholars have supported the usage of shareholders' fund for Sharia compliant transactions.

According to A.T. Kearney, the modifying market dynamics are showing a new trend, with two key indicators giving cause for reflection: slowing growth rates and eroding profitability.
Descending growth rates are coming up in key geographies including KSA, Bahrain and the UAE, where growth rates have dropped to between 3% and 8% from double-digit figures.

The export credit and investment insurance arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has secured more than $3bn (Dhs11.02bn) of business deals in 2011. The value of deals insured bounced 63% from 2010.
The flow was ascribed to the launch by ICIEC of new insurance products for political risk.

The Ordinary and Extra-ordinary General Meetings of Al Baraka Banking Group took place on Wednesday 21st March 2012 in Manama, the capital of Bahrain. Discussions included: the report submitted by the Board of Directors on the Group's activities during the financial year ended 31 December, 2011, auditors report on the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2011 and the report of the Unified Sharia Supervisory Board on financial year ended 31 December 2011.
Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, Chairman of the banking group stated reffering to the results that the outstanding financial results reached byt the bank in 2011 were the result of the implementation of cautiously studied ambitious strategies that made a balance between the adoption of prudent and conservative measures required.

Bank of London and The Middle East plc (BLME) signed a £14 million leasing deal with Global Marine Systems Ltd.
According to the agreement, BLME will support Global Marine in the acquisition and refit of an offshore power cable installation barge. The barge will be uniquely suited for the installation of a full range of subsea power cables. The increased request for this type of cable installation barge is directly connected to the growth of offshore electricity transmission being constructed to link the off-shore wind farms now being built throughout the North Sea and surrounding waters.

Dr Jamil el Jaroudi was named chief executive officer at Bank Nizwa.
Ahmed Saif al Rawahi, chairman of the Bank Nizwa Founding Committee, announced with pleasure this appointment, adding that Dr Jamil el Jaroudi brings many years of commercial experience has strong credentials in both Islamic banking and banking start-ups.
Dr Jaroudi has an MBA from Columbia University, and a PhD in finance from Kellogg School, Northwestern University, US.

Al Hilal Islamic Bank and Kazpost JSC signed a general agreement on investment worth 1.5 billion tenge.
It seems that Al Hilal Bank wants to invest 1.5 billion tenge in Kazpost. This is the first contract of this kind in Kazakhstan.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) revealed some plans to invest $98 million for the implementation of bilingual education in Nigeria.
The funds will be used in supplying support for the integration of Quranic schools into western education. The bank’s decision is focused at improving enrolment in schools, most especially for the girl child.
Before stating its developmental plans for Nigeria, the president of the bank, Dr. Ahmad al-Madani, corrected the notion that the bank is a religious institution.

The Tods Murray/Islamic Finance Council UK (IFC) ethical finance forum will analyze the practical challenges relating to marketing and distribution and talk about methods for measuring social returns.
Over the last few weeks, these discussions have reached more pertinent against the backdrop of constitutional reform. Scotland’s monetary system is being strongly debated.
IMF studies have shown Islamic banks are more stable than their conventional counterparts and it needs to be seen what we can learn from this to diminish systemic risk.

On 10 May 2012 BaFin will hold its second conference on Islamic financial services in Frankfurt. The agenda includes sharia-compliant capital market products and the opportunities and challenges they present.

The presenters at the conference will be leading international representatives of financial supervisory authorities, universities and market participants. The event features a mix of panels and will be held in English.

BaFin hosted its first conference on Islamic finance in autumn 2009 and received a very positive response.

As the number of participants is limited, please fill out the expression of interest form if you would like to attend the conference. We will inform you as soon as possible whether your registration was successful.

Agenda

Time: 10 May 2012 (10 am to 6 pm)

A. Welcome and First Overview

B. Panel I: Islamic Funds
Sharia-compliant Funds
Sharia-compliant Derivatives
Sharia-compliant Share Indices

C. Panel II: Sukuk and Securitization
Key Aspects of Sukuk
Key Aspects of Securitization

D. Panel III: Special Aspects of Islamic Finance
Market Potential of Islamic Finance
Aspects and Challenges of Taxation

Emirates NBD from Dubai has asked Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service to withdraw their ratings on Dubai Bank PJSC.
After the accomplishment of the takeover of Dubai Bank by Emirates NBD, all capital and medium-term funding claims for Dubai Bank are controlled under the Group umbrella and accordingly credit ratings are no longer required for this entity.

Dear Reader,

IslamicFinance.de is privately funded for many years. Now, for the first time, you have the possibility to make a contribution, from one Dollar upwards!

The technical details, and the money transfer via paypal is organised by Kapipal a new online fundraising tool:

http://www.kapipal.com/islamicfinance

On the blog I gave some more thoughts about Islamic finance media for those interested: http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/3454

Please also note: The fundraising action has a deadline, so act today, not tomorrow and tell your friends about it!

All donors who will leave a message will be listed in the article, which follows after closure of the fundraising period.

I am happy to meet you in person either on 19th March in Milano (http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/3396) or on 10th May in Frankfurt (http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=BAFINII) at the respective Islamic finance conference.

Wa at Taufiq min Allah, all the best,

Michael Saleh Gassner

Dear Readers,

Islamic finance media are a tricky service. This is true for various reasons: The Internet eats up the revenues, because everything ought to be free. Islamic banks are still a niche phenomena, and international banks like UBS or Deutsche are almost as large as the entire global Islamic finance industry. Consequently the marketing budgets are much lower, too.

Last not least, who should advertise? The banks among themselves or to the clients? Advertising from bank to bank, does usually not make much sense, but real client oriented formats are hard to find, too. May be this is a niche. Others, who could finance Islamic finance media are basically the service providers to the banks, but due to the limited number of Islamic financial insitutions, direct marketing, e.g. face to face meetings will be preferred.

This in short is the background why Islamic finance media are not so well established in terms of journalism and research, but mostly reflecting the press release as criticised by the makers of the Islamic Globe. See: http://www.theislamicglobe.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article...

It is possible that Bank Nizwa will begin its branch operations in July this year. The bank has an ambitious plan to reach in every part of the Sultanate in near future to offer Islamic banking products to citizens and residents.
The Muscat branch of the bank would be established at Shatti al Qurum and an international consultant is working on the design of the building. It appears that the bank will provide commercial banking services for both personal and corporate customers.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, will be hosting a two-day business forum under the title “IDB Group-Nigeria Business Forum” in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Finance of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).
The objective of the Business Forum, planned to be held during the period from 15-16 March 2012, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, is to make the Nigerian public mre sensitive and underline the products and services being provided by the IDB Group, including eligibility criteria, modes of financing, terms and conditions of financing, procurement, and other operational matters.