IslamicFinance.de

Eight additional directors have passed the Mudara Institute of Directors Accreditation programme. Nick Nadal, Head of Mudara Institute of Directors, said the he is delighted to welcome this new batch of directors, which will bring more diversity in competence, experience and perspectives. He also pointed out that co-operation with the new directors will be positive for advocating for greater director professionalism.

Khalid Hamad, executive director of the Bahrain Central Bank, said that the implementation of the Malaysian-based Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) should be mandatory. These rules and regulations would contribute to better growth of the industry. He further pointed out that the role of the IFSB is very similar to the one of the Basel committee in terms of issued guidelines and standards.

Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin today confirmed his suspension as chief economist of Bank Islam after his prediction of the likely results of Election 2013. The bank, however, moved to distance itself from Azrul Azwar and emphasized that the views expressed by him should not be linked or attributed to Bank Islam. It is unknown how long the suspension will last.

Qatar is in a good position to face future challenges due to its economic and business diversification. The emirate is member of several economic and commercial agreements and organizations, and has been engaged in trade and investment negotiations with the European community and Japan. Therefore, Qatar will probably be able to avoid dependence on oil and gas production and to benefit from foreign direct investments in the future.

Gulf Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of SHUAA Capital, is launching a new specialist division called Gulf Finance Medical Leasing (GFML) that will offer operating leases for medical equipment to the UAE healthcare sector. The equipment can be leased on a monthly fee basis usually for three years at which juncture it can be returned, purchased or upgraded for new equipment. GFML is the first business of its type in the GCC and is planning to address significant market opportunities across the region.

Fola Daniel, head of the National Insurance Commission (NIC), said the Nigerian insurance market has the capacity to become the biggest in Africa and one of the largest globally. However, a recent study shows that penetration rates of products and services offered by insurance companies are low. In order to achieve a higher coverage, the acceptance of insurance among the wider public needs to be increased. The rising purchasing power of many Nigerians may allow the industry to deepen its penetration and lift earnings.

A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has downgraded the financial strength rating of Islamic Arab Insurance Co. (Salama). This is due to the uncertainty regarding Salama’s main subsidiary, BEST RE Limited (Malaysia), and the potential implications for Salama’s capitalisation, operating performance and profile. Concurrently, A.M. Best has withdrawn the ratings as Salama has requested to no longer participate in their rating process.

The Institute of International Finance (IIF) warns that rich-country central banks may end their stimulus measures for emerging markets and warned investors to be prepared. Although there are few indications that the world's central banks are about to change course soon, the risk for reversal of rates needs to be discussed in order to avoid a “boom-bust cycle”.

“Hima” means “protected place” in Arabic and aims at preserving special landscapes for the public. Middle Eastern environmentalists have established several new himas in Lebanon and are promoting the idea throughout the Middle East since they have positive effects on the communities.

The Finance Ministry has set stricter down payment requirements on Islamic financing concerning automotive purchases in order to to help curb consumer financing growth. According to the new regulation, a down payment of 20% for two-wheeled vehicle purchases and a 25% down payment for four-wheeled vehicles is required. The regulation will apply to all non-bank Islamic financing institutions. The requirements for the purchase of commercial four-wheeled vehicles, e.g. trucks or buses, are a 20% down payment.

Dear Reader,

Islamic finance had another great year. Many of its market segments progressed, like for example the Sukuk market gaining more maturity. Despite the ongoing debt crisis a good sign of hope and happiness.

Nevertheless we are - as an industry - still not satisfied with the achievements. Islamic finance shall grow stronger in terms of social impact and in terms of substance:

Hence, please allow me to re-iterate my call for participating in international initiatives beyond just our own industry to learn and spread knowledge and experience:

Calling Islamic financial institutions to become member of the United Nations Finance Initiative
http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/811

Inshallah we see more Islamic financial institutions taking a lead in SRI, Social Impact Investing and other approaches while contributing with Islamic finance knowdledge to the conventional industry. The time is now; and there are signs that Malaysia aims for a lead:
http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/4151

The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) is progressing on a variety of Sharia products issued. This was made known at their 27th board meeting which was hosted by Kuwait Finance House - Bahrain in Manama. The mentioned products include Interbank Unrestricted Wakalah standards, Islamic Currency Hedging product standards and Collateralised (Rahn) Product Standard. Moreover, the board reached an agreement on the initiation of several new standards among which Ijarah sukuk standardisation as well as consultation on credit support arrangement concerning Islamic hedging.

The US Agency for International Development has been trying in the past two years to increasingly alleviate the poverty in the Middle East. In the course of this approach, Arab Non-profit organisations was forced to rethink their strategic orientation to focusing rather on US strategic interest than on their own local needs. The following article gives detailed insight on this issue.

Tunisian government became an offer for financing of the purchase of four brand new airplanes from the Qatari Islamic Investment Bank. The discussions were led among the management of the bank, the Minister of Transport of Tunisia and the CEO of Tunisair.

The Arab Organisation for Social Responsibility has awarded Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) for the best Arab Bank supporting social responsibility. The aim of the award is to encourage the role of public and private sectors, government and private institutions, in the area of social responsibility.

Building a Healthy & Sustainable Social Impact Bond (SIB) Market is the name of new report by Godeke Consulting that was supported by the Rockeffeller Foundation. The aim of the report is to explore the landscape of potential SIB investors in order to clarify the ways in which a sustainable market can be built up. Beside that, the report provides a look at social and environmental conditions and current economical issues.

UAE took steps to improve women's representation in organizations by setting up of quotas of women members in boards. Women will now have to prove by their professionalism that they deserve such "appreciation" against men colleagues.

The Principles for Responsible Investment shortly called PRI start to occupy the core of investment management. But there is still the quesation of acceptance among financial institutions. Are they able to appel to principles of responsible investing, while continuously attracting more conservative institutions? The following article gives you more information on the subject.

Dubai's ruler Shaikh Al Maktoum decided to finance small and medium enterprises by a new SME Fund. Fund will offer financiall help to around 100 national entrepreneurial projects every year and thus support expecially young citizens in order to grow up a new generation of entrepreneurs to help UAE economy to thrive.

Lebanese banks anticipate the Syrian market to grow once the political stability will be reached. By now, there are seven Lebanesse banks that are operating in Syria.