IslamicFinance.de

Moody's withdrew its ratings on Saudi Arabia's largest property developer Dar al Arkan, having its own reasons.
The agency's withdrawal policy says that under certain circumstances, Moody's will withdraw a rating for an issuer or an obligation for reasons unrelated to the adequacy of information, or bankruptcy or reorganization status of the credit.

Arcapita Bank B.S.C. announced today that it and its affiliates have completed the sale of a portfolio of 29 senior living communities in the United States.
The portfolio is being acquired by a joint venture between Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. and CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc. for a total transaction value of US$630 million. Returns to investors will exceed the projections made at the outset of the investment seven years ago.

Gold is marginally higher in US dollars while silver has risen by nearly 1% in all major currencies this morning. Risk appetite remains high as seen in higher Asian and European bourses today.
The focus of markets is the Portuguese bond auction today and Spain’s bond auction tomorrow.

Qatar Islamic Bank is hunting for acquisition targets in Indonesia to strengthen its presence in Asia and tap demand for Shariah banking products in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
Qatar Islamic is studying several potential candidates in Indonesia that have been identified by Asian Finance Bank, which is 62 percent-owned by the Gulf lender.

Indonesia has moved to boost Islamic finance by proposing a series of tax incentives for the sector. The incentives are likely to stimulate sukuk issuance.
The measures will also encourage sales of Islamic debt from Indonesia, which has the world’s biggest Muslim population, with 88% of all inhabitants identifying themselves as being of that faith.

Indonesia plans to issue a 3-year maturing sukuk for retail investors on Feb. 23.
The sukuk, or Islamic bond, will be offered to all individuals with Indonesian citizenship, to widen the investor base.

Kuwait's Strategia Investment Company has received the approval of the ministry of commerce and industry to launch an Islamic investment fund with a capital ranging between 5 million Kuwaiti dinars ($17.7 million) and KWD50 million.
This fund will invest in the shares of shariah-compliant companies listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange and on other bourses in the Gulf Cooperation Council states.

Kuwait's indebted The Investment Dar Company held its first face-to-face meeting with the reconstituted Coordinating Committee last Thursday in Dubai.
At the meeting, the documentation relating to the official engagement of the committee was finalised, it said, and added that committee membership now includes Jordan International Bank, ABC Islamic Bank, Lloyds TSB Middle East, Al Rajhi Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait.

Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world. Its capital city is Jakarta, which is located on the island of Java. Since the majority of the population of Indonesia are Muslims, Indonesia can be considered the largest Islamic state in the world in terms of population. The Indonesian economy is classified as a developing economy, and is known as a "Tiger Cub Economy".
This is a reference to the more economically advanced "Asian Tiger Economies" that include Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.

The cost of insuring five-year Dubai debt against default fell to around 400 basis points (bp) as the emirate’s corporates, supported by its government, steadily chip away the debt.
Spreads on Dubai’s five-year CDS soared to nearly 1,000bp in February 2009, as investors grew increasingly concerned about the government’s willingness to meet the repayment schedule in 2009-10, particularly in quasi-sovereign debt.

Yemen is planning to issue Islamic sukuk, or Islamic bonds, to diversify government financing and help lower a budget deficit currently running at around 8% of gross domestic product.
Experts and Islamic banks in Yemen recommended the issuing of Islamic bonds. In this regard, the participants of the second conference of Yemeni Islamic banks, held in May, recommended the need to carry out standards for the issuance of Islamic bonds because of their benefit to the community development.

Kuwait International Bank (KIB) is keen on opportunities for mutual ventures and cooperation with Islamic finance and banking institutions, both in and beyond Kuwait.
Assistant Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Diyaa Al-Asfoor was speaking to the press upon a visit by a delegation from the Central bank of Malaysia and noted this visit was important for exchange of expertise in the field.

MALAYSIA Debt Ventures Bhd (MDV) will focus more of its activities on Islamic financing this year
The company was determined to support the government's effort to promote Islamic finance and use the funds raised from sukuk issues to finance development projects.

Malaysian trustee firm Amanah Raya Bhd expects to obtain licences to set up Kazakhstan’s second Islamic bank in the second quarter of 2011 and begin operating the lender within a year.
Amanah Raya would have a 55 per cent stake in the joint venture company to be set up, state-run Development Bank of Kazakhstan will own 40 per cent and brokerage Fattah Finance the balance.

Arabian Gulf borrowers are selling ringgit-denominated Islamic bonds at a record pace in Malaysia to raise funds for expansion and take advantage of demand in the world’s biggest market for Shariah-compliant bonds.
Dubai’s government is “likely” to sell bonds next year and a Malaysian offering is a possibility.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) published last week the draft of its latest Shariah consultation on Islamic financial products, the "Concept Paper of Shariah Parameter Reference 5: Istisna Contract (SPR5)". SPR5 is aimed at becoming the true source of reference on the nature and features of the Istisna contract for the Islamic financial services industry and to facilitate the consistent implementation of the contract in the Malaysian financial market.

Asian Islamic financial institutions are attracting more female executives and scholars to fill a shortage of talent, setting a precedent for companies in the Middle East.
In November Malaysia’s Shariah Advisory Council appointed a second female scholar to its 11-member board. Indonesia has six women on its panel of 35 experts.

Work on the feasibility study on the sukuk origination is set to start this month, after the President Rustam Minnikhanov of the Russian republic of Tatarstan has visited Malaysia in December and the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Kuala Lumpur between the Tatarstan government, the local IFC Linova, Malaysia's Amanah Raya Berhad Group and Kuwait Finance House Malaysia (KFH Malaysia).

The nation’s Islamic capital market is seen as being intelligently positioned within the evolving Islamic financial-services industry.
As one of the panel members at the 17th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference 2010 (WIBC 2010) in Manama, Bahrain, Zakariya cited two key factors that must be taken into consideration when tackling legal constraints namely the competency of the civil courts in hearing Islamic banking and finance cases, as well as the adherence to a recognised body such as the Syariah Advisory Council of Bank Negara, or Securities Commission of Malaysia.

Indonesia's finance ministry aims to issue 38.5 trillion rupiah of government bonds in the first quarter of 2011.
This doesn't include retail bonds, retail Islamic bonds and dollar-denominated bonds.