IslamicFinance.de

Oman Arab Bank is now ready to launch Islamic banking products through dedicated windows, after the regulatory framework is announced by the Central Bank of Oman in January.
Bishara Qafiti, deputy manager of Oman Arab Bank, stated that in the beginning they will focus on the retail and commercial sector, vehicle and real estate loans, rather than trying to do corporate finance.

The State Bank of Pakistan has awarded Silkbank with an Islamic banking license.
The bank will be initially aiming Pakistan’s main population centers, Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Faisalabad.

The latest development in Tanzania and East Africa’s emerging Islamic finance industry is the opening of Tanzania’s first Islamic bank, Amana Bank, last month. The headquarters of the bank are in the Kariakoo trade centre in the city, the hub of commerce in Tanzania, where an important portion of merchants are Muslims.
The area is so meaningful that another bank, the People’s Bank of Zanzibar (PBZ) has launched this month a branch specializing on Islamic banking.
President Ali Mohammed Shein encouraged the Bank of Tanzania to create a conducive atmosphere for positive service delivery in Islamic finance.

Adnan Ahmed Yusuf Abdulmalek, head of Union of Arab Banks, noted that interest by Gulf lenders in Turkey’s Islamic banking market is on the rise. Leading Arab banks are currently inspecting opportunities to penetrate Turkey’s growing finance market, added the top executive of Union of Arab Banks.
Arab banks and investors have been stimulated by the decision for investing in Turkey’s banking sector and possible investors consider founding new banks as well as merger and acquisitions with Turkish banks.

It seems that The Islamic Republic of Iran was the first country to introduce Sukuk to the financial market.
Mohammad Sajjad Siahkarzadeh noted that Iran arranged the operational mechanisms for issuing Sukuks in 1994 and introduced the mechanisms in the second Islamic Banking conference in Tehran in that year.
Siahkarzadeh also added that companies finance their operations using different financial tools such as selling stocks, bonds, etc, underlinning the fact that issuing Islamic bonds (Sukuk) is a means for funding projects.

Finance Minister Mehmet ?im?ek has the strong oppinion that the global economy would not have to deal with so many ongoing problems if the world would have adopted and effectively used Islamic financial tools, which are relatively more flexible against shocks.
Underlining that the importance and role of participation banking in maintaining stable economic growth have so far been underestimated by many, the minister assigned the recent problems in world markets to the ignorance of people.

According to Standard Chartered Saadiq, Islamic banking assets in the UAE are forseen to grow to 20 % of the total banking sector in 2012 from an estimated 18 % this year.
The bank anticipates Islamic assets to comprise 38 per cent of total consumer banking assets in the UAE in 2012, compared to about 35 per cent in 2010.
Globally, the Islamic banking industry is estimated to be worth $1 trillion.
Standard Chartered Saadiq plans to begin Islamic banking operations in Nigeria and Oman next year, as it seems to grow its Shariah-compliant business in the Middle East, Africa and southeast Asia.

Dubai Standard Chartered Saadiq is researching opportunities to expand into newly-opened Islamic banking markets such as Oman and Nigeria and is closely evaluating the opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
With the opening up of new markets in Mena and Africa, Standard Chartered awaites meaningful growth in the asset size of both Islamic banks and the Islamic banking operations of conventional banks.

Tanzania launched its first Islamic bank, Amana Bank, in the capital, Dar es Salaam. Amana Bank’s chairman, Haroon Pirmohamed, stated that the bank was launched to service the request for an ethical and interest-free alternative to conventional banking for Tanzania’s Muslims and anyone else who wished to bank in an ethical and transparent way.
Amana Bank will offer personal saving accounts, term deposit accounts, current accounts and, for religious institutions, Ihsan accounts.

According to Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain CEO and MD, Abdul Hakim Al-Khayyat, Islamic banking has many advantages and capabilities that are giving it permission to play an important role in solving many economic problems in the GCC.
Al-Khayyat underlined the fact that Islamic banking is not operating at full swing yet, either as a result of lack of legislations or opportunities. Furthermore, he notified that governments need to launch more Sukuk, so they can provide short-term liquidity instruments.
However, since legislations that organise the issuance of Sukuk in some countries don't exist, this significant instrument has been presented as extinct, which consumes the efforts of Islamic banks to help markets overcome their crises.

Economist and academic researcher Dr Nasser al Mawali forsees that Islamic banks will need about 20% of the domestic market of the banking sector in the Sultanate during the next three years.
He indicated that the presence of Islamic and traditional banks in the domestic market promotes competition among them and helps in finding alternatives and multiple options of financing and customer service especially for small businesses that have poor funding.
Dr Al Mawali added that the presence of Islamic banks in the Sultanate is a promising opportunity for the growing Omani economy.

It seems that things will have a positive outlook for Yemen’s Islamic banks.
When pitched battles between pro- and anti-Saleh forces erupted in downtown Sana’a, the banking sector froze.
Tadhamon International Islamic Bank and the Islamic Bank of Yemen for Finance and Investment have still 80% of the banking sector’s activities paralyzed.
The GCC deal is centered on rebuilding the country, which has been crippled by 10 months of unrest.

A new set of rules and regulations for Islamic banks will be ready until the end of this month.
Ernst & Young was appointed in September to advise the apex bank on formulating a separate set of rules for Islamic banking in the country.
Ernst & Young is analyzing aspects like fixing of lending limits, single borrower limit, writing of rule books, procedures for reporting structure for Islamic banks and formation of Sharia board.

It seems that Islamic banking has numerous advantages and capabilities that gives it permission to play an important role in solving many economic problems in the GCC. The statement cam from Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Abdul Hakim Al Khayyat.
He added that Islamic banking services have made the way for the future easier, and have become one of the most important alternatives that many economies worldwide search.
He explained that Islamic banks can have an efficient role in solving the housing problem through its role in construction projects and real estate development, not to mention several instruments that finance that sector, such as murabaha, ijarah, and others.

Investors from the UAE have invested UGX12bn ($4.8m) in the National Bank of Commerce, formerly Kigezi Bank of Commerce, with the purpose of raising shareholder dividends and introducing Islamic banking in Uganda.
There are more than 200 local shareholders and a lobby group from them approached NBC’s management to ask for loans to help them invest in agriculture – something that the Emiratis were very interested in so they can secure food stability.

The effects of the ‘Arab Spring’ in North Africa may have presented fantastic opportunities for Islamic finance according to Patrick AbiHabib of Arab Banking Corporation.
He explained that the transitional authorities in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt have expressed their support for the Islamic banking sector, and Libya had set about changing the country’s financial regulation to give permission to the new government to raise money from the Islamic capital markets, taking the country’s Islamic banking regulations to the next level.

According to Ernst & Young's inaugural World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report 2011, Islamic banking's market share of all banking assets in Gulf extanded over the 25 per cent threshold in 2011.
The report forseen that Mena Islamic banking assets with commercial banks will more than double to $990 billion by 2015 as Islamic banks compete for mainstream customers who are open to Islamic or conventional banking.

Islamic banks operating in the UAE have objected to new lending rules enforced by the Central Bank early this year and requested amendments for their own business, motivating that some of the new rules violate Shariah banking.
The new lending law presented by the central bank for the country's 23 national banks and 28 foreign units capped personal loans at 20 times a borrower's monthly salary and stipulated the loan must be repaid within 48 months.

Mahathir Mohamad, former Malaysian prime minister, has alerted the Islamic banking industry that it has to learn about the mistakes of conventional finance if Islamic finance is to avoid the same fate.
He suggested that more resort to Islamic banking systems and principles are necessary in order to prevent greed and abuses from taking over.
Mahathir anticipated that Islamic banking and the wealth of the Muslims will cause the rest of the world to link up with Muslim countries.

The World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report 2011/12, expanded in collaboration with Ernst & Young, will be officially launched on November 22 at a top Islamic banking forum in Bahrain.
The 18th annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC 2011) will take place from November 21 to 23 at the Gulf Convention Centre.
More than 1,200 industry leaders from over 50 countries are forseen to cone at WIBC 2011.