IslamicFinance.de

Facing a debt issue, Kuwaiti investment firm National Industries Group Holding (NIG) asked creditors for extension. Since a $475-million sukuk matures next month, they asked for a four-year extension. The problem lies in refinancing the debt after borrowing costs rose, which firms who borrowed cheap short-term cash in the boom years to fund an asset-buying spree cannot complete.

For the first time, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan has launched an Islamic bond. This issue may result in setting a benchmark for Kazakh sukuk and lay the path for future placement of corporate Islamic bonds. The paper is worth MYR240m ($76.6m) and has benn placed for five years with a yield of 5.5% a year. 38% of the bond are placed in Kazakhstan while the remaining 62% belong to Malaysian investors.

Because of sweeping government reforms in their pension system, Malasians are most likely to allocate part of their retirement contributions to Islamic investments. Since the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has limits in investing syariah-compliant areas, the new, voluntary Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) is meant to supplement it. Thus, contributors will be able to allocate money to a wide range of products offered by private-sector fund management firms including syariah-compliant investment. The result is a potential rise in the amount of money going into Islamic instruments.

The Gatehouse Bank plc, a London-based Kuwaiti-owned wholesale Shariah compliant bank, has acquired an industrial US-based real estate portfolio at the cost of USD 155 Million. This portfolio includes 20 industrial properties from the West, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest regions of the U.S. which are leased to 12 tenants with an average remaining lease term of 14 years. The acquisition has been completed in joint venture partnership with the Brennan Investment Group. It is expected that the portfolio will bolster the stability of returns generated by the properties due to its unique diversity of industry, geography, and tenancy.

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...

Indonesia’s Islamic finance industry is attracting investment from Middle Eastern and European banks as regulator is searching to double Shariah-compliant assets to 10% of the total this decade.
According to Mudassir Amray, the head of wholesale banking in Kuala Lumpur, Al Rajhi Bank is pursueing investment banking business in Indonesia and may open branches when the right time comes.
Moreoever, Bank Indonesia is proposing tax breaks to raise the industry, which has grown an average 38% annually over the past five years.

Al Baraka Banking Group will launch Itqan Capital in Saudi Arabia, through its fully-owned subsidiary Al Baraka Islamic Bank.
Mr. Khaled Al Zayani, chairman of Al Baraka Islamic Bank, stated that the firm's future center of attraction will be on four areas: asset management, principal investment, investment banking, and custodial services - all supported by centralized advisory, research and business development capabilities.

Because of the recent global financial crises appetite for Islamic Private Equity has surfaced.
Joined by over 50 expert regional and global speakers, Ihab Asali, QFIB Head of Private Equity embraces the global rise of Islamic Private Equity at the recently concluded Islamic Investment and Finance Forum, in Istanbul, Turkey.
Ihab along with other panellists discussed and investigated the potential of Islamic Private Equity after the economic downturn, ways to increase Islamic funds and its impact on the Private Equity market and where quality Islamic Private Equity opportunities are likely to come out.

Hong Leong Islamic Bank (HLISB) appointed Raja Teh Maimunah Raja Abdul Aziz as its new chief executive officer.
Raja Teh Maimunah posesses over 18 years of experience in the financial industry, concentrating on Investment Banking and Islamic Finance. She is also the adviser on Islamic Banking and Finance to the World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation and has an LLB (Hons) degree from the University of East London.

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The Budget of 2012 will promote furthermore the comprehensive development of conventional and Islamic banking, insurance and takaful, investment banking and other financial services in terms of the range and offerings of products and services.
Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar stated that it showed the Government’s effort to strike a balance between dealing with people, cyclical and structural issues.

The 2nd Quarter 2011 issue of the Malaysian ICM quarterly bulletin published by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) is now available online at:
http://www.sc.com.my/eng/html/icm/11_2Q_msianicm.pdf

It seems that Malaysia will plan a 10- year dollar-denominated Islamic bond, this being its second sovereign sale of Shariah-compliant debt in a year.
The anonimous sources also stated that three local investment banks submitted pitches proposing a size of $500 million to $1.7 billion.

Capital Investments – the investment banking arm of Capital Bank - succeeded the first issuance of Islamic Sukuk in Jordan for the benefit of Al-Rajhi Cement – Jordan.
It was signed by a number of leading Islamic and commercial banks, including Capital Bank, Cairo Amman Bank, Islamic International Arab Bank, Union Bank, Jordan Kuwait Bank, Bank of Jordan, and Arab Islamic Bank.

When it comes to decisions about investments, ESG criteria are too important to be ignored. risklab, AllianzGI's specialist investment and risk advisor, showed in a report that environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk optimised investment strategies can improve portfolio efficiency importantly. Therefore, as an important risk factor, ESG should be part of the investment research.
ESG risk factors are also important for core asset classes such as developed market equity.

Because of the amplification of Islamic banking and insurance, banking and insurance regulators expect a new legislation that allows ompanies to invest in Sharia-compliant securities.
Kenya's first Islamic insurance firm, Takaful Insurance, was initiated 3 weeks ago. The first branch was opened in Eastleigh, Nairobi. That is why an absolute change is needed.

Sarajevo Business Forum aims at reviving the culture of open dialogue among statesmen and international figures from various countries, as well as presenting Bosnia & Herzegovina and its region to international investors.

The Forum will comprise of two parts. Under its first part, the Forum will present a meeting point for a selected group of statesmen where they will exchange views on the issues related to the civilization dialogue in general, and peace and prosperity in Southeastern Europe in particular.

Under its second compact, Sarajevo Business Forum will be a forum between local businesses, government and international investors aiming at attracting international capital to the country and to the region, which in turn will be instrumental in enhancing economic prosperity and thus peace.

Sarajevo Business Forum thus aims at erasing the remnants of sad recent history of the country and making it once more a center for open interaction between cultures and businesses.

http://www.sarajevobusinessforum.com/en/conference/

The not-for-profit Jersey Finance opens Abu Dhabi office to tap Gulf wealth from family offices and high networth individuals even as currency fluctuations erode values.
Jersey is a self-governing British Crown Dependency where financial services are the largest industry. Jersey Finance, a not-for-profit organization that is tasked with promoting Jersey as an International Financial Center, has opened a representative office in Abu Dhabi, close on the heels of another in Mumbai, India. It sees a significant outflow of investment from the UAE to offshore jurisdictions.

Total income for 2010 was $12.3 million, down from $96.5 million in 2009. With limited exceptions, the reduction in income was due to a general lowering of deal flows, within a stressed financial and operating environment.
Unicorn saw major deleveraging of the balance sheet in 2010, which saw the timely repayment of over $250 million of short term funds. The bank also recently announced the successful repayment of a $125 million Syndicated Commodity Murabaha Facility upon its due repayment date on 27 January 2011.