IslamicFinance.de

Kuwait Finance House Turkey has realized a sukuk issuance of 300 million TL with tenure of 179 days, exceeding its own previous record breaking sukuk issuance of TL 200 million on Nov 13, 2015. According to CEO Ufuk Uyan the bank will continue similar public offerings in the future. The first lease yield shall be made on Aug 11, 2016, while the second on Nov 8, 2016 at the end of the maturity, together with principal sums. So far, KFH-Turkey has issued lease certificates of a total of TL 7,2 billion in domestic and overseas markets.

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Deputy prime minister in charge of the economy, Mehmet Simsek, has said Turkey will hold meetings to increase sukuk exports in the first half of 2016. The country is preparing a draft law which would bring balance to the taxation of Islamic financial contracts and encourage long-term loans. Simsek said that the Ministry wants this system but implementation depends on investor interest. Regarding the establishment of a megabank in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Simsek said the probable scenario includes two megabanks, one in Indonesia and the second in Turkey.

The volume of Islamic Development Bank (IDB)'s investments in Egypt currently amounts to US$3.7 billion. The statement was made by Nazih Al-Nasser, director of asset management and advisory activities of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). He made his remarks in Cairo on Tuesday during a conference organised by the Egyptian Banking Institute, designated to focus on the role of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

On May 15 representatives of 56 muslim countries came together at the 41st IDB annual meeting in Jakarta. In 2015, the IDB Group recorded approvals worth $1.83 bn, representing 21% of the total since the bank’s inception. In Turkey Islamic banking comprises 5% of the total banking system, but the government aims to increase this figure to 15% by 2023. IDB's president, Ahmad Mohamed Ali, said the bank also fully supported Turkey’s plans to develop Istanbul as an international financial center.

Egyptian Takaful Property and Liability Insurance (EGTAK) will soon start talks to renew its reinsurance agreements with Hannover Re SE. Head of the Reinsurance Department Hamed Mahmoud said he expects the German reinsurer would renew its agreements without placing any additional conditions.

The head of the Savings and Deposits Insurance Fund said the deadline for the sale of Bank Asya is May 29. If a buyer cannot be found, the bank will be liquidated. The bank started reporting huge losses throughout 2015, while its shares were suspended from trading in Borsa Istanbul. Later it was taken over by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund. According to the audit report on Bank Asya the bank's shareholders signed blank transfer contracts and a large number of dubious transactions were carried out.

Turkey wants to set up a new Islamic megabank. Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said the prime shareholders would be Turkey's Treasury and the Islamic Development Bank. Simsek prepares for talks with Indonesia in Jakarta next week on proposals to start a Shariah-compliant megabank that will lend to companies and infrastructure projects. Indonesia and Malaysia have long tried separately to establish a Shariah-compliant lender but faced obstacles until now. Turkey is ready to commit more than $300 mn for the lender as capital.

Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group will establish a banking unit in Morocco after receiving approval from local authorities. The bank said entry to the Morocco market would significantly help diversify assets and income sources for the group. In contrast with its peers in the Gulf, Al Baraka has built the bulk of its business outside of the region, including units in Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia and South Africa.

Mehmet Ali Akben, president of the Banking Supervisory and Regulatory Authority (BRSA), said that Bank Asya will either be sold by the end of the month or its license will be canceled. The bank started reporting huge losses throughout 2015, while its shares were suspended from trading in Borsa Istanbul. Later it was taken over by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund. The BRSA's audit report on Bank Asya said the bank's shareholders signed blank transfer contracts and a large number of dubious transactions were carried out.

The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation announced the completion of an innovative Sharia-compliant financing facility for Algeria’s Oil Recovery Services. The financing was arranged in conjunction with Paris-based oil and gas private equity firm 4D Global Energy Advisors. The initial $10 million financing will act as a template for the financing of several contracts of the company.

The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) announced the completion of a Shari’ah-compliant financing facility for Oil Recovery Services SAL (ORSsal) with operation in Algeria. The annual MENA Energy Investment Outlook Report issued by APICORP stated total planned energy investments in the MENA region will reach $900 billion over the next five years. According to the report, Algeria will invest $8 billion on gas as it focuses on developing its midstream sector as part of the country’s plan to expand total pipeline-network capacity by 30 per cent.

The World Bank Group, the Islamic Financial Services Board and the Republic of Turkey are jointly organising a conference on "Realising the Value Proposition of Takaful Industry for a Stable and Inclusive Financial System" on May 30-31, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. The conference aims to provide a platform for global practitioners and stakeholders in Takaful industry. The current state of the industry will be discussed as well as the evolving nature of the related legal and regulatory requirements in various regions.

On 27 April 2016 Ziraat Participation Bank closed its first Syndicated Murabaha Financing Facility. The debut transaction received a strong response from the market. Due to the significant oversubscription, Ziraat Participation Bank increased the facility size to US$155 mn. CEO Osman Arslan said the proceeds from the facility will be used to support the funding requirements of SMEs and the financing of trade related businesses.

Turkiye Finans announced plans for a EURO denominated Sukuk. This represents the first Euro denominated Sukuk in Turkey, though a number of US Dollar Sukuk have been issued previously, most recently by Turkish subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House (Kuveyt Turk) which issued a $350 million Sukuk in February 2016. Kuveyt Turk also recently issued an innovative CPI linked Sukuk, which illustrates a maturing market in Turkey.

On 27 April 2016 Ziraat Participation Bank closed its first Syndicated Murabaha Financing Facility. The debut transaction received a strong response from the market. Due to the significant oversubscription, Ziraat Participation Bank increased the facility size to US$155 mn. CEO Osman Arslan said the proceeds from the facility will be used to support the funding requirements of SMEs and the financing of trade related businesses.

#SouthKorea’s Woori Bank has launched a Korea Desk in Iran to help Korean companies with their business activities in the Islamic Republic. Central Bank of Iran's deputy Gholam-Ali Kamyab said this move could prepare the ground for the opening of Woori branches in Iran. Korean companies will be able to use Woori Bank’s service in the Iranian bank or the Korean bank’s outlets in neighboring cities of Bahrain and Dubai for their businesses in Iran.

The Middle East remains the most financially excluded region in the world despite being a middle income region. When the World Bank conducted its first Global Findex survey in 2011, the Middle East had the lowest bank account ownership rate of the six developing regions. In the Middle East only about 14% of adults have an account, virtually unchanged from 2011. The World Bank has made substantial efforts to ensure that SMEs obtain access to finance over the past six years – with large line of credit operations in Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco.

In Iraq the private sector is primarily cash-based. Bank financing is unavailable for all but the largest companies and even then is limited mainly to overdraft facilities. Private banks are subject to large and unpredictable demands for cash from depositors, while money transfer companies do not take deposits at all. The majority of households do not have a bank account, those with savings often hold them in the form of US dollar hoards in private safes.

La 1ère édition du Salon International de la Finance Ethique et Participative SIFEP 2016 se tiendra du 20 au 22 octobre 2016 au Parc d’Expositions de l’Office des Changes à Casablanca.
Dans le cadre de la préparation de cet évènement majeur pour le développement de la finance islamique au Maroc, une conférence de presse consacrée à la présentation du Salon SIFEP 2016 sera organisée le mardi 17 Mai 2016 à 17h à l’hôtel Goden Tulip Farah – Casablanca.
La conférence de presse sera l’occasion de revenir sur le contexte du démarrage des institutions de finance participative et de l’émergence de la finance islamique au Maroc.
M. Reda EL HADDAJ, Directeur Général du SIFEP et M. Abderrahmane LAHLOU, Commissaire Général du SIFEP, effectueront une présentation du SIFEP 2016 et du Forum du SIFEP organisé en marge du Salon.