IslamicFinance.de

Last April the Qatari government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Islamic Development Bank and Saudi Arabia's Dallah Albaraka Group to establish an international Islamic bank with initial capital of $1 billion. Finance Minister Youssef Kamal, however, has not given details about the timing, ownership or other aspects of the new institution but said it would be set up soon.

According to a report released by MyHiringClub.com, Kuwait ranks 35th globally, Oman 37th, Bahrain 40th, UAE 42nd and Saudi Arabia 44th in a list that evaluates countries with women serving on company boards and top managerial levels. GCC economists said local business community is need of women's participation in company boardrooms. Saudi Arabia' share is 54 percent of total women labor force in the GCC region. This will allow the women to go beyond their traditional role and make remarkable progress in the area of labor, education, and socioeconomic development. The number of businesses registered for Saudi women stood at nearly 36,200 which represents 4.7 percent of total registered businesses in the Kingdom. The volume of women investments in businesses has so far reached SR 3 billion, which represents 4.3 percent of the total number of private sector companies in Saudi Arabia.

The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) and a local pension fund will buy a 51.6-percent stake in Bahrain Islamic Bank. As part of the deal, NBB and Social Insurance Organization Asset Management Company, a unit of pension fund Social Insurance Organization, will each take a 25.8-percent stake in Bahrain Islamic for 72 fils per share. Based on Bahrain Islamic’s total outstanding shares, the value of the deal is about 34.9 million dinars ($92.57 million). The transaction will provide NBB an opportunity to expand into Islamic banking.

Qatar will sell QR4bn ($1.1bn) of three-year and five-year bonds and sukuk. The Qatar Central Bank will offer local banks QR3bn worth of bonds and QR1bn worth of Shariah-compliant notes. The local currency issues will take place quarterly, but it was not specified how much of each maturity would be sold. The objective behind an issuance is reportedly to build a domestic sovereign yield curve.

The Waqf Fund recently held a roundtable discussion themed, "Shariah and corporate governance issues in SPV governance," in Bahrain. The meeting was attended by a select group including lawyers, professional firms and Shariah scholars. Central Bank of Bahrain's Hana Al Murran made a presentation highlighting the regulatory and legal issues with special purpose vehicles (SPVs). Among others, the key issues highlighted were: mechanism to safeguard investors' interest, Shariah governance and compliance, mechanism and type of fee charged to investors, reporting frequency and transparency, and due diligence.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has signed an agreement to provide financing facilities for AED 500 million to Dubai Airport Freezone (DAFZA). The financing will be used to expand DAFZA's key offices buildings, business centre and food court which are due to be completed in 2015. The agreement was signed at DAFZA's headquarters by Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, Director General of DAFZA and Tirad- Al Mahmoud, CEO of ADIB. The project is in line with HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum's initiative to make Dubai the Global Capital of Islamic economy.

Dubai Group's $10 billion debt restructuring will be managed by David Smoot, chief executive officer of Dubai International Capital (DIC). In addition to Smoot's appointment, two banks will be named to a post-restructuring creditor committee to provide oversight of Dubai Group's business to ensure the interests of creditors are protected for the duration of the debt deal. In order to succeed the group is yet to divest some of its larger assets.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf emphasized the close relations between Bahrain and his country and praised the Gulf Finance House Bahrain for doing well financially. Moreover, he drew the attention of Esam Yousif Janahi, Chairman and Founder of Gulf Finance House, to huge investment potential in Pakistan and expressed the need to invest in energy. He said that there were a good wind corridor, hydel potential and coal reserves. Jahani said that his company was examining the possibility of investing in energy sector in Pakistan. He further said that the investment policies of Pakistan were conducive and attractive for foreign investors because of rewarding returns on investments.

The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) is likely to acquire the loss-making Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) and give itself an Islamic finance arm. NBB’s chairman Farouk Almoayyed said that the acquisition is a business opportunity as his bank does not have an Islamic banking operation. They are confident that it will do well under their management, he added. Last year, BisB, the first Islamic bank in Bahrain, posted a net loss of BD36 million ($94.95 million). NBB however is looking strong and is keen to move into the Islamic market.

Falcon Private Bank is planning to launch a fund early next month that will invest in global sukuk.The fund will be offered to the bank’s clients and could grow to $500 million, according to Zafar Khan, Falcon’s Mena chief executive. There is alreade substantial demand from the bank's clients for global sukuk investments, he added. He also considers the yields of the past two years dislocated and the current yields more realistic to the underlying risk.

Azeemeh Zaheer, vice president at the London-based Gatehouse Bank, has called on Saudi businesswomen to invest funds that are kept frozen in banks. According to the expert, with the accumulation of wealth, globalization and openness, women have begun to invest their funds and try to overcome all traditional barriers which limit their (financial) independence. She said women in GCC countries retain more than 300 billion and if 15 percent of that money, or 45 billion, invested in London, it would be a big success for shariah-compliant Gatehouse Bank.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama) has decided to allow foreign financing firms to operate in the kingdom in order to boost the real estate financing sector, Saudi Gazette has reported. This will be in accordance with the provisions of the land mortgage law, said Sama governor, Fahad al-Mubarak.

Abu Dhabi-based Al Jaber Group eached a deal with its five main lenders to restructure about $4 billion of debt. The company agreed on terms, including loan repayments over five years. The debt, which includes both conventional and Islamic facilities, will pay annual interest of between 300 basis points, or 3 percentage points, to 400 basis points over the London Interbank Offered Rate. The deal will result in no loan losses. National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC (ADCB), Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Union National Bank PJSC make up the coordinating committee with HSBC negotiating the new terms on behalf of about 30 lenders.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) plans to boost its capital through the sale of a sharia-compliant debt instrument. DIB will hold investor meetings in Asia, the Middle East and Europe starting on March 7 ahead of issuing the dollar-denominated, benchmark-sized hybrid sukuk, subject to market conditions. The bank hopes to raise at least $500 million from the sale, but the final size will depend on demand. Emirates NBD, HSBC Holdings, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Standard Chartered and the bank itself were chosen to arrange the deal.

The Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Ça?lyan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the members of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on March 2 during a recent visit to Saudi Arabia. Through the MoU, he is aiming to form new trade and investment ties with the Islamic world. It includes the detection of fields of cooperation between the countries to encourage bilateral trade and investments. Moreover, Ça?layan called for Turkish contractors to take a share from Saudi Arabian infrastructure investments in order to reach $1 trillion in 20 years.

Barwa Bank has appointed Khalid al Subeai as Chief Executive Officer at its wholly-owned investment banking subsidiary, The First Investor QSC (TFI). He is responsible for driving TFI's strategy and day-to-day management. Prior to joining Barwa Bank, Al- Subeai has held several leadership positions within the Finance sector in Qatar. Under his leadership, TFi is looking to expand and develop its investment banking franchise.

Dubai Islamic Bank plans to boost its capital through a sharia-compliant debt instrument. Therefore, the bank will hold investor meetings in Asia, Middle East and Europe starting March 7 ahead of issuing the dollar-denominated, benchmark-sized hybrid sukuk, subject to market conditions. Benchmark-size is understood to be at least $500 million. The potential sale will be arranged by Emirates NBD , HSBC Holdings, National Bank of Abu Dhabi , Standard Chartered and the bank itself.

Noor Islamic Bank (Noor) announced the appointment of Narendra Swarup as Chief Risk Officer (CRO). In his role, Swarup is responsible for all the risk functions of the bank. He has more than 25 years of international experience in risk management in sovereign funds and international banks. In addition to his expertise in wholesale and investment banking, retail and private banking and asset management, he is regarded as an industry expert in overseeing credit and operational risk, as well as compliance and governance.

Dubai's Noor Investment Group and a government-run charitable foundation have agreed to set up a joint venture company that will manage funds on behalf of Islamic charities in the United Arab Emirates and beyond.

Noor Investment Group and Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation (AMAF) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish 'Noor Awqaf LLC' in the UAE. Noor Awqaf will complement the work of AMAF in offering enabling financial services to Awqaf entities around the world. The MoU was signed by Ahmed Kalim, Deputy Group CEO, of Noor Investment Group and Tayeb Abdel Rahman Al Rayes, Secretary General of AMAF.
Noor Awqaf has been set up as an independent limited liability company, with an initial issued and paid up share capital of Dhs10m. Noor Awqaf is 60% owned by Noor Investment Group and 40% by AMAF.