IslamicFinance.de

Pakistan’s government plans to sell Islamic bonds in the domestic market by the end of this month, according to the central bank’s spokesman. State Bank of Pakistan is seeking to sell Islamic bonds maturing in a year or less

MAYBANK, Malaysia's biggest lender, has set up a dedicated Islamic banking hub here as part of a concerted push to expand the business beyond its home market, as it strives to gain an edge over rivals vying to stamp their name on South-east Asia. About one-third of the bank's Islamic financing portfolio comprises corporate and business loans, while the rest includes home loans, receivables from car and equipment hire-purchase financing schemes, credit cards and personal loans, he said. In Indonesia, Maybank is converting its subsidiary Bank Maybank Indocorp into a full Islamic bank that will be re-branded Maybank Syariah Indonesia. It will then use the distribution network of Maybank's other subsidiary there, Bank Internasional Indonesia, which has 290 branches, to sell Islamic banking products and services.

Malaysia, the world’s largest market for sukuk, plans to improve its legal system to become an alternative location to the U.K. for resolving international Islamic finance disputes. The goal is to position Malaysian laws as the law of choice for Islamic finance transactions globally. Disputes about Shariah principles are a risk to the market for sukuk, bonds complying with Islam’s ban on payment of interest. Persian Gulf companies have traditionally based cross-border contracts on U.K. law to take advantage of the country’s developed legal system and neutrality, according to Unicorn Investment Bank BSC. The challenge will be to gain acceptance in the Middle East because of different religious interpretations in various jurisdictions. A group of scholars in Kuala Lumpur is helping to set up a committee to prepare the first global certification for Shariah experts said Aznan Hasan, the president of the oversight committee

According to the research report Saudi Arabia Insurance Market to 2012 from market research and analytical consultancy RNCOS , Takaful is the fastest growing segments of the Saudi Arabian insurance industry. RNCOS says that protection and savings and health insurance are the fastest growing insurance lines in Saudi Arabia, with health insurance accounted for around 50 per cent of the overall insurance market at the end of 2009. The most recent introduction of compulsory health insurance for private employees, irrespective of the size of the company they are working with, will further boost the health insurance market in the country. The general insurance category has shown substantial growth despite being heavily hit by the financial crisis.

Malaysia's largest lender Maybank on Friday announced plans to expand its Islamic finance business in Singapore and Indonesia to tap the markets' demand for such services. In Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, the bank will open at least one new branch a week to increase its network. Maybank chief executive Abdul Wahid Omar is also planning to expand its Islamic services in Singapore, whose population is 13 percent Muslim. Maybank is determined to become the number one Islamic bank in ASEAN. Maybank is aiming to break into the world's top 10 Islamic finance centres, Abdul Wahid said. Bank Melli Iran is the global leader in Islamic finance.

The Malaysian unit of Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the Gulf Arab state's biggest Islamic lender, is having "strategic alliance" negotiations in Japan, a newspaper reported on Sunday. Kuwait Finance Malaysia was the first foreign Islamic bank to win a licence under the Southeast Asian country's Islamic Banking Act. It is the Kuwaiti bank's Asia-Pacific hub and aims to promote business between the region and the Middle East.

The possibility of the first sovereign or corporate sukuk origination out of France took a step nearer when the French government announced that it had passed new instructions to facilitate the introduction of sukuk, Ijara, Murabaha and Istisna products in France.

It is claimed that France now has a tax neutrality regime in place for facilitating Islamic financial products including Islamic bonds and certificates; cost-plus-financing; leasing and construction industry forward financing.

French banks such as Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, UBAF, Calyon (Banque Credit Agricole) have long been involved in global Islamic finance. BNP Paribas for instance recently listed its first Islamic exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Asia on Bursa Malaysia. Some two years ago it had advised the Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, to launch its first Islamic ETF, MyETF i. The new measures are not limited to a particular transaction but form a basis for a framework for Murabaha, Istisna, Ijara and sukuk transactions which satisfy both French law and Shariah principles.

Consumer banking will continue to be an important revenue generator for banks with home loans being one of the major areas of focus amid the prevailing relatively low interest rates. Apart from home loans, the other sectors in consumer banking which banks are focusing on to beef up their revenue streams are car loans, credit cards, personal loans and wealth management. RAM Ratings head of financial institution ratings Promod Dass said the relatively low interest rate environment had fuelled consumer lending, which represented more than half of the banking system’s loans. Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd vice-president and head of financial institution ratings Anandakumar Jegarasasingam said the main challenge for banks would be to ensure the asset quality of household loans. Ernst & Young Malaysia partner (Assurance) Chan Hooi Lam foresee consumer banking facilities like car loans, purchase of residential properties and credit cards to continue its growth momentum into next year. RHB Banking group director of retail banking Renzo Viegas said that apart from credit cards, the focus would also be in debit cards as the bank saw tremendous growth potential in this area.

Al Salam Bank - Bahrain a leading Islamic financial institution, has recently provided £38 million in a unique Shari'a compliant mezzanine facility to refinance a landmark commercial Property located in the heart of Canary Wharf, the financial district of London. The property is leased in its entirety to a leading, multinational financial institution with A+ long term rating with stable outlook form Standard & Poor's. The successful closing of this transaction demonstrates ASBB's ability to provide its valued clients with differentiated investment opportunities with attractive terms that are structured to take advantage of current market conditions. ASBB was advised by Herbert Smith LLP and Knight Frank on legal and commercial matters relating to the transaction, respectively.

Affin Holdings Bhd (AHB) and The Bank of East Asia Ltd, Hong Kong (BEA) have formally established a partnership to jointly develop business in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and other key markets where they both operate.

BEA chairman and chief executive Dr David K.P. Li said that the China Banking Regulatory Commission is studying the proposal to set up a joint venture between BEA and AHB to conduct Islamic banking in China, but that there are no related laws yet.

Investment manager Argyll Investment Services Limited has launched the World Shariah Funds PCC Limited, a Guernsey-based suite of Islamic-compliant investments which will be listed on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX) and distributed globally. The World Shariah Funds have brought together three major Islamic investment teams within a single fund structure: From Malaysia, Reliance Asset Management (Malaysia); the south-east Asian CIMB Principal Asset Management Berhad ; and Markaz of Kuwait. The fund launch follows Argyll's participation in the Guernsey Finance presence at the Fund Forum Middle East conference in Bahrain last year at which Legis and the fund's legal advisers, Ogier, were also present. Stuart Place, of Argyll, delivered a presentation on 'Innovation vs. Conservatism: How to achieve results in a post-credit-crunch market' following which the Guernsey parties were introduced to a Middle East fund promoter.

Qatar Islamic Bank's subsidiary European Finance House (EFH) has recently rebranded as QIB UK in order to reinforce its positioning within QIB's expanding global network.The change was instituted at the beginning of August and acts to unify the brand in order to keep consistency across local and international markets. The primary motivation behind the rebranding is to further bring EFH under the umbrella of QIB's well established identity as one of the regions foremost Islamic banking institutions, and the world's 4th largest Islamic bank in terms of assets. The change in name acts to enhance QIB UK's profile within the Islamic finance industry. The institution's aim is to achieve outstanding outcomes and solutions for its diverse clientele by implementing the expertise of its international team in combination with proven strategies and techniques.

Malaysia's central bank said Wednesday it has approved four licenses for Islamic life insurance to mostly foreign-led operators as part of an ongoing liberalization to make Malaysia a regional Islamic finance hub. Bank Negara Malaysia said in a statement it had planned to award only two insurance -- or family takaful -- licenses but raised this to four due to growth potential in the sector, the country's economic recovery and the strength of the applicants.

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission planned to implement its first regulations governing the issuance of sukuk, or Islamic bonds, in October, the head of the watchdog agency said on Wednesday. SEC Secretary-General Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala told a debt market seminar that the long-awaited launch would be part of Thailand's moves to liberalise and expand its relatively small debt market. State-owned Islamic Bank of Thailand said in June it would be the first issuer of Thai sukuk with a planned offer of 5 billion baht of five- to seven-year Islamic bonds once regulations were in place. SEC chief Thirachai said his agency was in the process of drafting licensing rules for municipal authorities to issue and offer bonds to Thai investors. Thirachai said Thailand and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations had made progress in working out details for licensing cross-border bond issues within ASEAN.

Ashurst acted as counsel to the Islamic banks. The team was lead by managing partner of Ashurst's Abu Dhabi office, David Wadham, assisted by associate Faris Hadi. Denton Wilde Sapte (Neil Cuthbert) acted as counsel to Emirates Steel and Allen & Over (Bimal Desai) acted as common lenders' counsel to the banks.

Qatar First Investment Bank isn’t discussing the purchase of Ihlas Finans, the financial arm of Turkey’s Ihlas Holding AS. This statement was given by Emad Mansour.

Leading Islamic finance scholars are preparing the first global certification for Shariah experts, seeking to bolster the industry’s reputation and make it easier for banks to find qualified advisers. The International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance in Kuala Lumpur will pick a board of regulators by year- end to issue permits for scholars qualified to sit on Shariah boards. The scholars decide whether financial products meet the religion’s precepts, including a ban on interest payments. Scholars are now required to have recognized university degrees before they can act as advisers to banks and companies. The council of scholars at the academy includes Sheikh Nizam Yaquby of Bahrain, Mohammad Daud Bakar of Malaysia and Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah of Syria. A centralized regulator for scholars will help increase investment because banks would save time in choosing experts to ensure products meet religious principles. The institution doesn’t plan to restrict scholars on the number of advisory panels they can join.

The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is gearing up for its latest sukuk offering under its Medium Term Note (MTN) or Trust Certificate Issuance Program. The IDB, according to Mohamed Tariq, senior adviser to the President Ahmad Mohamed Ali, was poised to go to the international financial markets in September this year. In Kuala Lumpur last week, Abdul Aziz Al-Hinai, vice president, finance, IDB, confirmed that the IDB plans to go to the market in the last quarter of 2010. Another international rating agency, Moody's Investors Service, last month had already reaffirmed for a fifth consecutive year the Islamic Development Bank's Aaa long term and P-1 short term foreign currency issuer rating with a stable outlook. Moody's stated that the IDB's rating is strongly supported by the commitment of its member countries, and highlighted that the capital base of the bank is strong, its operational assets continue to perform well, it has a high level of liquidity and very low level of debt. Moody's concluded that the bank's risk profile is likely to remain healthy over the medium term.

Patrick Imam and Kangni Kpodar note that the 9/11 attack on the US ‘had a positive impact on assets of Islamic banks, perhaps because Muslim investors, who traditionally invested in the West, were compelled to keep more money at home for fear of expropriation.

The study said that while oil prices have a positive and statistically significant impact on the diffusion of Islamic banking, the effect is likely to be asymmetric. They found that the probability for Islamic banking to develop in a given country rises with the share of the Muslim population, income per capita, and whether the country is a net exporter of oil. Trading with the Middle East and economic stability also are conducive to diffusion of Islamic banking and proximity to Malaysia and Bahrain, the two Islamic financial centers, also matters.

The Solidarity Group Holding board has appointed of Ashraf Bseisu as group chief executive officer. Mr Bseisu is a long-standing Solidarity executive and a prominent member of the region's insurance industry. Solidarity Group Holding, one of the largest takaful companies in the world, includes the Solidarity Family Takaful Company and Solidarity General Takaful Company in Bahrain as well as subsidiaries and associates in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Malaysia and Luxembourg. Mr Bseisu is currently Bahrain Insurance Association chairman and the General Arab Insurance Federation vice-president. He has been with Solidarity since his appointment as general manager - finance and corporate management in July 2006 and has held several senior posts within the organisation. He has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance and financial services sector, where he held several executive positions.