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The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) organized its first Islamic Finance Virtual Forum on "Covid-19 Economic Implications, Islamic Finance and the Way Forward". It was organized in collaboration with Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS) and Minhaj Univeristy. The forum's three sessions were attended by more than 1,200 people while thousands more joined by live streaming on multiple online channels. Shaikh Mufti Taqi Usmani, Chairman of the AAOIFI Shari’ah Board delivered his keynote speech which highlighted the importance of riba-free system. Distinguished session panelists emphasized that the power of ideas has a greater impact compared to the power of size. It was suggested that a long term socially-driven Waqf sukuk would be a good idea for a sukuk issuance and called for a collective effort to work out a revenue generation aspect of it.

The Dubai Islamic Bank donated AED16 million to the Zakat Fund. Abdullah Aqeeda Al Muhairi, Secretary-General of the Zakat Fund, praised the bank for its donation as well as for its positive humanitarian and charitable role in improving the life of needy people. He also called on Islamic banks and institutions to follow the initiative of the Dubai Islamic Bank to provide zakat money to deserving groups and help the Zakat Fund achieve its goals.

Banks in the Arabian Gulf could be forced to scrap 2020 dividends as profits plunge in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The region's lenders are unlikely to require additional capital should loan defaults soar, despite facing headwinds related to the impact of COVID-19 and lower oil prices. According to S&P Global Ratings, the 23 banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have assets totaling $1.5 trillion at 2019-end and can absorb up to $36 billion in extra provisions before their capital bases start to erode. S&P sees that a significant deterioration in the finances of some banks could spur a second wave of consolidation among Gulf lenders. However, bank analysts are more skeptical, citing a lack of plausible potential takeover targets in Gulf countries except for the UAE, which is still overbanked.

Saudi Arabia has raised 5.755 billion riyals ($1.53 billion) in sukuk. The first tranche of the sukuk issue is 3.8 billion riyals, and the total tranche size is 6.549 billion, maturing in 2025. The second tranche has a size of 1.95 billion riyals, and a total tranche size of 10.296 billion, maturing in 2030.

A new sharia-compliant crypto exchange has announced plans to launch in the UAE. Sustain Exchange hopes to offer sharia-complaint and ethical services to give Muslims a space in which to invest in the crypto market. An initial coin offering is planned for June and security tokens issued during the offering will serve as the key to accessing the exchange’s services. Sustain Exchange will introduce an independent sharia advisory to maintain compliance with sharia principles. To this end it has appointed an Islamic fintech scholar to its board, Mifti Faraz, director of Amanah Finance Consultancy.

Bangladesh launched its first digital crowd-funding platform Ekdesh for raising funds and disbursing them as zakat or financial aid. Information and Communication Technology Division State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak inaugurated the platform via an online inauguration program. People of the country can donate to the prime minister’s relief fund, the Islamic Foundation, or other non-government organizations through this platform to help the poor people or small businesses. Several organizations like Brac, Bidyanondo Foundation, Center for Zakat Management, Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP), and Sajida Foundation have already joined the platform.

Pakistan's Power Division has amended the Energy Sukuk Rules aimed at facilitating issuance of Rs 200 Sukuk-II through Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE). On May 6, 2020, the government approved a new mechanism/criterion for disbursement of payments to the power generators. The Power Division has to disburse Rs 300 billion (Rs 200 billion + Rs 100 billion) through CPPA-G to Power sector entities including the power generators in private and public sector for system operation during the summer season.

COVID-19 continues to have profound implications for the global economy. All around the world, the lockdown has contributed to rising unemployment, reduced incomes, and increased food insecurity. Private sector workers and the self-employed are disproportionately affected by the downturn. Many experts warn that this could be severe and long-lasting. The pandemic has highlighted the need to rethink the provision of healthcare services. New conversations on supply chains and critical infrastructure are also required. To this end, sukuk could provide innovative and sustainable sources of finance for recovery. Pandemic sukuk can leverage Islamic practices, such as zakat and waqf, to develop financial mechanisms that target both recovery and sustainability. Potential target investors could include companies and diaspora communities.

The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) released its 2019 Annual Development Effectiveness Report (ADER). In 2019, ITFC approved US$5.8 billion trade financing. Of this, US$5 billion was disbursed towards improving the livelihoods of millions of people in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Disbursement in Asian and CIS member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) stood at US$2.6 billion, while in African OIC countries, total disbursements amounted to US$2.4 billion. In 2019, ITFC signed framework agreements worth US$4.8 billion with 9 countries and mobilized US$1.2 million through grants for trade development interventions in agriculture, financial institutions, capacity building and trade promotion.

The impact of the novel coronavirus on the global economy is growing and continues to shock the markets. S&P Global Ratings acknowledges a high degree of uncertainty about the rate of spread and peak of the COVID-19 outbreak. It comes as no surprise that the pandemic will halt the growth of GCC Islamic and conventional banks this year as they focus on preserving asset quality rather than business expansion. The delay of Expo 2020 for Dubai and potential cancelation of the pilgrimage season for Saudi Arabia, may result in a stronger impact on the regional economies. When the dust settles and the full effect of current conditions on banks’ financials is visible, there could be a second wave of mergers and acquisitions in the region.

Administrators of NMC Health have started selling off assets of the troubled Middle Eastern hospital operator as they seek funds to pay back creditors. Administrators are planning to start a sale process for NMC’s lucrative fertility business as soon as June or July. They are considering eventually selling most of the company’s assets, potentially including the flagship hospital business, which is the biggest private health-care provider in the Middle East.

The Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) is working with UK-based developer Cogneum on a Shariah governance software platform. The cloud-based platform is meant to allow Islamic banks and financial institutions to streamline their internal Shariah governance processes, facilitate the integration of Maqasid al Shariah and the UN SDGs in their workflow. The software will help reduce charitable write-offs by Islamic banks due to Shariah non-compliance issues. The partners will initially target the platform for retail Islamic banks. BIBF director Mujtaba Khalid said the Shariah governance framework of the software solution will be based on AAOIFI Standards but can also be customized as per the banks’ Shariah governance manual. He added that the platform can also help organisations in the areas of green bonds, sukuk and sustainability risk reporting.

Amid an ongoing severe global healthcare crisis some research institutions and scientific entities are wondering if and how the world will change after the virus has eventually subsided. A new report issued last week is shedding light on the anticipated fundamental changes of the corporate world in terms of economic and social sustainability. The report is entitled "Islamic Finance and the SDGs: Framing the Opportunity" and is released as the first edition of the new "Thought Leadership Series" by the Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC) in partnership with the International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance. The report states that the Islamic finance industry could play a key role in contributing to achieving the SGDs formulated by the United Nations. The UKIFC acknowledges that Islamic finance institutions are just at an early stage of engagement with the SDGs. Steps to be taken were therefore an improvement in understanding of how any given organization can effectively engage with the SDGs.

The Indonesian government has issued a regulation for the relief fund to the banking sector to cope with the financial impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak. The regulation states that the government may channel fund to the so-called participating banks. The participating banks will in turn pass the fund on to the “executing banks”, smaller banks who meet certain requirements. President Joko Widodo has earlier urged banks to loosen their terms on debtors and restructure loans as many are unable to repay in time amid massive job losses or salary cuts due to the outbreak.

The fifth International Albaraka Calligraphy Competition Exhibition meets art lovers on Instagram. Albaraka Türk continues to boost its success in culture and art events as well as in participation banking. The fifth edition of the bank’s International Calligraphy Competition Exhibition was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and later went online on Instagram. The works in the competition have been decorated with illumination and included in the collection. The exhibition has been given a new form with unique content and presented to art lovers on Albaraka Sanat's official Instagram account ( https://www.instagram.com/albarakasanat/) with over 70 stories in total.

The world’s First Halal Angels Network was launched to help investors, businesses, entrepreneurs and startups during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Network would provide huge market opportunities to tap the $5 trillion worth Halal consumer global market. It is founded by Indian American Dr. Tausif Malik, who is a serial entrepreneur based out of Pune, India, and Chicago, USA. He said India is the biggest manufacturer of Halal consumer goods and has huge market opportunities in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. Halal Angels Network would be the 1st Angels Network backed by Blockchain technology. The areas of interest for investments would be future technologies (Blockchain, Fintech AI, etc), Modest Fashion & Cosmetics, Retail, Pharmaceuticals, Food Cafe & Restaurants, Processed Food & Tourism.

NMC Health is at the centre of a multi-billion dollar fraud investigation, but its chief financial officer (CFO) Suresh Krishnamoorthy has left the UAE and returned to India. Krishnamoorthy stepped down as CFO in 2017 when Prasanth Manghat took over as the NMC CEO, but was reinstated in February this year when the company's financial troubles came to light. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), which has $981 million worth of exposure in the healthcare provider, successfully applied to UK courts to have the company placed into administration and NMC has subsequently been removed from the London Stock Exchange.

As investors dealt with volatility across most of its prized asset classes, Gulf bonds are emerging resilient after yet another crisis. The region’s debt markets did witness instances of sharp sell-off in the last few weeks, but analysts still see them ending the year strong. According to capital markets expert Anita Yadav, this year total new bond issuances will likely surpass the record $101 billion raised in 2019. So far this year, the GCC bond markets have stayed resilient, having in recent weeks only sold off 60% of emerging market debt and roughly 50% of high-yield debt. Net debt of sovereigns in the region still remains relatively low and credit ratings are relatively high compared with that of other emerging market countries.

GCC banks will see significantly reduced revenue as they face an earnings shock from the oil price drop and Covid-19 pandemic. S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Mohamed Damak says the coronavirus will take a toll on important sectors such as real estate, hospitality, and consumer-related, but these will be relatively short lived and he forecasts a gradual recovery in nonoil activity from third-quarter 2020. In his view, if the recovery takes longer than expected, GCC banks could feel greater pressure. In March, S&P revised its outlooks of some UAE banks including First Abu Dhabi Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Mashreqbank, Sharjah Islamic Bank and National Bank of Fujairah to negative. Most central banks in the GCC have already come up with stimulus packages to help the banking system withstand the economic fallout. The Central Bank of the UAE on Sunday doubled the size of its stimulus package to Dh256 billion.

Microfinance institution SAJIDA Foundation has rapidly diverted its resources and operations to tackle the pandemic from multiple frontiers. On the health front, one of its secondary-care hospitals have been dedicated to the treatment and isolation of Covid-19 patients, while the other has continued general medical services focusing particularly on maternal and child care. At the same time, nearly 2,000 field forces have reached 0.4 million microfinance members with life-saving information regarding the prevention and treatment of Covid-19. Mass awareness raising efforts have included leaflet distribution as well as household visits, while maintaining social distancing measures. SAJIDA’s members have also benefitted from a credit shield facility which supports members through loan outstanding waivers and cash benefits during emergencies.