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United Arab Bank (UAB) has announced the completion of a 3-year syndicated Murabaha facility worth US$100m with four banks based in the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait. The Murabaha deal is the first Islamic syndication completed by UAB. Al Hilal Bank , headquartered in the UAE, served as the Mandated Lead Arranger and Bookrunner for the deal, while the Arab Banking Corporation, headquartered in Bahrain and Sharjah Islamic Bank, were the other Mandated Lead Arrangers. The National Bank of Kuwait also served as a Lead Arranger. The syndicated Murabaha facility which has been taken out for general corporate purposes, was almost twice oversubscribed.

Dubai-based Islamic mortgage provider Amlak Finance has proposed a new deal to restructure about $2.7bn in debt. The company, part-owned by Emaar Properties, said it met lenders last month to present the deal. If the deal is agreed, Amlak will make an initial 20% down payment to depositors worth about Dhs2bon ($545m). The remaining debt to “commercial depositors” will be paid over 12 years, with about Dhs1.4bn turned into a convertible instrument.

Abu Dhabi-based Al Hilal Bank has issued $500 million Perpetual Additional Tier 1 sukuk. The transaction, which was 9 times oversubscribed, drew demand worth $4.5 billion from over 200 investors. The offering follows Al Hilal Bank’s inaugural senior sukuk offering in October 2013 and has been structured to increase the probability of compliance with Basel III. The issuance was priced at par with a profit rate of 5.5 per cent, which represents the lowest coupon achieved by any bank for a USD Tier 1 issuance outside of the United States since 2008. Joint lead managers for the issue included Al Hilal Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Al Rayan Investment, Citigroup, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC, Sharjah Islamic Bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, and Standard Chartered Bank.

Abu Dhabi government-owned Al Hilal Bank may sell a benchmark-sized Tier 1 capital-boosting sukuk after announcing plans to meet fixed income investors, joining a raft of issuers from the United Arab Emirates taking advantage of benign markets. The unlisted Islamic lender has chosen itself as well as Citigroup , Emirates NBD, HSBC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered to arrange roadshows. A benchmark-sized, U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk offer with a perpetual lifespan may follow the investor meetings, subject to market conditions. Al Hilal will meet investors in the Middle East on June 15 before moving to Hong Kong on June 17, followed by Singapore on June 18. After a day in London on June 20, roadshows end in Switzerland on June 23.

Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC (DIB) has completed their first phase of accumulating shares in PT Bank Panin Syariah Tbk (Bank Panin Syariah) in Indonesia. As per the envisaged plan, DIB has completed the acquisition of 24.9% shares in Bank Panin Syariah by acquiring 2,427,750,000 shares. Afterwards, DIB will initiate formal regulatory approval process to obtain "Significant Shareholder Status" from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to complete phase 2 of the share purchase plan by increasing its stake in Bank Panin Syariah to up to 40%. Bank Panin Syariah is currently controlled by PT Bank Panin and operates through a network of 10 branches. The bank is listed on the Indonesia stock exchange.

AHAB outlines a comprehensive settlement proposal to a group of banks and financial institutions with claims against the company. These asserted by banks, total billions of dollars, arise out of liabilities incurred through a massive fraud perpetrated by Maan Al Sanea in his time a head of the Money Exchange division of AHAB. The liabilities have so far spawned more than 70 lawsuits in at least 10 countries over the past five years.

Dubai-based Emaar Properties has reportedly secured a $1.5 billion sharia-compliant loan from five local lenders. Emaar, developer of the world's tallest building, has raised the seven-year facility which will pay 175 basis points over the London interbank offered rate (Libor). This is half the rate of the existing loan, which was due to run until 2016 and had an interest rate of 350 bps over Libor. The funds have been provided on an equal basis by three Dubai lenders - Dubai Islamic Bank, Mashreq andNoor Bank - and two from Abu Dhabi - First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi. The lenders plan to market the transaction to other banks in a syndication phase, which could begin in the next two weeks.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC (ADIB), which bought the local retail assets of Barclays Plc (BARC) last month, is weighing whether to change its name as it targets more non-Muslim customers beyond its home market. The lender may change to Abu Dhabi International Bank outside the nation to lure customers drawn to ethical banking, Tirad Mahmoud, chief executive officer of ADIB, said. This could help capture a loan market that’s about 200-times the size of Shariah lending. With 60 percent of U.A.E. residents already holding bank accounts, faster growth opportunities for ADIB may need to come from international markets. The lender’s purchase of the Barclays asset was a rare chance to secure 110,000 new customers at home.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) agreed a $2 billion debt overhaul with mortgage company Amlak Finance. ADIB, part of a six-member creditor committee negotiating Amlak's restructuring, signed a tentative agreement that's being considered by the decision-makers on the Amlak side, CEO Tirad Mahmoud said. The prospective accord includes a temporary waiver on a certain part of the principal that you recapture later if Amlak achieves certain targets, he said. Amlak sought an extension on $2 billion of loans after property prices in Dubai slumped during the credit crisis that began in 2008.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) will purchase a 25 percent stake in Indonesian Islamic lender Bank Panin Syariah. Under the agreement, DIB will jointly manage and operate Bank Panin Syariah along with parent Bank Pan Indonesia, which will remain a controlling shareholder. No purchase price was given for the deal, which will be subject to regulatory approval. The investment will involve DIB accumulating around a 25 percent stake in Bank Panin Syariah in the initial phase, with a view to subsequently increasing its shareholding in the bank to 40 percent. Bank Panin Syariah has a network of 10 branches and held assets worth 4.3 trillion rupiah ($376.8 million) at March 31.

Dubai Islamic Bank is to purchase a 25 percent stake in Indonesian Islamic lender Bank Panin Syariah, it said in a statement on Monday, adding it could ultimately increase the holding up to 40 percent. No purchase price was given in the statement, which said the transaction was still subject to regulatory approval. Bank Panin Syariah, which was listed in Indonesia in January, is the Islamic subsidiary of Bank Pan Indonesia .

Eureeca, a crowd investing platform offering a global solution for growth businesses to raise finance, announced that Sameer Al Ansari has joined the company as a Board Director. Al Ansari is the founder of PE Plus, and the former chairman of Dubai International Capital, and CEO of Shuaa Capital. Al Ansari, who also sits on the boards of Dubai International Financial Centre Authority; Hawkamah Institute of Corporate Governance; and Cedrus Bank, is the company’s sixth board member.

Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) has joined NASDAQ Dubai’s Islamic financing Murabaha platform, which offers bank customers solutions for processing Sharia’a-compliant financing transactions. SIB is the first bank to join the facility since the official launch of the NASDAQ Dubai Murabaha Platform last month. Through the NASDAQ Dubai Murabaha Platform, individual and institutional clients of SIB will be able to complete financing transactions within minutes. The platform is an alternative to many traditional Islamic financing solutions, which can carry a risk of losses through price movements, spreads and poor liquidity as well as delays.

The UAE's Debt Settlement Fund was set up to rescue Emiratis struggling to meet payments on loans and credit cards. It was launched with an initial budget of Dh10 billion. Heavily indebted Emiratis who receive help by the fund are not allowed to borrow from any banks and their name is centralised in all banks. All banks are required to cooperate, and uncooperative institutions will face penalties. Under the auspices of the agreement, the bank writes off half the outstanding amount of the debt, which must be in dispute. However, in turn, the bank gets closure on a debt that is stuck in litigation. However, only Emiratis who have been taken to court by a bank on account of default as of the date of the launch of the initiative in 2011, qualify for the programme.

The Dubai-listed Dar Al Takaful will raise paid-up capital by 50 per cent, or Dh50 million, to Dh150 million through right issues, plunging its shares by nearly 3.5 per cent in the early morning trade of May 8. Rights shares will be offered to shareholders who own shares at the close of trading on Wednesday, May 14, 2014. The right issue will be issued at the par value of Dh1 per share and one ordinary share for every two shares. However, any surplus shares will be allocated to subscribers from shareholders or non-shareholders on a pro rata basis. The Islamic insurance company earlier this year signed a deal with Daman Investments to manage it investment account.

The United Arab Emirates should enact stronger measures to curb real-estate speculation in Dubai to prevent an “unsustainable” surge in prices, the International Monetary Fund said. According to Masood Ahmed, head of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, there is evidence that prices of real estate have been rising at a very rapid pace over the past 18 months. However, not everybody shares the same view. The Institute of International Finance, a Washington-based financial industry association, said that the rise in U.A.E. property values probably won’t lead to an asset-price bubble because credit growth remains relatively modest.

DAMAC Hotels, the hospitality arm of DAMAC Properties , has officially launched the first fully certified Sharia-Compliant serviced hotel apartments in Dubai during the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) Exhibition. Constella is a luxury tower under construction in the thriving community of Jumeirah Village. The full management of the project will be carried out on Sharia principles which results in the issuing of a Sharia Certification by 'Dar Al Sharia'. Constella will have separate swimming pools, gymnasiums and saunas for men and women. The restaurant will also have a single section for men and separate family section. There will be dedicated floors provided for ladies that will be served by female only staff. In addition, Constella will also fully comply to Islamic financing principles, with all funds for the project managed by an Islamic Bank.

The chief executive of Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), Adnan Chilwan, said it was in talks to buy a 40 percent stake in an Indonesian Islamic lender to help diversify its revenues. DIB hopes to conclude a deal before the end of the year and that it will pay for the purchase using its own cash reserves. However, Chilwan declined to name the acquisition target, adding its parent was a listed company. Chilwan said in March that DIB planned to expand its operations into Indonesia, Kenya and other African countries. DIB's last acquisition came last year when it completed the takeover of Dubai-based mortgage lender Tamweel, having previously owned 58.2 percent of the firm before the buyout offer.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has completed a five-year consolidation from 2009 to 2013 and has charted a plan for strong balance sheet growth in 2014-16 period. DIB’s first quarter figures vouch for its growth momentum. While the bank reported a 111 per cent increase in net profit to Dh636.6 million in the first quarter of 2014, the bank’s total assets increased by 6.9 per cent to Dh121.1 billion from the end of 2013. Key themes for this year are to grow both consumer and wholesale banking business achieving return on assets of about 1.7 per cent with a return on equity of 15 to 17 per cent. Improved profitability is targeted through growth in financing book and redeployment of liquidity from low earning assets to higher earning assets.

Tirad Mahmoud, chief executive of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), believes the banking industry is on the cusp of a historic transformation that will see a convergence between conventional and ethical banking. Mahmoud argues Islamic banking is only part of a larger move towards ethical banking in the post-crisis world. Earlier in April, ADIB acquired the retail operations of Barclays in the United Arab Emirates for a price tag of $177 million, giving it access to expatriate customers. The purchase will see 110,000 accounts transferred to Sharia-compliant accounts. ADIB has posted a 20.4 percent increase in first-quarter net profit, driven by higher lending. Its stock is up over 40 percent so far this year, outperforming the benchmark Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).