IslamicFinance.de

UAE-based Adab Solutions has announced the launch of the First Islamic Crypto Exchange (FICE). An in-house Sharia Advisory Board (SAB) made up of independent international Sharia experts will be in place to ensure that the exchange is in compliance with Sharia law. In April 2018, Mufti Muhammad Abu Bakar declared that bitcoin is Sharia-compliant, and as such can be used by Muslims. The move potentially opens the cryptocurrency space to a global market of over 1.8 billion Muslims. Adab Solutions is preparing to launch the project ICO in September and tokens will be used as utility keys to access the exchange platform’s services. All commissions within the FICE will be paid exclusively in Adab tokens.

Barwa Bank and International Bank of Qatar (IBQ) may announce plans to merge as early as this week. Combining Barwa and IBQ would partially salvage a proposed three-way merger with Masraf Al Rayan that was abandoned in June after 18 months of talks. That consolidation would have created the country’s largest Shariah-compliant bank and the Middle East’s third-biggest Islamic lender with more than 178 billion riyals ($49 billion) of assets. The smaller merger will create a lender with about 82 billion riyals in assets, the sixth-largest in the country. Each bank was valued around $1.8 billion in two separate share sales in 2014.

Shareholders of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) have approved proposal for a rights issue of AED1 billion ($270 million) by offering 464 million new shares. Shareholders also approved the issuance of a $750 million sukuk and the repayment of its $1 billion sukuk issued in 2012. Khamis Buharoon, ADIB vice chairman and acting CEO, said the bank will continue to focus on expanding its retail business, providing market-leading digital banking services, while capturing opportunities across corporate, transaction and correspondent banking. ADIB reported a 3% increase in net profit for the first half of 2018, which reached AED 1.16 billion.

GFH Financial Group has paid the entire amount of its $200 million sukuk, which was originally drawn in 2007. The facility has now been settled with a recent payment of an outstanding amount of $34 million. With this repayment, GFH said it frees up further assets pledged under the sukuk for potential disposal or exit. In 2008, GFH had financing liabilities in excess of $1 billion compared to $125 million today. According to Chairman Jassim Al Seddiqi, with its prudent approach to managing liabilities, strong cash generation and levels of liquidity, GFH continues to be better placed than ever to deliver value and further build its business lines.

According to a recent report by Kuwait Financial Centre, Qatari issuers led the GCC aggregate bonds and sukuk market in the first half of this year, raising a total of $19.97bn. The report stated that the aggregate primary issuance of bonds and sukuk by GCC entities, including central banks’ local issuances, GCC sovereign and corporate issuances, totalled $95.25bn in H1, 2018, which represents a 9.64% increase on H1, 2017. Qatar raised $12bn and Kuwait was the only GCC sovereign entity not tapping the international bond markets in H1, 2018. Conventional issuances raised $50.17bn, or 80.19%, of the total amount raised in GCC bonds and sukuk market during H1, 2018. Sukuk raised $12.39bn, 30.84% lower compared to $17.93bn raised in H1, 2017 and represented a share of 19.81% of the market in H1 2018.

Abu Dhabi Investment Council has increased the share capital Al Hilal Bank by AED 400 million. Al Hilal Bank's CEO Alex Coelho said this move will allow the lender to meet the growing demand for Islamic finance by investing in areas with the greatest prospects. The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) raised this year’s economic growth forecast to 2.7% from its previous projection of 2.5% while non-oil GDP growth is forecast to increase to 3.9% this year from 3.4% in 2017.

After years of strong economic growth, most of the economies of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) began to slow back in 2014. Major layoffs started soon after 2015, with major and minor employers shedding jobs. The cuts continued in 2016 and 2017, too. Most of those made redundant were non-natives and this has had an impact on the real estate sector. Dubai’s DAMAC announced this month that its second-quarter 2018 profits were down 46% year-on-year, while fellow developer Nakheel saw its profits dip 3.8% in the first six months of this year. Retail and tourism also felt the pinch, as the number of shoppers has dropped off. In Dubai there is a general fear in the emirate on speaking out about the economy, leading many to dub this the "silent crisis".

Shareholders of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) have approved proposal for a rights issue of AED 1 billion to raise the Paid and Issued Share Capital through a tradeable rights issue of 464 million new shares. Shareholders also approved the issuance of USD 750 million (AED 2.75 billion) perpetual Tier 1 sukuk, and the repayment of its USD 1 billion (AED 3.67 billion) sukuk issued in 2012. The capital plan has been developed to support the bank’s continued growth and its objectives in achieving its strategy while meeting regulatory requirements.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) is establishing the first blockchain-powered transaction system in the country. A series of questions arose when the formation of this system was announced. KFH has itself confirmed that they are using Ripple’s cross-border solutions to complete the blockchain-based transaction. KFH also conveyed that they would soon be joining RippleNet, which they initially announced back in May. This would enable them to become an active part of the ever-growing blockchain technology ecosystem. While neighboring Saudi Arabia may have banned cryptocurrency trading, it is obvious that Kuwait welcomes the underlying technology of virtual currencies.

Al Rajhi Bank expects low-single digit loan growth for the rest of 2018 as it curtails its loans while economic reforms take shape. A plan to reduce reliance on expatriates to generate jobs for Saudis has seen the number of foreign workers fall by more than 700,000 since last year. Al Rajhi's CEO Steve Bertamini said the expatriate exodus might have some impact on its remittance business. The bank has already seen an overall rise in banking for women and car loans for women have begun to rise substantially from a low base. Bertamini said that their entry into the workforce will mean more demand for accounts, loans and saving products.

Abu Dhabi National Takaful Co. PSC (ADNTC) released its financial results as at end of second quarter on 30 June 2018. The company announced a combined net profit of AED 48.6 million, achieving a growth of 19% compared to AED 41 million for the same period last year. The technical profit reached AED 60 million showing an increase of 9% compared to AED 55.2 and the underwriting profit reached AED 36.4 million showing an increase of 6% compared to AED 34.2 million for the same period last year. According to CEO Osama Abdel Raouf Abdeen, the underwriting profit of AED 36.4 million for the first half of 2018 is an indication of the company's credibility as the leading takaful operator in the region.

Warba Bank has obtained licence from the Capital Market Authority (CMA) to engage in certain securities activities. The new licence allows the lender to conduct activities like investment portfolio manager, collective investment scheme manager as well as investment manager, subscription agent and custodian.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has embarked on a digital transformation journey. Kuwait and Bahrain have each launched their respective digital banking platforms and soon, Malaysia will have its own. By the end of 2018, a seamless digital customer experience is expected to be publicly available. In Malaysia the KFH is active in the infrastructure financing front, supporting the third light rail transport system (LRT 3) and the second Mass Rapid Transit (MRT 2) projects through the provision of Islamic financing facilities. The project is expected to benefit the local communities through the promotion of real estate developments around the proposed train stations. Furthermore, the project is expected to generate more than 2,000 jobs during the construction phase.

Lombard Odier has launched a full suite of Shari’ah-compliant investment solutions. Arnaud Leclercq, Limited Partner at Lombard Odier Group, said the offering began as a bespoke creation for one client six years ago, it has grown from a $10 million to in the hundreds of millions, primarily for investors in the Middle East. The investments are a mix between Sukuk and equities. Equities are chosen using a combination of MSCI’s Islamic Index and Lombard Odier’s inhouse experts. The goal is to reach $1 billion in total Islamic investment the next three to five years. Lombard Odier plans to increase its presence in the Middle East, with an office in Abu Dhabi for the coming year currently in the planning stages and a partnership with a Saudi firm currently in the works.

In this interview Ayman Sejiny, CEO of Ibdar Bank, talks about founding the Bahrain Fintech Bay. Bahrain Fintech Bay (BFB) is working to build a fintech ecosystem that will support industry growth and position Bahrain as a regional fintech hub. Sejiniy believes that the days of 'e-banking' are nearly over and the shift to mainstream digital finance is becoming a reality. Ibdar is an early adopter, transforming its organisation into a fully digitised Islamic Investment Firm for the Global Islamic Digital Economy (GIDE). Ibdar bank provides opportunities in aviation, real estate, Sukuk and investment funds. The bank is also expanding its services to include an array of Investment Advisory services.

A jump in mortgages and a recovery in Saudi Arabia’s economy may help Al Rajhi Bank to reverse a decline in lending. According to CEO Steve Bertamini, higher government spending and faster economic growth amid higher oil prices should help the revival. Home loans have risen as much as 6% this year and there are 450,000 Saudis eligible to purchase a home under one of the government programs. Saudi Arabia’s new housing project announced in February includes an 18 billion riyal ($4.8 billion) loan-guarantee program to boost access to funding and 12.5 billion riyals to support down-payments. Al Rajhi Bank in July reported an 18% rise in second-quarter profit to 2.57 billion riyals. According to Bloomberg economists, Saudi Arabia’s economic expansion will accelerate to 1.6% this year from 0.9% in 2017.

The Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC) plans to begin issuing sukuk in late September or early October 2018. SRC aims to refinance 20% of Saudi Arabia's primary home loans market, which authorities hope to expand to SAR 500 billion by 2020. Currently Saudi Arabia’s primary home loans stands at SAR 290 billion. Fabrice Susini, CEO of Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company, said that the company will now begin issuing Sukuk to raise money, first in Saudi riyals but eventually in foreign currencies. The company was founded in 2017 by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and has so far operated with financing from the sovereign wealth fund and short-term deals with banks.

The Central Bank of the UAE announced that the country's Islamic finance industry will be required to comply with AAOIFI Shariah standards from September 1. Islamic finance products in the UAE have historically adhered to AAOIFI standards, but the formal move to adopt AAOIFI standards will benefit the Islamic finance industry not only in the UAE. According to Dar Al Sharia CEO Mian Nazir, this move will facilitate standardisation of the Islamic finance industry across markets. These regulations are expected to grow consumer confidence and benefit the sukuk market as well. Dar Al Sharia is holding workshops to help relevant stakeholders, from internal Shariah control committee members to lawyers, develop an understanding of AAOIFI’s Shariah standards.

Dana Gas has completed refinancing its $700 million sukuk which has been sized down to $530m. The issuance of the debt instrument had been completed and listed on the Euronext Dublin, previously known as the Irish Stock Exchange. Dana has paid $235m in redemptions, profit payments and early participation fees bringing an end to its long legal battle. Dana Gas CEO Patrick Allman-Ward said the new sukuk represented a fair consensual deal for all sukuk holders. The new sukuk will have a three-year life, maturing in October 2020, with a new profit rate of 4% per annum. Legal proceedings in courts in the UK and UAE have been brought to an end by all parties. Last month, Dana Gas received about $44m in dividends from Kurdistan Region of Iraq for the first half of the year and expected its output from operations there to rise by 25% in the third quarter.

The Saudi-based International Islamic Trade Finance Corp (ITFC) plans to launch a $300 million fund alongside U.S. fund manager Federated Investors. The sharia-compliant fund is expected to launch later this year and would invest in energy-related structured trade, supply chain financing and project finance assets of sovereign entities. The fund will be managed by ITFC with input from Federated Investors. The two firms have worked together on Islamic trade finance transactions since 2014.