IslamicFinance.de

Arian Ardie talks about the burgeoning Indonesian economy, foreign investment opportunities, and how Indonesian companies are coming to terms with anti-corruption compliance. Meeting cultural norms and being compliant with international business practices is a real challenge in Indonesia. As one of the most populous countries in the world, Indonesia shows an inherent 'sloppiness' of implementing decentralization and democracy.

Malaysia’s biggest pension fund is calling on the government to increase the supply of ringgit Islamic bonds as the manager of $170 bn starts a Shariah-compliant option for savers. The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) prepares to launch the Islamic plan with an initial 100 bn ringgit ($25 bn) in January. Currently the Shariah-compliant share of issuance is 42%. CEO Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said the government is actively looking at it. Boosting sales would help expand the range of maturities of the securities and their investor base. Overseas investors owned 19 bn ringgit of the government’s Islamic bonds in April, 8.2% of their total note holdings in the nation.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group hosted the IDB Group Private Sector Forum in Indonesia. The event was held in conjunction with Group's 41st Annual General Meeting. The forum involved panel discussions which deliberated on the activities, roles and support that have been carried out in member countries, with focus on Indonesia. The panel also touched on issues related to Islamic trade financing, investment challenges and export credit insurance. All private sector entities are open to coordinate with investors who are willing to invest in Indonesia as well as other member countries of the IDB Group.

#Qatar First Bank (QFB) is developing a pioneering private banking platform, which offers clients the opportunity to select from a wide range of financial solutions. According to CEO Ziad Makkawi the bank is transforming from being an investment focused to an investor-focused entity. QFB’s Head of Private Banking and Wealth Management, Nizar Ahmadi, said the open architecture platform will be available exclusively to private banking clients. QFB's Shariah-compliant products include financing, private banking services, innovative investment solutions, as well as family office services covering trusts, foundations, advisory, real estate planning, and statement consolidation.

Deputy prime minister in charge of the economy, Mehmet Simsek, has said Turkey will hold meetings to increase sukuk exports in the first half of 2016. The country is preparing a draft law which would bring balance to the taxation of Islamic financial contracts and encourage long-term loans. Simsek said that the Ministry wants this system but implementation depends on investor interest. Regarding the establishment of a megabank in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Simsek said the probable scenario includes two megabanks, one in Indonesia and the second in Turkey.

The International Islamic Liquidity Management (IILM) has successfully issued a $1.34 bn short-term Sukuk at a profit rate of 1.046%. The Sukuk rated A-1 by Standard and Poor’s will be issued on 24 May and has a maturity of 90 days. ILM sells its Sukuk through its primary dealers, who consist of: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, AlBaraka Turk, CIMB Islamic Bank, Luxembourg’s KBL Private Bankers, Kuwait Finance House, Maybank Islamic, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Qatar National Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Barwa Bank.

Nigeria hopes to use a proposed Sukuk issuance programme to help fund big infrastructure needs. The country plans to borrow as much as $10 bn from debt markets to help fund a budget deficit worsened by the slump in oil prices that has slashed revenues and weakened the naira. Secretary of finance Alhaji Mahmoud Isa-Dutse said the federal government is working on a sovereign sukuk with details expected within the year. In 2013, Nigeria's Osun State issued 10 bn naira ($62 mn) of sukuk, but no other sukuk transactions have followed.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will take part in financing of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project. The estimated cost of the project will exceed $10 bn. The annual capacity of the gas pipeline will reach 33 bn cubic meters. It is planned that the total length of the TAPI pipeline will be 1,814 km. Some 214 km will pass through the territory of Turkmenistan, 774 km through Afghanistan, 826 km through Pakistan. The project is expected to be completed in late 2019.

In Uganda the first Islamic Banking and Finance (IBF) conference was held last week. Prof. Ashraf Bin Hashim said in Malaysia, most of the Islamic banks are subsidiaries to conventional banks; therefore, they are not looked at as competitors. They are developing themselves together. IBF will widen the pool of investors and Islamic donor streams to Uganda. Instead of having only conventional investors, there will be several potential Islamic investors in the country.

Nigeria hopes to use a proposed Sukuk issuance programme to help fund big infrastructure needs. The country plans to borrow as much as $10 bn from debt markets to help fund a budget deficit worsened by the slump in oil prices that has slashed revenues and weakened the naira. Secretary of finance Alhaji Mahmoud Isa-Dutse said the federal government is working on a sovereign sukuk with details expected within the year. In 2013, Nigeria's Osun State issued 10 bn naira ($62 mn) of sukuk, but no other sukuk transactions have followed.

Sri Lanka could issue Sukuk and take the lead in becoming a regional centre for Islamic financial services. Bar Association President Shibly Aziz said this can open Sri Lanka to a new niche of investors, rather than the conventional ones. Sri Lanka already has more than twenty years experience in Islamic finance with an approved Islamic bank in operations.

In March Saudi Arabia announced Vision 2030, a comprehensive reform plan aimed to wean Saudi Arabia off its long-term dependence on oil, sooner rather than later. The timing for these reforms is no accident. Large swings in global oil prices affect Saudi Arabia deeply, as the country’s oil export revenue stream determines its own financial strength. Saudi Arabia also faces other, wider challenges, with implications for the Kingdom have not yet fully been explored, such as its political succession.

Emirates Islamic announced the launch of the Emirates Islamic charity fund, to govern and manage the bank’s strategy for charitable donations and giving. The fund’s activities will be managed by Awatif Al Harmoudi. The fund has been set up with the primary objective of allocation of financial aid to large charities, public and private institutions, as well as individuals in need.

Where UK based students are led to take Islamic finance masters' degrees as a route to an Islamic finance career, mis-selling may be taking place. In world rankings, many UK universities rank relatively highly, and such a UK degree can enhance the promotion prospects of foreign students in their home country. However, many UK origin students are persuaded to take a master's degree in Islamic finance immediately after graduating. Unfortunately, the number of available positions in Islamic finance in the UK is very limited. Also UK Islamic financial institutions are too small to train people, and typically only hire experienced Islamic bankers.

Ezdan Holding Group has priced its inaugural Sukuk transaction in the debt capital markets with a $500m 5-year Sukuk issue. The transaction attracted an order-book up to $837m, with 71 investors participating. Investors from the Middle East took 68% of the issuance, with European investors subscribing for 21% and Asian investors taking 11%. Group CEO Ali Mohammed Al Obaidli said the investors’ strong interest resulted in the order book reaching to $837 mn, around 1.67 times of the offer amount.

Indonesia has become one of the leading sukuk issuers in the world, with issuance totaling Rp 503 trillion (US$38 bn) since its debut in 2008. Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said total outstanding sukuk was at Rp 380 trillion ($29 bn), which accounts for 15% of total government securities. He added that the latest dollar sukuk, issued in March, received a very good response from investors. For the $2.5 bn issuance, total subscription reached $8.6 bn or around 3.5 times.

A venture capital fund based on Islamic finance principles will be initiated by the end of May. It is the result of a joint initiative of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and Malaysia’s state-owned investment firm Malaysia Venture Capital Management. According to Treasury secretary Irwan Serigar Abdullah the initial fund size would be $100mn and could be bulked up later. In the first stages, the venture capital fund would be utilised to finance startup companies in Malaysia and the entire Southeast Asia region and could later be extended to finance entrepreneurial initiatives in other Islamic countries.

Guyana officially became the 57th member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) during the opening ceremony of the bank’s annual meeting in Jakarta. According to the finance ministry press release, this membership allows Guyana access to concessionary resources, grants and interest free loans. Finance minister of Guyana, Winston Jordan, is making his debut appearance in Jakarta personally to witness Guyana’s initiation into the group. Suriname, which is also a member of the Islamic Bank, is represented by its Finance Minister Gilmore Hoefdraad and Deputy Governor, Dr Anwar Lall Mohamed. The private sector is expanding economic ties between Indonesia and Suriname and, with the support of the Islamic Bank, rhetoric is becoming reality.

The volume of Islamic Development Bank (IDB)'s investments in Egypt currently amounts to US$3.7 billion. The statement was made by Nazih Al-Nasser, director of asset management and advisory activities of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). He made his remarks in Cairo on Tuesday during a conference organised by the Egyptian Banking Institute, designated to focus on the role of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Nogaholding, the investment arm of #Bahrain’s National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) hosted a dinner to commemorate the signing of the $570 mn Murabahah finance facility. Minister of Energy and Chairman of nogaholding Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza congratulated all the lenders for their support. The ten banks which participated include: Arab Banking Corporation (ABC), Ahli United Bank (AUB), Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), Gulf International Bank (GIB), and National Bank of Bahrain (NBB), Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Kuwait Finance House (KFH), The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG), BNP Paribas and HSBC. nogaholding’s first syndicated debt facility carries a term of five years. The facility size was increased by more than 60% due to strong demand from participating banks.