IslamicFinance.de

Iran is working on a plan to establish a joint bank with Azerbaijan. Elman Rustamov, the chairman of Azerbaijan's Central Bank (CBA) is discussing the matter with Iran's Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayyebnia. The two neighbors are also discussing the opening of branches of the two countries’ banks in Baku and Tehran. The Iranian minister said the main obstacle on the way of banking cooperation is the existing sanctions against Iran's financial sector.

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) plans to tighten oversight of market practices and revise capital adequacy and disclosure requirements. The new disclosure requirements would cover financial but also sharia-compliance aspects, and may include guidance on specific sukuk formats such as convertible instruments and those used for regulatory-capital purposes. Islamic finance has now systemic importance in 11 countries, these include Qatar, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Brunei, with the latest entrant Djibouti. Bahrain and Jordan are close to achieving that status as well.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted Jaiz Bank national license to operate Islamic non-interest banking in all the states of the federation. Chairman of Jaiz Bank Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab said the bank intends to roll out in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in two or three months times. Alhaji Sa’ad Abubarkar III, the Sultan of all Muslims in Nigeria, congratulated and warned that Jaiz bank must conform with all rules and regulations of Islam.

The private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group plans to regularly tap Islamic debt capital markets. Regular access to Islamic financing tools is helping the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) expand its economic development efforts. Last month ICD completed a debut sale of $300 mn worth of five-year sukuk. CEO Khaled Al-Aboodi said two more sovereign deals are expected this year from West African countries in particular to finance infrastructure projects.

#Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF) announced plans to divest its stakes in tobacco businesses and focus on investing in assets deemed socially and environmentally responsible. CEO Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said EPF plans to dispose of its stake in British American Tobacco (Malaysia), despite not outlining a specific timeframe for the move. The first fully shariah-compliant fund (EPF-i) is planned to launch in January 2017 with an initial fund size of between 80 and 100 bin ringgit. Preparing for the launch of the EPF-i, the fund had increased its exposure to shariah-compliant investments covering multi-asset classes to about 40% of total investments.

More than half of the 170 local and regional banks surveyed by the World Bank reported losing their relationships with global partner banks. Banks also have closed accounts for hundreds of money-transfer firms that provide lifelines to migrants and their families in the $582bn remittance business. As long as governments show little sign of flexibility, banks don’t dare take a chance running afoul of money-laundering and terrorist-financing restrictions.

#Dubai ports operator DP World has selected more than a dozen banks for its sale of Islamic bonds. Fifteen lenders have been hired for the offering of dollar-denominated, benchmark-sized securities whose maturity may be as long as seven years. Proceeds from the sale will be used for a tender offer for the company’s existing sukuk due in 2017.

Banks across the #GCC are resorting to job cuts and tighter recruitment policies to trim costs. The banking sector has come under pressure following decline in economic activity resulting from reduced oil revenues. According to industry estimates UAE banks have shed nearly 1,200 jobs from the second half of last year. RAKBank has announced a cut of up to 250 jobs, Abu Dhabi-based First Gulf Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered have also reduced their headcount.

Islamic and Christian finance have evolved from the same roots and a shared history. They share much in common and divergent views on interest and usury will probably remain the key difference for the near future. Like Islamic Finance, Christian Finance operates alongside modern-day conventional financial services. For example Reliance Bank in the UK avoids dealings with any company whose main source of income is derived from sales of tobacco, alcohol, gambling, pornography and armaments.

Emirates Islamic Bank completed a $50 mn (Dh183 mn) Collateralised Murabaha deal with France-based Natixis on the Nasdaq Dubai. This was the largest collateralised Murabaha transaction closed by Emirates Islamic this year, and the first of its kind executed on the Nasdaq Dubai Murabaha Platform. CEO of Emirates Islamic Jamal Bin Ghalaita said the transaction sets a precedent for other financial institutions considering Sharia-compliant financing.

The federal government has urged Nigerians to embrace Islamic insurance as it can guarantee economic security in times of economic uncertainties. At the official launch of the book Understanding Takaful, the minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, described takaful insurance as a safety net for the community. The author of the book, Malam Zubairu Sulaiman Darazo, identified the interest rates inherent in conventional financial institutions as responsible for the low level of insurance penetration in Northern Nigeria.

Emirates Islamic Bank has mandated banks including HSBC for the sale of Islamic bonds. The sale of the dollar-denominated, benchmark-sized securities may begin this week and the sale is arranged by Standard Chartered, Emirates NBD, Dubai Islamic Bank, Noor Bank and Bank ABC. Emirates Islamic Bank last sold bonds in July 2012, when it raised $500 mn from securities with maturity of between five and six years.

In Pakistan Islamic modes, financing and products have captured at least 15% of the overall financial market share in 2016. The interest is illustrated by the results attained by the UAE-based banks Alfalah and Bank Al Meezan. Bank Alfalah CEO Atif Bajwa reported a double-digit top line growth, Rs7.523 bn in CY-15, 33% growth from 2014. Meezan Bank reported a Rs2.67 bn profit for the first half of CY-2015. The bank has also introduced Meezan Asset Allocation Plan-1, Pakistan's largest asset management company.

The Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) is organizing a seminar to discuss the role of Islamic microfinance in poverty alleviation on 14-15 May 2016 in Bogor, Indonesia. IRTI is organizing the event in conjunction with the 41st Annual Meeting of the IDB Group. The event features the launching of the Islamic Microfinance for Poverty Alleviation and Capacity Transfer (IMPACT) Program, which aims to disseminate the best practices in Islamic microfinance.

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) issued a warning about scams which have cloned firms registered in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The scammers use the names, the registration numbers, and the addresses and contact details of genuine firms registered in the DIFC to create false websites. The purpose of the creation of these false websites is to facilitate advanced fee scams by adding legitimacy to the scam.

Fisch Asset Management says Middle East credit ratings are likely to come under further pressure due to low oil prices and an increase in primary issuance will support market liquidity. According to Philipp Good, head of portfolio management at Fisch, the region has the highest average ratings globally, but budget deficits need to be addressed through a combination of investment and reform.

In #Malaysia the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) expects 1.5 mn to 2 mn members to convert their contributions to the syariah-compliant fund in the first year of implementation. CEO Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said 71% of the members agreed on the need for the Islamic pension scheme called Simpanan Shariah. Simpanan Shariah’s initial fund size will be RM120 bn. EPF is in the process of classifying its assets as syariah-compliant and conventional, with about 40% of its assets now fully syariah-compliant.

Singapore charged a former wealth manager at Swiss private bank with forgery as part of a money laundering investigation related to 1Malaysia Development. The forgery charge is the seventh filed against Yeo Jiawei, a 33-year-old Singaporean banker. While the charges didn't mention 1MDB by name, they stem from investigations into the fund's money flows. The prosecutors charged Yeo with "fraudulently" signing a reference letter to the head of anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance of Citigroup Inc in Europe.

OCBC Malaysia head of consumer financial services Lim Wyson said increasing the number of products under the Islamic asset class will appeal to a broader range of investors. The size of Malaysia’s Islamic capital market had more than tripled over the last 10 years, with an average growth of 11.7% per annum and accounted 60% of the entire capital market in the country.

On the eve of an international anti-corruption summit the International Monetary Fund has warned of the rising costs of corruption on the world economy. The cost is estimated around $1.5 to $2 trillion, roughly 2% of global GDP. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the indirect costs may be even more substantial and debilitating, leading to low growth and greater income inequality.