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Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance (ADNIF) has recently donated Dh 1 million as part of its Zakat funds to UAE charitable foundation Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP). The donated money is to support cancer patients. Ameera Bin Karam, Founding Member and President of FoCP, expressed his hope that this gesture will give a good example to other public and private institutions and individuals.

The Gatehouse Bank plc, a London-based Kuwaiti-owned wholesale Shariah compliant bank, has acquired an industrial US-based real estate portfolio at the cost of USD 155 Million. This portfolio includes 20 industrial properties from the West, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest regions of the U.S. which are leased to 12 tenants with an average remaining lease term of 14 years. The acquisition has been completed in joint venture partnership with the Brennan Investment Group. It is expected that the portfolio will bolster the stability of returns generated by the properties due to its unique diversity of industry, geography, and tenancy.

Capital Intelligence (CI), the international credit rating agency, announced that it has affirmed the ratings of Bank AlJazira (BAJ), based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Bank's successful development of itsnew markets in terms of loans and deposits, its continually improving asset quality and its improved capital profile supports the Financial Strength Rating of 'BBB'. Moreover, the factors mentioned above affirm the Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating at 'BBB+' and the Short-Term Foreign Currency Rating at 'A2'.

The third annual Invesco Middle East Asset Management Study shows that strong corporate returns are constraining the flow of year-on-year capital within family offices in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) from ­personal assets to corporate (family business) assets.
Two-fifths (40%) of family offices interviewed noted a strong shift from personal to corporate assets. Moreover, high net-worth assets in the Middle East account for nearly 4% of the global high-net-worth asset pool.

Family businesses are estimated in the Middle East at around 90% of all companies in the region controlled by families. Furthermore, its importance was underlined with the launch of the Family Business Network GCC, the first of its kind in the area.
The network will be based in Dubai, including members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE

The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) are pleased to announce the launch of the ISDA/IIFM Mubadalatul Arbaah (Profit Rate Swap) product standard to be used for Islamic hedging purposes.

The Mubadalatul Arbaah (MA) standard follows on from the “ISDA/IIFM Tahawwut (Hedging) Master Agreement” and provides the industry with a framework for Islamic risk mitigation. The launch of the Tahawwut Master Agreement as the template for Shari’ah-compliant risk management was officially announced at a press conference hosted by Central Bank of Bahrain in March 2010.

Dear Reader,

IslamicFinance.de is privately funded for many years. Now, for the first time, you have the possibility to make a contribution, from one Dollar upwards!

The technical details, and the money transfer via paypal is organised by Kapipal a new online fundraising tool:

http://www.kapipal.com/islamicfinance

On the blog I gave some more thoughts about Islamic finance media for those interested: http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/3454

Please also note: The fundraising action has a deadline, so act today, not tomorrow and tell your friends about it!

All donors who will leave a message will be listed in the article, which follows after closure of the fundraising period.

I am happy to meet you in person either on 19th March in Milano (http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/3396) or on 10th May in Frankfurt (http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=BAFINII) at the respective Islamic finance conference.

Wa at Taufiq min Allah, all the best,

Michael Saleh Gassner

Dear Readers,

Islamic finance media are a tricky service. This is true for various reasons: The Internet eats up the revenues, because everything ought to be free. Islamic banks are still a niche phenomena, and international banks like UBS or Deutsche are almost as large as the entire global Islamic finance industry. Consequently the marketing budgets are much lower, too.

Last not least, who should advertise? The banks among themselves or to the clients? Advertising from bank to bank, does usually not make much sense, but real client oriented formats are hard to find, too. May be this is a niche. Others, who could finance Islamic finance media are basically the service providers to the banks, but due to the limited number of Islamic financial insitutions, direct marketing, e.g. face to face meetings will be preferred.

This in short is the background why Islamic finance media are not so well established in terms of journalism and research, but mostly reflecting the press release as criticised by the makers of the Islamic Globe. See: http://www.theislamicglobe.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article...

The Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance and the Institute of Risk Management (IRM) formalized a partnership agreement to offer risk management tools and know-how to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) executives and boards.
According to an official statement from Hawkamah, the IRM will supply a two-day programme on the fundamentals of risk management, which will involve case studies developed especially for the GCC region.

A NEW BREED OF TECHNOLOGY & DESIGN INVESTMENT HOUSE TO BE LAUNCHED AND SHOWCASED PARIS, JULY 2012

Qatari Aurum will be launching its first large-scale foray into the world of Technology and Design during an annual gathering of other GCC-based investors and private equity houses in Paris during July this year. The newly¨established group, comprising high net-worth venture capitalists from Qatar, is yet to launch formally but has already set about making waves in an industry reserved for Silicon Valley start-ups and traditionally large-scale US private equity houses. It is expected that the Group will announce its inaugural acquisition of equity in a globally established internet start-up at the Capital & Projects Exchange, Paris, France, July 2012.

The focus of the group is toward bringing a wealth of technology know-how in the internet media and software design services to the GCC region. There is a course laid out to use this investor insight in gathering the choicest design and development houses locally within the region and injecting them with world-class expertise, fuelling a technology-drive unsurpassed in recent times.

Norton Rose Seminar Documentation

Making Their Mark: Women Working in the Middle Eastern Financial
Industry

OECD: Women’s Access to Finance in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region

Women’s Empowerment through Islamic Microfinance in Egypt

IDB Prize for Women’s Contribution to Development: PROMOTING WOMEN’S ROLE IN FINANCE AND ECONOMY

Islamic bonds are falling behind developing-nation debt for a second quarter as investors search for higher yields in non-investment grade securities.
According to the HSBC/Nasdaq Dubai US Dollar Sukuk Index, Shariah-compliant notes returned 1.5 % this year and non-Islamic bonds in emerging-market countries gained 4.1 %.
Sales of Islamic debt are intensified in Indonesia, Malaysia and the GCC, while lower-rated nations such as Egypt and the Philippines are still planning issuance.

The latest study on Islamic finance and wealth management shows that the UAE residents are estimated to be third richest in the Muslim world with per capita income of $49,600 (Dh182, 000).
It seems that Qatar leads the Muslims world with per capita income of $79,000 followed by Brunei at $51,600.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries dominate the top list with Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia ranked fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh.

CALL FOR PAPERS - Islamic capital markets, Deadline: Submission of Abstract: March 15, 2012
Islamic Research and Training Istitute – Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Islamic capital markets are to become an important part of the Islamic financial system. While new products are steadily coming into the market and the Islamic investment instrument are growing, Islamic capital markets still constitute a very small niche. For a discernible impact on the investment promotion, market stability, and equitable socio-economic development there is a growing need to accelerate the process of product development, to create conducive regulatory environment and to improve the market practices. This task requires development of new human capital and knowledge base.

With this larger objective, the immediate focus of this conference is on three issues:
• Design and use of Islamic financial products for Islamic capital markets.
• Identification of the needs for and the implications of market regulations for development of Islamic capital market.

In its 2012 Islamic Wealth Management Report illustrated by masterpieces of Islamic calligraphy, by the Chinese Muslim master Hajji Noordeen, deals with the theme “The path to corporate transformation – converting a company to Islam”.

Bank Sarasin reviews the complexities of converting a business to Islam, a topic which is rarely discussed or written about. Conversion is complicated by the need to address every aspect of a business, the lack of broadly accepted standards and regulations, and differences in the Muslim world itself. The Report, released today, is the Bank’s third on Islamic Wealth Management.

Converting a business to Islam can increase the value of a company by 18-25% due to the scarcity of genuine Islamic investments. But the conversion process is arduous, extending from the design to distribution and beyond, to how the company spends its profits. As Sarasin notes, the market potential is massive, with the global Muslim population expected to increase by 26% to 2030, to 2.2 billion, rivalling China and India in terms of market size.

According to Islamic Wealth Management (IWM) Report 2012, the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) should have a unified rule under one regulator for Islamic investment products for ensuring lower cost of funds.
Bank Sarasin managing director and head of Islamic Finance Fares Mourad and Monzer Kahf, a leading Islamic finance scholar lkaunched the report.
the report presented the fact that reducing expenses and increasing the availability would increase competition, benefiting local investors and further the GCC’s development as a centre of excellence for Islamic finance.

A major GCC workshop on consumer protection has authorized Saudi Arabia’s proposal to set up Supreme Council for Consumer Protection in the GCC states. According to Dr. Nasser Al-Tuwaim, chairman of the Saudi Consumer Protection Association (CPA), the recommendations of the workshop, recently concluded in Doha, will be introduced to the next summit meeting of the Supreme Council of GCC leaders for approval.
Al-Tuwaim made the proposals while addressing the workshop on best practices to distinguish between original and counterfeit products that closed in Doha. The four-day event was set up by the Consumer Protection Department (CPD) under the Qatari Ministry of Business and Trade.

Investment risk will still be the major rating constraint for Middle East insurers in the next 12 to 18 months. The statement came from Moody's Investor Services.
Moody's highlightes that the key driver behind this constraint on insurers' ratings is that those insurers' appetites for real estate exposure will probably remain strong despite the downturn in certain GCC property markets, and the elevated credit risk associated with real estate in the region.
Analysts anticipate insurers to keep up their relatively high exposure to real estate and equities.

Ireland has conducted its first Malaysian-managed fund platform. The Central Bank of Ireland has approved the establishment of CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management (Ireland) Public Limited: a joint venture between Kuala Lumpur headquartered CIMB Group and Principal Global Investors.
The newly created joint venture will uphold a range of international Islamic funds on the platform from its Dublin domicile. Three equity UCITS are being registered: Islamic Global Emerging Markets Fund; Islamic Asia-Pacific ex-Japan Fund, and Islamic ASEAN Equity Fund.
Once registered the funds will be spread in the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Singapore.

According to an interview with the CEO of Qatar Islamic Bank the bank signed with Banque Populaire Caisse d’Epargne an agreement to establish the first Islamic bank in France 2012.

The source is not confirmed by other media and similar news appeared in 2011 before.