IslamicFinance.de

Dear Reader,

The last weeks we have read about criticism in regard to the Sharia compliance of the Sukuk program of the investment bank Goldman Sachs:

< Mohammed Khnifer reveals, after examining the offer circular thoroughly, three possible flaws in the overall structure.
1- Strong indication from the proposed structure and the prospectus as well that the sukuk is not, as they claim, Murabaha, but a Reverse Tawarruq.
2- Strong indication that Goldman will be using, eventually, the proceeds to fund its conventional activities.
3- The so called Murabaha sukuk is listed on the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE). There are some concernes on how the ISE will make sure that the securities will be traded at par value.>>

http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/3155

Some remarks to this discussion:

The 1st Ernst & Young World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report 2011 presented at the 18th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference stated that Islamic banking assets with commercial banks globally will reach US$1.1 trillion in 2012, a significant jump of 33% from their 2010 level of US$826 billion. In the MENA region, Islamic banking assets increased to US$416 billion in 2010, representing a five year CAGR of 20% compared to less than 9% for conventional banks. As new geographies open up to Islamic banking, the MENA Islamic banking industry is expected to more than double to US$990 billion by 2015.

Sheikh Salem Abdul Aziz Al-Sabah, governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait, chairman of the board of directors of the Kuwait Institute of Banking Studies (IBS), noted that the Kuwait IBS will work with Harvard Business School for the third year in a row to offer an executive education program for banking and finance executives in the GCC (gulf Cooperation Council) region.
Al-Sabah underlined the fact that the program is one of the strategic developmental projects the banking sector is following, conducted by the Central Bank of Kuwait, organized by the IBS and financed by the IBS member banks - Central Bank of Kuwait, National Bank of Kuwait, Gulf Bank, Commercial Bank of Kuwait, Burgan Bank, Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait, Ahli United Bank, Kuwait International Bank, Industrial Bank of Kuwait and Boubyan Bank.

Africa is mooving its economic attention away from the west to the Middle East and Asia as a primary source of capital raising. This shift in alignment partially explains the expected launch of a number of Sukuk across the continent in 2012.
Countries that have announced sovereign Sukuk to raise capital for their budgets are: South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria and Kenya. This move is especially welcomed by sovereign wealth and Islamic finance institutions - especially in the GCC.

Bank Sarasin-Alpen won the Best Islamic Wealth Manager award at the Islamic Business and Finance Awards 2011 that took place at the Emirates Towers Hotel, Dubai on 13th December, 2011 and was managed by CPI Financial. The award was handed to Rohit Walia, Executive Vice Chairman & CEO of Bank Sarasin-Alpen Group and Mahboob Murshed, Managing Director.
Bank Sarasin-Alpen offers a complete range of first class private banking and investment advisory solutions to private and institutional clients in GCC and South Asia.

Africa has begun to move its economic attention away from the west to the Middle East and Asia as a primary source of capital raising. This shift in alignment partially explains the forthcoming launch of a number of Sukuk across the continent in 2012.
South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria and Kenya have all divulged sovereign Sukuk to raise capital for their budgets, a marked move away from aid and loans from the economies of Europe and the US and a move broadly welcomed by sovereign wealth and Islamic finance institutions – especially in the GCC.
Senegal, for exmaple will issue a $200m Sukuk, initially planned for this year but now most likely for the begin of 2012. Finance minister Abdoulaye Diop stated that proceeds from the Sukuk will be used for budgetary support.

The Gulf Bond and Sukuk Association (GBSA) has revealed a detailed compendium of the nascent markets for local currency government-issued instruments. This is the first collection of its kind in the Gulf region.
The summary was put together with the contributions from many of its member institutions across the Gulf region.
The document concentrates for the first time all of the conventional and Islamic treasury bills and bonds, certificates of deposit and other instruments available in local money and capital markets.
This publication is one of a series of steps taken by the GBSA to accelerate the growth of regional debt capital markets.

Abstract academic paper:

Using a large international sample of 35 developed and emerging markets, we analyze
whether Islamic indices exhibit a different performance to conventional benchmarks. While there is no compelling evidence of performance differences in robust Sharpe ratio tests and after controlling for market risk, we find a significantly positive four-factor alpha for the aggregate developed markets region. This outperformance stems, however, mainly from the U.S. and is largely attributable to the exclusion of financial stocks in Sharia-screened portfolios. As the extensive downturn of financials is related to the recent financial crisis, we do not argue that this outperformance will continue over time. The style analysis reveals that

Islamic indices invest mainly in growth stocks and positive momentum stocks. This, for a passive portfolio intriguing result can, however, be explained by the strong sector allocation towards energy firms and their strong momentum characteristic during the sample period.

The Oman First Islamic Finance & Banking Conference will bring together more 400 high level participants including governors of central banks, other industry regulators, Islamic and commercial banking leaders, fund managers, Sharia and legal experts, and world level consultants.

Further details:
http://www.iktissadevents.com/events/OIF/1

The prime theme of this event will be the impact of the recent rapid changes on the
Islamic finance sector in all pertinent aspects. The Conference will consider the
spectacular political and socio-economic developments that we have been witnessing and
their probable effects on the performance and future position of Islamic financial
institutions (IFI’s), the regulatory set-ups, and popularity of Islamic products being
offered to the public, governments and business firms.

The Conference is being organised by Emerald Group Publishing, the world’s leading
scholarly publisher of journals and books on business and management. Over 220
academic journals are currently published by Emerald, covering some 24 managerial
disciplines, in addition to a strong and growing presence in other related fields such as
LIS, social sciences, and engineering.

This Conference follows on the success of the Global Islamic Marketing Conference held
in Dubai over the period 20-22 March 2011, organised by Emerald in association with the
United Arab Emirates University.

Conference Objective

The chief objective of the forthcoming Conference is to assess the future of this sector,

UNESCO works in education, the sciences, culture and communication and information. Recently it lost a substantial portion of funding as the newspapers reported (see for details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15527534 ). It is worth considering how to support the UNESCO and their goals:

"UNESCO works to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, based upon respect for commonly shared values. It is through this dialogue that the world can achieve global visions of sustainable development encompassing observance of human rights, mutual respect and the alleviation of poverty, all of which are at the heart of UNESCO’S mission and activities.

The broad goals and concrete objectives of the international community – as set out in the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – underpin all UNESCO’s strategies and activities. Thus UNESCO’s unique competencies in education, the sciences, culture and communication and information contribute towards the realization of those goals.

The Islamic Finance Talent Development Program (IFTDP) is a talent development program with the sole objective of building a pool of highly talented young Islamic Finance executives who are capable of leading the Islamic Finance Industry in the future.

The program is for 2 years and it provides the participants with on-the-job experience and exposure to the different aspects of Islamic Finance, upon which they are to build a career in Islamic finance.

National Bonds Corporation PJSC celebrated World Savings Day, which falls on Monday October 31, with a host of activities with the purpose at engaging the public and spreading awareness on the importance of savings.
The popular scheme held awareness sessions at universities across Dubai to commemorate the day and also set up a charity football tournament. The places where the awareness sessions were held are: Dubai Knowledge Village, Zayed University and Dubai International Academy.

Global leaders point way to economic recovery at UN summit

Gordon Brown, Mary Robinson and global CEOs call for sustainable financial sector reform

Washington D.C., 20 October 2011 – With economic recovery topping the United States and global political agenda, a group of CEOs, major investors and bankers together with former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President of Ireland Mary Robinson called for a far-reaching reform of the global financial system at a summit which ended in Washington D.C. today.

Amid a growing wave of protests highlighting economic concerns in countries from the US to the UK, Japan and Greece, more than 500 senior finance executives and policy-makers from around the world met at the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative Global Roundtable (UNEP FI) summit to find sustainable solutions to tackle the drivers of market volatility and address the deepening rift between the rich and the poor.

IdealRatings® Islamic Investor™ is the only iPhone application that tells you if a stock is Shariah compliant or not, gives you a detailed report explaining why, and alerts you if it changes status, it is designed for personal use by individual investors.

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Klaus Schwab, executive chairman and founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), has the strong oppinion that it is time for the Middle East to grasp a more holistic, inclusive and qualitative approach to economic development. He stated that the events in this region over the past 10 months have no precedent and have developed a new regional order that is still evolving.

He also reminded that the next World Economic Forum on Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, in June 2012.

Junaid Ahmed, President & CEO Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan Limited, revealed the prospects of finding shari’a compliant solutions in the banking industry in an interview given to Profit.
He stated that DIBPL has always looked for its strength in its slogan and being the first Islamic Bank of the world and having a global presence in the UAE, Jordan, Turkey, Sudan and Bosnia, the bank is in a position to present the best mix of banking services to their customers.

SHUAA Capital and National Bonds Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a strategic alliance.
SHUAA Capital will provide financial advisory, brokerage, and investment management services to National Bonds Corporation in the UAE and the broader Middle East and North Africa region. Both alliances will launch a number of initiatives to develop their respective customer bases and further National Bonds's mission of promoting a culture of savings in the UAE and wider GCC.

The Second Annual Islamic Finance Forum will gather investors, borrowers and regulators in the same place to accomplish a better understanding of existing instruments of Islamic Finance and to find answers to problems encountered frequently in the course of doing business.
The forum delegates is amde of representatives from the Embassies of UAE, Malaysia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and other countries.

The 2nd Quarter 2011 issue of the Malaysian ICM quarterly bulletin published by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) is now available online at:
http://www.sc.com.my/eng/html/icm/11_2Q_msianicm.pdf