IslamicFinance.de

The United Nations Security Council announced on Sunday that it has removed Iranian Bank Sepah and its international subsidiary from a sanctions list. This move came after Saturday's announcement of a UN report confirming that Iran has completed necessary preparatory steps to start the implementation of a plan of action aiming to resolve the nuclear issue. Bank Sepah had been under a Council-mandated asset freeze since 2007. It provides support for the Aerospace Industries Organisation (AIO) and subordinates, including Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG) and Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group (SBIG), according to the UN website.

Despite prominence in economic activity, SMEs face a funding challenge. November 2014 figures from Souqalmal.com showed that a mere 28% of respondents had resorted to bank financing, while a full 31% were self-funded. This is a gap that Islamic finance offerings can address. Despite this obvious synergy, Islamic finance is still gearing up to effectively service SME needs regionally. The first challenge is one of volume: there are simply not enough Shariah-compliant banks around. This has a chilling effect on SME financing, particularly in those countries where local SMEs won't consider non-Islamic finance. However, the picture is changing for the better as Islamic finance becomes mainstream and is supported by better regulation.

Hawkamah, the Institute for Corporate Governance at the Dubai International Financial Centre and the first centre specialised in Governance in the GCC, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Over the last decade, Hawkamah has offered advisory services and courses across the Middle East and North Africa region. The Centre is marking its 10th anniversary with the launch of several new strategic initiatives. One of Hawkamah’s milestones in the first quarter of 2016 will be the graduation of the first intake of the Women Directors’ Program, in collaboration with Dubai Women Establishment. The institute will also launch the Arabic version of its flagship ‘Director Development Program’, the DDP. The aim of the programme is to build an understanding of corporate governance and increase the capacity of business leaders.

For the third year running, DP World is the top stock in the S&P/Hawkamah Pan Arab ESG Index. The index is the first of its kind in the Arab world and ranks the transparency and disclosure of regional listed companies based on Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) metrics. The participants are derived from the top 150 Pan Arab companies, by total market capitalisation, listed on stock markets of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabic, Tunisia and the UAE. The index is reconstituted once a year in December and the names of the top 10 companies are announced. It gathers information in the public domain, mainly from Annual Report and Accounts, to assess the leading company.

The City of London yesterday launched a new initiative which aims to cement London's position as a world leader in green finance. The Green Finance Initiative (GFI) will focus on how to mobilize the capital required to implement both the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate change agreement. The unveiling of the new project came as a separate report released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) at the GFI launch event highlighted how the UK is currently a global hub in the emerging green finance market. The report, which profiles the actions that have been taken over the past 15 years to incorporate environmental and social factors into the financial sector, argues the UK has evolved a distinctive model of innovation in sustainable finance.

Abu Dhabi's government-owned Al Hilal Bank has closed a $175 million Islamic loan transaction with three banks, sources aware of the matter said on Thursday. The loan has a life span of two years. The transaction was arranged by Commerzbank, Emirates NBD and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, they added. Al Hilal Bank's spokesman declined to comment. The sharia-compliant lender is one of a number of Gulf-based banks seeking funds to help ease a squeeze on liquidity caused by lower oil prices. The sources on Thursday declined to give the pricing of the loan, although bankers said in November that Al Hilal Bank was marketing the loan with all-in pricing of 150 basis points over the London interbank offered rate (Libor).

Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has invited banks to pitch for roles in arranging a potential dollar-denominated sukuk, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The AAA-rated IDB is planning a benchmark-sized sukuk offering in the first quarter. IDB was not immediately available for comment. IDB, which last issued a $1 billion five-year Islamic bond in March, is looking to increase its issuance of sukuk, partly to raise its profile among international investors and to secure similar pricing levels to other development banks.

Plus de 67 milliards de Fcfa mobilisés hors Uemoa (45%), 55 milliards F cfa mobilisés en Côte d’Ivoire (37%) et 26 milliards de Fcfa dans l’espace Uemoa (17%). C’est le résultat de la première tranche de la levée de fonds sur la finance islamique, dénommée « Sukuk Etat de Côte d’Ivoire 5,75% 2015-2020 ». Lancée en novembre 2015, sous la présidence du Premier ministre Daniel Kablan Duncan, le Sukuk qui s’inscrit dans un programme quinquennal pour un montant de 300 milliards Fcfa, est repartie en deux phases de 150 milliards chacune. Arrangée par la Société islamique de développement (Sid), cette levée de fonds, qui affiche un titre minimum de 10.000 Fcfa pour un taux d’intérêt de 5,75% l’an, a permis à la Côte d’Ivoire d’être primée « Sukuk deal of the year » et « Africa deal of the year » par le journal Islamic Finance News.

1MDB's recent sale of its 60 percent stake in the Bandar Malaysia development project is in violation of the terms for the sukuk Islamic bonds it issued to finance the relocation of several air force bases, PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli claims. This, he said in a statement today, is based on pages 30 and 32 of the agreement. Rafizi pointed out that under Item 2(w)(i)(12) of the RM2.4 billion sukuk issuance agreement, Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd (BMSB) – "the issuer" – must remain as the wholly-owned subsidiary of 1MDB. The sale, Rafizi argued, is now a major snag to one of the main pillars of the 1MDB debt rationalisation initiative. He vowed to continue with his crusade, for as long as there is no clear answer or remedy from 1MDB.

Saudi Arabia plans to set up a sovereign wealth fund to manage part of its oil fortune and diversify its investments. The nation is seeking proposals from investment banks and consultants. The sovereign wealth fund is said to be focusing on businesses outside the energy industry and may be active within one to two years with an office in New York. Saudi Arabia is trying to manage declining oil prices and rising tensions among countries in the Middle East including Iran. Saudi Arabia’s net foreign assets dropped to US$640 billion (RM1.97 trillion) in October, the lowest level in three years, as the oil rout strains government finances in the biggest Arab economy.

Labuan International Business and Financial Centre (Labuan IBFC) has been recognised as a leading Islamic wealth management centre. In a statement today, Labuan IBFC said close to 55% of all respondents regarded it as a leading Islamic wealth management provider in a survey by London-based Edbiz Consulting. The survey, which reached more than 10,000 respondents globally, was aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitudes and practices towards Islamic wealth management in order to better understand the demand for Shariah compliant wealth management services within the investing community and their clientele. The research was part of the co-branded Islamic Wealth Management Report 2016, which was launched recently.

C. James Townsend published the book "The Singularity & Socialism: Marx, Mises, Complexity Theory, Techno-Optimism and the Way to the Age of Abundance". Townsend explores past ideological ideas that critically examined the trajectory of our economies in relation to scientific and technological development, in doing so to reach a commonly accepted conclusion of which were shared by these various ideologies – a post-capitalist era of abundance and transcendence. Transhumanism is actually an extension and a longing to complete the Hermetic, gnostic and Alchemical vision of antiquity only now it is through the full and complete evolution of science and technology itself that humanity will be transformed and given eternal youth and life.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd (BIMB) expects slower growth in 2016 compared to last year amid the current economic challenges, according to managing director Datuk Seri Zukri Samat. He said he hoped the bank will maintain double-digit growth in terms of financing performance as achieved last year. Asked on plans to open more Bank Islam branches this year, Zukri said the bank was still assessing the current economic situation. He said the bank was eyeing 600,000 payWave debit cards issued in 2016, up from 200,000 cards issued by end-December 2015. Zukri said the bank had invested millions of ringgit in the “E-donation” Terminal Using Visa PayWave programme, and aims to provide these terminals to 10 mosques nationwide, including in Sabah and Sarawak.

The “Global Financial Development Report 2015/2016,” published by the World Bank in September 2015 presents how long-term finance may lead to growth and prosperity in developing economies, based on research and analysis of the global financial services market and in addition recommends policies that the authors believe would increase it. According to the report, the use of long-term finance, which is defined having a time horizon exceeding one year, is more restricted in developing countries, especially for smaller firms and poorer households. The availability of equity is limited for firms of all sizes. In addition, the 2008 financial downturn reduced leverage by 0.3 percent for large firms and 1.56 percent for small and medium-sized firms.

Unsatisfied with 1Malaysia Development Berhad's (1MDB) explanation, PKR lawmaker Rafizi Ramli today challenged the company to disclose details on how it used the sukuk funds. He said 1MDB last night failed to address his main query, which was what had happened to the RM1.6 billion from the RM2.4 billion sukuk issued through Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd in 2014. 1MDB yesterday denied Rafizi's remarks and insisted the RM2.4 billion sukuk had been utilised in accordance with its agreement. 1MDB reportedly said the sukuk had been used to partly finance the relocation of the air force base at Sungai Besi, pre-fund the fees and expenses of the sukuk programme, fund the requisite financing reserve accounts, and fund the working capital requirements of 1MDB Real Estate Sdn Bhd (now known as TRX City Sdn Bhd).

Khazanah Nasional Berhad has mandated Barclays, CIMB, Morgan Stanley and UBS to arrange a series of investor meetings for a US dollar sukuk offering. The roadshow will take place in Dubai on Sunday, Hong Kong on Monday, Singapore on Tuesday and London on Wednesday. The Reg S offering will be unrated and issued off the Multi-currency Islamic Securities Issuance Programme established by Danga Capital Berhad. Danga Capital is a special purpose financing vehicle initiated by Khazanah, the sovereign wealth fund of the government of Malaysia.

Islamic finance is still not viewed as a viable career option by many college bound students. Neither is it offered at many colleges, especially in the Middle East. Over the last decade, the industry has witnessed impressive growth, but there has not been a corresponding increase in the education in terms of the availability of expertise. Many of the programs have addressed the academic need in terms of providing Bachelors- Masters and PhD programs. The investor, however, needs more. There is only a small group in the Islamic world that is interested in academic accreditation of that sort. The larger majority however, demand professional certifications.

Khazanah Nasional Bhd may sell its stake in Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd only after the latter merged with Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) to form the country's largest full-fledged Islamic bank. Reiterating that it is not taking the lead in negotiations, Khazanah managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar said the country's strategic investment fund is not particular about the structure of the merger, provided the valuations are fair. It has been reported that the merger would be effected via a share swap. There have been various scenarios bandied about on Khazanah's preferred outcome for its 30% stake in Bank Muamalat. DRB-Hicom Bhd holds the remaining 70% of Bank Muamalat.

The majority US owned Austrian Bawag PSK starts as first Austrian bank with Islamic Banking. Beginning February a pilot project for a current account starts. Other Austrian banks have so far no plans according to the newspaper Standard. Austria has around 600'000 Muslims.

The global market for sukuk will remain at below – peak levels in 2016, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services forcast, predicting issuance to reach $50 billion – $55 billion in 2016, compared with $63.5 billion in 2015 and $116.4 billion in 2014. The correction started last year, mainly because the central bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia; BNM) stopped issuing. Excluding the BNM effect, sukuk issuance dropped by around 5% in 2015 from 2014. According to S&P, three main factors will shape the performance of the sukuk market in 2016: monetary policy developments in the US and Europe, the drop in oil prices, and the possible lifting of sanctions on Iran. The first two factors are likely to drain liquidity from global and local markets.