IslamicFinance.de

The German and Iranian governments have decided to establish a joint banking committee. Officials from Berlin and Tehran will come together in September for the first meeting of the committee. The decision came after Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. together with Germany came to an understanding in the nuclear negotiations on July 14. Additionally, the U.N. Security Council unanimously accepted the draft resolution, which approves the nuclear agreement and stipulates the U.N. sanctions on Iran will be gradually lifted. $700 million of Iran's frozen assets abroad will be released every month after the sanctions are lifted. It is estimated that the total amount is around $150 billion.

Kyrgyzstan hopes to use Islamic finance to attract foreign investment. The Kyrgyz government approved the project on introduction of Sukuk, State Secretary Abduhalik Shamshiyev said at the board meeting of the State Service for Financial Market Regulation and Supervision. International law firm Simmons & Simmons and the Kyrgyz Republic signed an agreement in May 2014 to provide consultancy services for the development of laws and regulations, supporting the introduction of Takaful and Sukuk in the Kyrgyz Republic. The consultancy services were funded under a technical assistance grant provided by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and BankIslami have clarified a news story titled “SBP grants Rs20b to BankIslami”. The SBP said it is a normal practice for central banks to provide funds to banks whenever they are under liquidity stress or to meet unexpected deposit withdrawal requests. Liquidity support up to Rs15 billion was offered to BankIslami in anticipation of heavy withdrawal by the depositors of defunct KASB Bank after its amalgamation with the former. This facility, valid for 180 days, is fully secured by the sukuk held by BankIslami. BankIslami said the support it received from the SBP had been used to pay off the depositors of KASB Bank, which to date amounted to more than Rs22 billion.

The State Bank of Pakistan has given a Rs20-billion concessionary loan, including Rs5 billion at an incredibly low rate of 0.01%, to BankIslami to meet capital requirements following the amalgamation of KASB Bank into it. It has highlighted transparency issues pertaining to the BankIslami and KASB Bank amalgamation, as the central bank did not extend the facility through competitive bidding.In protest against the move, a minority shareholder of KASB Bank has lodged a complaint with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The complainant, Shaheena Wajid Mirza, requested the anti-corruption watchdog to investigate the SBP governor and other officials of the central bank and Ministry of Finance for alleged corrupt practices and misuse of authority.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) is in the process of preparing shari'ah compliance regulations for the Islamic capital market. The SECP has chalked out a comprehensive plan for the development of the Islamic capital market in the country. Under the future plan, the SECP will introduce new products for Islamic capital market. The commission would also create awareness on the Islamic capital market. Besides, the SECP is planning to introduce shari'ah audit mechanism. The commission would also adopt new accounting standards on Islamic finance issued by Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). The SECP will launch webpage of Islamic finance department for education, promotion and development of Islamic finance.

The combined pre-tax profit of the Islamic banking industry surged to Rs4.8 billion in the first quarter of 2015, which depicts 48% growth on a year-on-year basis. The rise in the profitability of the Islamic banking industry in January-March was mainly on the back of earnings growth of 95% recorded by Islamic banking divisions (IBDs) of conventional banks. In contrast, the combined profitability of Islamic banks increased 17.6% in January-March on an annual basis. Assets of the Islamic banking industry grew by 28.2% in January-March on an annual basis to Rs1.3 trillion. Similarly, its deposits stood at Rs1.1 trillion at the end of March after recording a growth of 28.7% over the preceding 12 months.

The Republic of Kazakhstan’s modifications and additions into some acts of the insurance and Islamic financing law came into force on May 9, 2015. The purpose of the law is to introduce a system of obligatory insurance for employees and to create favorable conditions for the appropriate functioning of Islamic banks. The main directions of the law are: legal support of Islamic insurance issues; improvement of legislation on issues regarding the functioning of Islamic banks; ensuring stable functioning of the organisation, which guarantees insurance payments; and solving problems regarding employees obligatory insurance when accidents occur.

The Iranian banking industry remains completely regulated by sharia law and is by far the world’s largest center of Islamic banking. Yet its experience is unique within the global Islamic community, as it is inspired by Shia jurisprudence, which often diverges from mainstream Sunni jurisprudence. Sunni scholars have repeatedly questioned the “rightfulness” of Iranian banks. However, with Iran now seemingly closer than ever to an agreement with the West over its controversial nuclear development program, local financial institutions are poised to regain access to international markets and place their sharia-compliant products among emerging market enthusiasts. Yet instead of adding new momentum to the growing Islamic finance industry, Iran’s financial comeback risks opening a new chapter in the century-old clash of principles between Sunni and Shia Islam.

Bitcoin (https://bitcoin.org) started to make the idea of a cryptocurrency popular. What is missing so far is an intense discussion among Sharia scholars.

What makes Bitcoin unique is, that it is a) created by a computer program b) that it is created and verified by a decentralised process, the so-called 'Blockchain' technology (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_chain_(database)), which is solving a practical problem for the first time: To enable trust and accounting without a central ledger, such as a central bank. c) that it faciliates payments quick, efficient and discreet - while the latter leads to accusation of misuse, e.g. for gaming, drugs, terror finance etc.

How it can be seen from an Islamic perspective is not widely discussed, despite it deserves the attention. What we find in search engines are some discussions and also an initiative, which calls itself a bank (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=21732.0).

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has approved a four-member sharia advisory board to oversee Islamic financial products in the country, as the regulator looks to address credibility concerns. The board, which comprises three religious scholars and a technical member, would advise SECP on a range of issues including the operation, auditing and reporting of Islamic mutual funds, pensions and insurance operators. Besides, in February, the SECP published long-awaited rules for the issuance of sukuk as part of efforts to strengthen governance and broaden their appeal to investors. Oman's central bank set up a sharia supervisory board last October, with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates also developing a similar country-level approach to the industry.

The first Rs 22.237 billion Islamic rental property fund of the subcontinent was launched at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) Monday. The two-day book building process for the country's first Rental Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), Dolmen City REIT (DCR), was initiated by Sindh Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah here at KSE trading hall. The initial public offering (IPO) envisages a total of 555.92 million units, 75 percent or 416.94 million shares would be offered to institutions and high net worth individuals (HNWIs) through book building on June 8-9. The balance 138.98 million or 25 percent units would go to retail subscribers on June 12.

The management of BankIslami has appointed Shahid Ali Khan as the new CEO of KASB Securities, the subsidiary of KASB Bank. Khan replaces outgoing CEO, Irfan Nadeem Sayeed. The management, which had earlier pledged not to force officials of KASB Bank to quit, is now placing its officials on key positions in sheer contradiction of the claim it made at the time of merger of KASB Bank with BankIslami. In the emergent meeting of the board of directors recently, BankIslami management appointed new leadership for KASB Bank’s subsidiary, including new CEO and a board of director, M Nasurur Rahman, in the place of Tahir Iqbal.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday issued notices to the Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and others on the petition of a shareholder against amalgamation of KASB Bank with BankIslami. The petitioner, First Capital Equities Limited, who owned approximately 94,000,000 shares worth approximately Rs 210 million in the KASB Bank, moved the court against SBP’s moratorium and amalgamation of the bank with BankIslami. The petitioner maintained that its fully paid-up shares in the bank were unlawfully cancelled and extinguished due to the merger without its consent and opportunity of hearing.

Bonki Rushdi Tojikiston (BRT), based in Tajikistan, has signed an advisory services agreement with the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) to process and support its conversion into Shariah-compliant operations. The agreement is designed to develop an advisory process to effectively deliver full conversion by also identifying challenges and addressing impediments. The ICD will dedicate seven key teams across the full conversion process in areas of project management, Shariah compliance, treasury, accounting, human resources, information technology, marketing and legal framework. BRT is hoping to become the leading Shariah-compliant platform in Tajikistan.

MCB Arif Habib Savings and Investments Limited ("MCBAH") has announced that it has appointed a Shariah Supervisory Board under the Chairmanship of former Justice Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani for their existing as well as future Shaiah Compliant Mutual Funds, Voluntary Pension Schemes (VPS), Administrative Plans and Shariah Compliant Investment Advisory Mandates. Other members of the Shariah Supervisory Board are Dr Muhammad Zubair Usmani and Dr Ejaz Ahmed Samdani. Apart from advising MCBAH on Shariah matters, the Shariah Board will give expert guidance in introducing and implementing new investment models and products based on international Shariah research.

BankIslami Pakistan Limited formally started an Internal Hiring program for former KASB employees to help them assimilate better in the amalgamated entity. While interacting with former KASB employees at the launching ceremony of the Internal Hiring initiative, Mr. Hasan A Bilgrami, CEO BankIslami, reiterated that the Bank shall ensure maximum job security and adjust the staff in internal placements by training them in Islamic Banking as well as other job related skill set.

The Association for Development of Islamic Finance (ADIF) announced the signing of memorandum on cooperation with Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB). ADIF solely supported by National Bank of Republic of Kazakhstan (NBRK), is responsible for promoting, enhancing and maintaining the Islamic financial sector and cooperation with investors from GCC and South East Asia. The agreement was signed at the 12th IFSB Summit which took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Speaking at the Summit, Chairman of the Presidium, Zaratkazy Nurpiisov said, given the magnitude of Muslim population, enormous oil reserves, rich minerals and metal explorations the country has considerable advantages for Islamic finance.

As Islamic finance regulators and thought leaders converge on the commercial capital of Kazakhstan, Almaty, for the 12th Annual Summit of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), the world of Islamic finance is buoyed by a series of encouraging developments in the weeks leading up to the Summit. The Summit is scheduled to be held on 20-21 May 2015. The transformational impact of the Islamic finance industry can only be truly enhanced inter alia if the requisite infrastructure is in place. As such, issues relating to ‘Core Principles for Islamic Finance: Integrating with the Global Regulatory Framework,’ the Summit theme, is pertinent and follows the adoption last month by the IFSB of a new Standard on Core Principles for Islamic Finance Regulation (CPIFR)(Banking Segment) (IFSB-17).

Iran may be about to restore banking links with the rest of the world after years of separation, but the process won't be easy. The Iranian banks' shaky finances and close ties with their government will increase the risks of dealing with them. And during their years of isolation, they have developed a version of Islamic finance that is in some ways markedly different from that practiced in other Muslim-majority states. The differences may make it hard for foreign banks, even ones from other big Islamic banking markets in the Gulf and southeast Asia, to do business in Iran. Major issues are the trading of debt and use of derivatives — these are two very complicated issues in any Islamic financial system, and in Iran we have very different approaches.

As Pakistan continued its trend of looking for a helping hand to increase foreign exchange reserves, this time will take a loan of $1billion from Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and ask China to extend its term of the previous $1billion loan it detained earlier. The move has also been taken to support rupee against Dollar by raising $2billion in its foreign resources in the financial year 2015-16. According to an official from the Ministry of Finance, the government will take $1billion from from International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) of the Islamic Development Bank to finance crude oil imports, which will lend the money under a short-term Murabaha financing arrangement.