IslamicFinance.de

Keith Leach, chief commercial officer (CCO), Al Rayan Bank, has an answer to the question if the new UK stamp duty charges announced in the autumn budget have a negative impact on foreign investment into property. His answer showed that potential investors are looking at the big, global picture. The tax changes — what might be on the horizon — wasn’t figuring in their thought processes. What was in their thoughts was the political and economic instability in the region, he explained. With regard to the impact of the 3% hike across all bands of stamp duty on buy-to-let landlords in the UK, Leach said it could lead to landlords faced with higher charges raising rents, or abandoning the buy-to-let market with a consequent reduction in availability of rental properties.

The Alinma Bank Board of Directors has recommended the distribution of share dividend to its shareholders for the 2015 fiscal year. After approval at the bank’s next general assembly meeting in March 2016, shareholders will receive SR0.50 per share (5% of nominal value). The total disbursal will amount to SR745 million. Alinma Bank Chairman Engr. Abdulaziz Al-Zamil congratulated the bank’s staff and shareholders on a year of growth and success.

The World Bank’s Corporate Secretary Mahmoud Mohieldin expects that gulf oil exporting countries will be affected by the decline in oil prices, welcoming reform measures taken by these countries which include general monetary policies and diversification of income sources. Dr. Mohieldin said that there are golden opportunities in the year of 2016 in light of the declining prices of both mineral products and agricultural goods. The golden opportunity for Arab countries is to take advantage of those declining prices to develop domains of construction and agricultural, alongside other sustainment projects of renewable energy, thus diversifying income sources and endorsing economic reform, growth and stability.

Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) has signed an agreement with Moroccan lender Credit Immobilier et Hotelier S.A. (CIH Bank) to set up a bank in Morocco. In November, central bank governor Abdellatif Jouahri said Morocco would start issuing Islamic banking licences within the next year. QIIB will take a 40 percent stake in the new bank, which is expected to launch in coming months after necessary approvals, the Qatari institution said on Thursday without giving details of the venture. The Qatari joint venture is part of QIIB's strategy to pursue overseas investments and diversity its portfolio, the lender said in a bourse statement. Islamic banks from Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have also expressed interest in entering Morocco.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) signed separate agreements with six more private banks on Wednesday to facilitate long-term financing under the World Bank funded Financial Sector Support Project (FSSP). Under the agreements, the six banks - Dutch Bangla Bank Limited, IFIC Bank Limited, South East Bank Limited, Standard Bank Limited, Trust Bank Limited, and Standard Chartered Bank - would provide long-term financing for projects in manufacturing sectors. The central bank earlier signed similar agreement with ten other banks. BB Deputy Governor Nazneen Sultana said that the BB under the auspices of International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank would provide $300 million through FSSP to meet the growing demand for long-term financing for productive sectors in the country.

Meezan Bank and EFU General Insurance Limited have joined hands for Takaful Coverage of Car Ijarah vehicles. As per the agreement, EFU Takaful will provide coverage to the vehicles leased by Meezan Bank through its Shariah-compliant car financing service Car Ijarah. The MoU was signed by Ariful Islam, Deputy CEO, Meezan Bank and Mr. Hasan Ali Abdullah, Managing Director, EFU General Insurance Limited Window Takaful Operations, at Meezan Bank’s Head Office, Karachi. Irfan Siddiqui, President & CEO of Meezan Bank was also present at the occasion.

The book: "Scaling Up: The Convergence of Social Economy and Sustainability", co-edited by Mike Gismondi, Mary Beckie et al., investigates innovative social economies in British Columbia and Alberta and discovered that achieving a social good through collective, grassroots enterprise resulted in a sustainable way of satisfying human needs that was also, by extension, environmentally responsible. As these case studies illustrate, organizations that are capable of harnessing the power of a social economy generally demonstrate a commitment to three outcomes: greater social justice, financial self-sufficiency, and environmental sustainability.

As global Islamic bonds languish in the bleakest year for sales since 2010, the next 12 months look just as challenging. Malaysia’s CIMB Group Holdings Bhd ( Valuation: 1.65, Fundamental: 0.55), the top sukuk arranger worldwide for seven of the last nine years, predicts a pick up in 2016 to at least US$40 billion from 2015’s US$34.5 billion. The forecast is still 20% less than the record US$50.1 billion in 2012. Slowing economic growth could weigh on companies’ capital and their investment spending. Borrowers in the US$2 trillion Islamic finance industry also now face higher costs after the US raised interest rates for the first time in almost a decade and signaled more increases.

Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) has reaffirmed the ratings of Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank (KTPB) at ‘AA(tr)/A1+(tr)’ (Double A / A One Plus) on the national scale. Ratings on the international scale have also been reaffirmed, with foreign currency rating at ‘BBB-/A3’ (Triple B Minus / A Three) and the local currency rating at ‘BBB/A3’ (Triple B / A Three). Outlook on the assigned ratings is ‘Stable’. The assigned ratings take into account KTPB’s sound financial risk profile, against the backdrop of continued business expansion. Overall profitability position is also healthy; however, efficiency indicators have lagged behind larger players.

Saudi Arabia's central bank has granted a license to its national home finance company, Bidaya and it will launch with 900 million riyals ($239.94 million) in capital. The decision by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) joins efforts to boost home ownership in the kingdom, where a shortage of affordable housing has become an economic and social issue. In development since 2010, Bidaya is a venture between the finance ministry's Public Investment Fund and the Jeddah-based Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). The company aims to make financing more readily available in a kingdom where home ownership levels lag behind the global average of 70 percent.

The FinMark Trust, a nonprofit that promotes financial inclusion and regional financial integration; the Centre for Financial Regulation & Inclusion (CENFRI), a nonprofit affiliated with FinMark Trust; and The MasterCard Foundation, a Canadian organization founded by the US-based payments firm MasterCard, recently have announced that they will launch a joint data facility named “insight2impact” (i2i). The facility, which is expected to have a budget of USD 9.6 million, is intended to assist financial services providers in assessing the financial needs of low-income populations.

Infrastructure needs in developing countries are great and will continue to rise over the next decade. Since funding infrastructure projects usually requires a long-term and large investment, emerging markets are struggling how to meet these needs through public investments or even traditional bank funding. Figuring out how to finance investments needed in infrastructure is one of the key issues on the G20 agenda and has also been identified in the Sustainable Development Goals. While private-public partnerships are usually mentioned as one way to bridge this financing gap, using Islamic finance or other asset-backed financial mechanisms has started to gain traction in recent years.

In developed markets, crowdfunding is swelling the ranks of early-stage entrepreneurs and bolstering the pipeline of enterprises that diversify economies and create the majority of jobs. However, for early-stage entrepreneurs in emerging markets, the path toward crowdfunding remains untrod. Microlending platforms like Kiva are issuing consumer lending finance but cannot provide enough capital to fund the core business operations of a startup. Larger amounts of debt or equity are available via online platforms, but these are best suited for more mature companies or projects. What is missing is a normative usage of presale, rewards, or contributions crowdfunding for early-stage companies.

Between $3.3 to $4.5 trillion in investments each year will be needed to fund the Sustainable Development Goals, according to UN estimates. As one way to meet these staggering needs, the international development community is developing new results-focused financing instruments, some of which seek to mobilize untapped private sector capital and knowledge, while repositioning global economic and social challenges into investible opportunities. Impact bonds aren’t bonds in the traditional sense. Instead, they should be considered more as equity-like instruments that offer repayment to investors on the basis of results achieved.

A quiet revolution is taking place in the financial industry. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, sustainable development is increasingly being integrated into financial decision-making. The European Union has been rather passive so far in this transformation, but financial regulators in a number of countries are leading the charge. The revolution may be quiet, but it is getting louder. Fossil-fuel companies are increasingly being delegitimized. At the same time, investors are starting to understand that paying attention to climate risk is an integral part of a sound investment strategy that seeks to minimize risk and help to promote financial stability.

PBMT is the coordinating body of BMT (Baitul Maat wat Tamwil / House of Social and Business) organizations in Indonesia. BMT itself is a microfinance institution which also acts as a social enterprise, using the principles of Sharia economy to lift people out of poverty. In Indonesia, the BMT helps the poor through a systematic step-by-step mechanism. First, the very poor people are given a grant from the donors’ donations, and guidance to start their micro-enterprises. Once they are on the right track, they will be granted a non-commercial loan with no interest. In the last stage, these people would ideally have established their own micro-enterprises.

The government is making it easier for the public to save for their higher education through its National Education Savings Scheme SSPN-i Plus. The SSPN-i Plus, which was introduced by the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) in June, doubles as an education fund besides providing affordable Takaful (Islamic insurance) coverage to the depositor. The product, a result of the strategic collaboration between PTPTN and Hong Leong MSIG Takaful (HLM Takaful), aims to instil in Malaysians the savings culture. The government has also provided a variety of exemptions for taxpayers to reduce their tax burden, with 21 tax exemptions given to taxpayers for the 2015 assessment year.

Bahrain Islamic Bank announces that it has appointment Fahim Ahmed, as the Bank's new Chief Risk Officer effective 01 December, 2015. Mr. Ahmed brings over 17 years of international banking experience where he held various roles in corporate banking and risk management, the last as Chief Risk Officer at Standard Chartered Bank Bahrain, where he has been for the last three years. Mr. Ahmed has served in several markets such as Pakistan, Qatar, Oman, UAE and UK. He has a diploma in Islamic Finance (CDIF) and an MBA from the University of Warwick, UK. The position's scope includes not only the historical risk management responsibility, but also credit risk management, operational risk management and portfolio management.

The gap between the spending needs of developing countries and the pressure on financial institutions to carefully monitor their credit exposure in order to optimize their capital management driven by regulatory constraints on solvency, is creating opportunities for more diversified products of alternative funding. Considering promoting the Islamic bond market is on top of the agenda of credit risk management, thus creating room and greater opportunities of growth for Islamic products of asset based or backed instruments. This context provided the background for the Deloitte and IRTI-IDB Group executive workshop, “The corporate Sukuk market in Europe: mapping the pathway for an alternative financing”, recently held in London.

Malaysia will face pressure to sell global sukuk next year as $1.2 billion of Islamic debt matures in July and plunging oil prices erode fiscal revenue and currency reserves. RHB Investment Bank Bhd. and Union Investment Privatfonds GmbH see demand for a new Islamic bond holding up because of a scarcity of dollar sukuk and longer-term prospects for Malaysia’s finances. Prime Minister Najib Razak repeated a warning last week that government revenue for Asia’s only major net oil exporter could fall short of the official target by the equivalent of about $7 billion next year. Standard & Poor’s rates the nation A-, with a stable outlook on its credit rating.