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Malaysian Affin Hwang Investment Bank expects gold prices to average higher in 2020, helped by sustained accommodative monetary policies among major central banks. Using the TradePlus Shariah Gold Tracker exchange-traded fund (ETF) as an avenue to invest in the precious metal, Affin Hwang believes the ETF’s fair value is RM2.30. In 2019, the price of gold surged by 18.9% year-on-year (YoY) to US$1,523.1/oz compared to a decline of 2.1% in 2018 to US$1,309.3/oz. In the near term, Affin Hwang Capital believes concerns over the recent Covid-19 outbreak will likely continue to drive safe-haven flows into gold. Due to geopolitical concerns and low-interest rates, the World Gold Council noted that holdings in gold-backed ETFs hit an all-time high of 2,885.5 tonnes in 4Q19 compared to 2,858.8 tonnes in 3Q19 mainly from North American and European-listed funds.

Today, technology and Islam are seeing a valuable convergence in its contribution to exercising faith in a modern era. Technology has been a real driving force in the introduction of Islamic business banking in the UK, with more than 20 banks now offering Islamic financial products. Recent technological innovation in augmented reality has seen a team of UK entrepreneurs create the Islamic GPS app, designed with a 360 degree interactive view to help consumers find Islamic heritage spots and halal sites. Britain is now also home to a host of tech platforms looking to support charities. The creation of MyTenNights showed sharp demand for automated, personalised nightly donation plans during Ramadan. To ensure they maximise their positive impact, Muslims are using the nightly automating donation platform to remove the admin of charitable donation.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) received shareholder approval for the acquisition of unlisted Dubai-based Noor Bank. With the acquisition, DIB will become one of the largest Islamic banks in the world, with total assets worth 275 billion dirhams ($74.9 billion). Shareholders gave approval for the acquisition through an increase of DIB’s capital from 6.6 billion shares to 7.2 billion shares, with a share swap ratio of 1 new share in DIB for every 5.49 Noor Bank shares, translating into an issuance of about 651 million new DIB shares. The deal comes after a wave of mergers in the UAE’s banking sector on the back of tougher competition and regulation, coupled with a slowing economy and a slide in house prices.

Despite its growing acceptability around the world, there are untapped opportunities that can be accessed through Islamic finance in Nigeria. When the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) granted approval to the defunct Habib Bank to operate an Islamic banking service window, the attempt did not register a significant success but it kickstarted Islamic banking in the country. The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued Rules on Islamic Fund Management and Sukuk Issuance. Similarly, the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Lotus Capital have developed an Islamic capital market Index. The National Pension Commission had in 2019 issued Regulation on Investment of Pension Fund Assets which recognised Government Sukuk as one of the accepted classes of assets for pension funds investment. In all, the Nigeria Islamic Finance Industry is fairly backed by regulations, sound supervisory structure and fragmented legal framework.

La Société islamique pour le développement du secteur privé (ICD) et Al Akhdar Bank organisent une conférence et des masterclasses autour de l’impact de la finance participative sur les Objectifs de développement durable (ODD). En effet, l’impact investing ou investissement responsable devient une composante essentielle des stratégies d’investissements. La finance participative est considérée comme un levier fort permettant d’élargir les horizons de l’impact investing. Le lancement récent de ce marché au Maroc permettra aux acteurs impliqués de jouer un rôle significatif dans la mobilisation des ressources complémentaires. Par la même occasion, ICD apprécie les efforts entrepris par Al Akhdar Bank en matière de fédération des acteurs clés marocains autour des valeurs de l’impact investing.

Lors du colloque international sur la finance islamique le ministre délégué à la prospective et aux statistiques, le docteur Bachir Messaitfa, avait réaffirmé l'intérêt des pouvoirs publics de voir ces activités financières se développer et contribuer de manière plus importante à l'effort de mobilisation de l'épargne nationale, de financement de l'économie et de bancarisation de la société. Les sukuk étant adossés à des actifs tangibles peuvent constituer une alternative pour toute entité de droit public ou privé désirant lever des fonds à travers des mécanismes de marché dans le respect des principes de la chari'a. En matière de crédit, la formule de vente par tempérament de véhicules préalablement acquis par la banque a suscité un immense intérêt auprès des citoyens.

Dans son rapport « Islamique Finance Outlook 2019 Edition », S&P Global Ratings a déclaré qu’à moyen terme, le secteur des fintechs pourrait entraîner certaines disruptions sur le marché de la finance islamique. L’adoption de la finance islamique par le biais des fintechs a une grande chance de toucher les masses, en particulier la population rurale qui a moins accès aux produits et services financiers. Le marché des fintechs islamiques en est encore à ses prémices mais recèle de nombreuses opportunités de croissance. Les services de transferts et de paiements via la technologie blockchain et la gestion des finances personnelles, dont les solutions d’open Banking, apparaissent être les secteurs à plus forte concentration et croissance. Ils sont proposés par les fintechs basées sur la blockchain et les contrats intelligents.

The Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) and the London Stock Exchange Plc (LSE) have both pledged to partner to boost Green Sukuk globally. President of the ISDB, Dr. Bandar Hajjar, met with the CEO of the LSE Plc, Nikhil Rathi, to discuss ways of broadening their collaboration. Green Sukuk has recently emerged as a unique example of a Sharia-compliant impact investing instrument with strong growth prospects. According to the Climate Bonds Initiative, a total of $117.8 billion in green bonds and Sukuk were issued in the first half of 2019, up 48% year-on-year. The Climate Bonds Initiative has also identified the following eligible assets for green Sukuk: solar parks, biogas plants, wind energy projects, renewable transmission and infrastructure projects, and electric vehicles. Equally, they can be used to subsidize a government's green payments.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) participated as a platinum sponsor in the activities of the 12th International Invention Fair of the Middle East. The exhibition is a platform which allows investors, creators, interested parties, official and governmental bodies to create investment opportunities for the private sector to advance scientific research. KFH is distinguished by a proven record in social responsibility, encouraging innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity among youth. In addition it sponsors digital transformation initiatives and implements technological applications. The International Invention Fair of the Middle East is the first of its kind that offers financial and promotional awards totaling more than 50 thousand dollars to achieve more support and encouragement for inventors and strengthening and supporting cooperation between investors and creators.

Winning over conservative Muslims is both a challenge and multi-billion dollar opportunity for fintech firms in Indonesia. Questions about compliance with Islamic law are a significant hurdle for the adoption of digital payments and other fintech services. Indonesia's top Muslim clerical body has issued an edict deeming virtual money acceptable, as long it met specific conditions. To showcase the compliance of their services with Islam, fintech firms are organising forums with Islamic scholars and sponsoring religious festivals. GoPay has partnered with the Indonesian Mosque Council to enable digital donations, including zakat, or compulsory alms giving, in its 800,000 mosques. Some of the startups say they are finding their appeal extends beyond Muslims. One of them is peer-to-peer lender Alami, which has disbursed over $7.5 million in sharia-compliant financing to small and medium enterprises since May.

Al Rayan Investment is working on the requirements of authorising a new bank with an expected paid-up capital of $10mn and an authorised capital of $20mn. The new bank is intended to be the first full-fledged digital bank in the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). Adel Mustafawi, Group CEO of Masraf Al Rayan said that Kazakhstan represents a new hub for Islamic finance in Central Asia, which offers considerable potential; while AIFC represents the optimal platform for Al Rayan. AIFC governor Dr Kairat Kelimbetov welcomes the decision of Al Rayan Investment to establish a fintech bank in AIFC. The new digital bank will focus on the development of Islamic banking products and investments facilitated by the application of cutting edge fintech products.

Bahrain's Family Bank has opened its new headquarters in the Diplomatic Area of Manama. The ceremony was attended by the bank’s board members, chief executives of contributing banks and economic personalities. The establishment of the Family Bank as a first social bank in Bahrain in 2010 aimed to boost the social security network by the activation of a micro loan-giving mechanism. The bank was set up through partnership between the Labour and Social Development Ministry, the Royal Charity Organisation, the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK), Ithmaar Bank, Ahli United Bank and Kuwait Finance House (KFH). It won Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s award for supporting youth projects in 2013.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has postponed a planned issuance of U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk due to market conditions resulting from the new coronavirus outbreak. DIB was planning to raise the financing on Feb. 26, but decided to wait for better market conditions. The potential deal received a good response from investors while it was being marketed, but volatility in the debt markets as the coronavirus outbreak intensifies would have increased the sukuk profit rate. All the Gulf countries except Saudi Arabia have reported cases of the new coronavirus, many in people who had been to Iran, where 54 people have died from the virus and 978 have been infected.

Gulf Islamic Investments (GII) has acquired a property in New York, which brings the firm’s US portfolio to more than $230 million. The property is an office building in White Plains, Westchester County, with a leasable area of 220,000 square feet, and is currently over 90% occupied by more than 30 tenants. It is also strategically located, as it’s close to the Federal, Supreme, District and Country courthouses in New York. According to CEO Pankaj Gupta, the global economy continues to signal a low-interest rate regime for the foreseeable future, hence, GII sees that such long income assets can deliver high single-digit returns. He added that GII was exploring such opportunities in Paris real estate market as well, with the view of taking advantage of the impact of Brexit.

Globalization, digitization and technology are propelling Artificial Intelligence (AI) forward in finance at an ever increasing pace. Despite the fact that finance is where some of the greatest investment is taking place, little has been written about potential financial regulatory concerns. Traditional financial supervision, focused on external supervision, is generally unlikely to be highly effective in addressing the risks created by AI. The most effective path forward involves regulatory approaches which bring the human into the loop, enhancing internal governance and personal responsibility through external regulation. The most effective are AI-tailored manager responsibility frameworks, augmented in some cases by independent AI review committees.

A new report from Philanthropy University, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and GSVlabs offers recommendations for strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships focused on advancing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. According to the report, SDG Partnerships Agenda 2030: Accelerating Progress, According to the report, the global community faces a $2.5 trillion annual funding gap with respect to the SDGs and no nation is on track. Studies have shown that only about a quarter of existing partnerships are meeting their objectives, while many participants in such partnerships are concerned about their costs. Taking steps to partner differently will enable stakeholders to leverage the untapped potential of philanthropy as not only a funder but a facilitator, of government as not only an approver but a builder, of civil society organizations not only as implementors but experts, and of the private sector as an accelerator of rather than a barrier to SDG efforts.

Nasdaq Dubai welcomed the listing of a US$2 billion Sukuk by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). The sukuk was priced at a profit rate of 1.809 percent payable on semi-annual basis. This Sukuk makes IsDB the leading Sukuk issuer by total value on Nasdaq Dubai at $15.64 billion. The first of IsDB’s 12 current Sukuk listings on the exchange was a $1 billion instrument that listed in 2015. The other IsDB listings are three Sukuk of $1.5 billion each, a $1.3 billion Sukuk, four Sukuk of $1.25 billion each, a EUR650 million Sukuk and a EUR1.1 billion Sukuk.

Saudi-listed retail group Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Company has signed a Murabaha facility and a revolving credit facility agreement with a syndicate of Saudi banks. The $800 million debt facility is composed of two tranches, including a $650 million Murabaha to be fully utilized in refinancing existing debt, and a $150 million revolving standby credit facility to finance the business’ operational and expansion needs. The Murabaha matures in 7 years, while the revolving credit facility’s tenure is 3 years. The banks participating in the loan agreement are: Al Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation, the National Commercial Bank, Samba Financial Group, Arab National Bank, Mashreqbank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.

Malaysia has firmly established itself as an Islamic hub in the world through leadership and innovative product offerings. As such, the creation of an Islamic finance-enabling ecosystem is the key driver of the Malaysian takaful industry’s growth. The takaful sector continues to enjoy faster growth than the conventional insurance sector. Family and general takaful premiums rose by 29.6% and 16.4% respectively in the first half of 2019 (1H19), compared to 12.2% in conventional life and -1.3% in general insurance. However, surverys show that almost half of the Malaysian population does not have protection due to a lack of awareness. According to Fitch Ratings, takaful operators should rethink the way these products are positioned to entice a larger crowd looking for general protection through the use of digital applications.

The East Africa Bank based in Djibouti has written to the Central Bank of Kenya raising concerns of a fraud using the bank's name and logo. Curiously, the logo, colours and the information on the website of the East African Savings Bank (EASB) are similar to those of the East Africa Bank based in the capital city of Djibouti. Both East Africa Bank and East Africa Savings Bank are apparently Sharia compliant. The East Africa Bank has already reported to the Central Bank of Kenya as well as the Banking fraud investigations unit for further action. The East Africa Bank believes this is a fraudulent misrepresentation and urges all customers to avoid dealing with the said entity.