IslamicFinance.de

Turkey's Capital Markets Board has approved issuance of ringgit-denominated Islamic bonds by Turkiye Finans Katilim Bankasi and a debut lira-denominated deal by Zorlu Energy. Islamic lender Turkiye Finans will raise up to 2.05 billion ringgit ($553.7 million) via sukuk, issued by its wholly-owned unit TF Varlik Kiralama. Separately, Zorlu Energy received approval to raise 100 million lira ($38.4 million) via sukuk. So far the bulk of sukuk issuance has come from the government and the country's four Islamic banks. Islamic lender Kuveyt Turk also plans to issue a debut sukuk in the Malaysian market, through a 2 billion ringgit programme.

Al Rayan Bank PLC, formerly known as Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB), has announced the appointment of Tim Sinclair as senior head of marketing and retail sales at its Birmingham office. Sinclair has played a role in the realignment of the bank’s sales channels, towards a more direct model. This has been achieved by developing the bank’s online capabilities, resulting in a 439% growth in direct sales between 2011 and 2014. Sinclair has also championed several research projects, which have helped Al Rayan Bank to develop a clearer understanding of the British Muslim consumer and business marketplace, a previously under researched area.

Bank Asya’s lawyer Süleyman Ta?ba? vows to challenge the Finance Ministry's Financial Crimes wing (MASAK) and the banking regulator calling for return of shares. Acting upon information that the Finance Ministry's Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) was engaged in concocting a report that would cast negative light on publicly-traded Bank Asya, Süleyman Ta?ba? has filed a letter to MASAK stating that only the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) and the Capital Markets Board (SPK) had authority. Adding that the incident constituted to an unconstitutional profiling of Bank Asya the lawyer vowed to defend the rights of the shareholders.

Gatehouse Bank has announced the addition of Threadneedle Investments as a shareholder in Gatehouse. Threadneedle, an international asset manager based in London with assets under management of $148.2 billion, has acquired a shareholding of approximately two per cent in Gatehouse. The addition of Threadneedle to its shareholder base enhances Gatehouse's ability to continue to deliver value-added opportunities for its clients. The bank has a long history of bridging capital from the GCC region and Southeast Asia with investment in Western markets.

According to Standard & Poor's (S&P), the replacement of Bank Asya's management and upcoming general elections do not create risks for the banking industry. The international rating agencies' ratings for Turkey are not affected by the decision by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency's (BDDK) in regards to the seizure of Bank Asia. S&P futher noted that the bank's share in the banking system was only around 0.1 percent and therefore does not create any systematic risk for the banking sector. Moreover, Turkey's banking system is being positively affected by geopolitical developments with Turkish banks benefiting from what is happening in Russia and Ukraine.

Islamic lender Bank Asya has posted a net loss of 877 million lira ($335.58 million). The bank, in which Turkish banking regulators seized a small stake last week over an alleged illegal share sale, had posted a net profit of 180.6 million lira in 2013. Bank Asya has been battered by President Tayyip Erdogan's attempts to wipe out Gulen's religious movement, which he accuses of attempting to build a "parallel state". Regulators last month took over the bank's management after the government said it failed to meet some legal criteria.

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is keen to issue another sukuk next year following the success of the QInvest-assisted, first euro-denominated sovereign sukuk issued in September 2014, Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna said. He attended a roundtable discussion in Doha, focussing on strategic co-operation between the two countries in the field of international finance, among others. According to Gramegna, the seminar focused on Luxembourg as a diversified financial centre for private and institutional investors from the Middle East, as well as a leading Islamic finance centre in Europe. He noted that economic ties between the two countries led to a number of Qatari investments in the Grand Duchy.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) hosted the first UAE-Luxembourg Council for Islamic Finance Cooperation meeting in Dubai yesterday. The meeting was attended by a number of prominent economic and financial institutions from both countries. UAE members of the council include MoF , the Central Bank, UAE University, Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre, World Trade Center Abu Dhabi, Dubai Chamber, Etihad Airways, Al Hilal Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. Luxembourg's representativesinclude the Ministry of Finance, Luxembourg Bankers' Association, Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry and the University of Luxembourg.

Turkish banking regulators on Wednesday seized a small stake in the Islamic lender Bank Asya over an alleged illegal share sale. The banking watchdog said in a statement on Wednesday that Turkey's Savings Deposit Insurance Fund had seized preferred shares in Bank Asya held by a publishing company and a construction firm, citing irregularities in the sale of their parent company, Kaynak Holding, to a Dutch firm in January. The watchdog said that only preferred shares had been seized, but did not specify the size of that holding. The announcement came just hours after the ratings agency Standard & Poor's warned that actions against Bank Asya illustrated "the potential for political risk, or the perception of it, to directly or indirectly spill over into the financial system".

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has announced the opening of its new headquarters in the United Kingdom for its subsidiary QIB -UK. The new five storey office is located at 43 Grosvenor Street in the Mayfair district. QIB -UK's focus is on supporting the investment and trade flows between Qatar and the UK. The firm offers real estate investment opportunities for clients looking to purchase premium properties in London. QIB -UK has assembled a team of real estate specialists to ensure clients are well placed to get premium real estate opportunities in the market. QIB -UK, was fully authorised as an Islamic Bank by the UK Financial Services Authority in January 2008, and is fully owned by Qatar Islamic Bank .

The Saving Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), which has seized Bank Asya, has determined the details of a precautions package. The bank will not be able to open new branches due to uncertainties in its liquidity structure. With the seizure by the TMSF, loan allocation and tracking processes and procedures will be improved. The new management assigned to the bank is striving first to preserve the current business and recover its customer portfolio. The information and documents submitted by the shareholders after the TMSF seized Bank Asya are currently being examined. Furthermore, criminal and judicial lawsuits will be filed against the previous management, which signed agreements that resulted in bad debt.

La Chaire Éthique et Normes de la Finance de l’Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne a le plaisir de vous inviter au Séminaire Mensuel qui aura lieu le Mercredi 11 Mars 2015 au 2 rue Cujas, Salle 208 (2ème étage) à 9h. Ce séminaire se fera par vidéoconférence entre le Centre de Recherche sur l’Économie Islamique à Djeddah et l’Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. L’invité d’honneur pour cette séance sera Monsieur Anass Patel qui nous présentera son travail de recherche : “Channeling Asset-Managed Sukuk towards SMEs financing: Sukuk Mudaraba prototype applied to a French SME”. Si vous souhaitez participer à ce séminaire, vous pouvez vous inscrire en http://cenf.univ-paris1.fr/jp/agenda/inscription-en-ligne-au-prochain-se....

Turkey's third-largest state bank Vak?fbank has received regulatory approval Tuesday from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency to establish an Islamic banking division. Vak?fbank will be allowed to set up a stand-alone Islamic unit capitalized at $300 million. After the approval, the bank has nine months to establish its banking unit according to Turkish law. Shareholders of the new Islamic bank will include Turkish Directorate General of Foundations, Bayezid Han-? Sani (II. Bayezid) Vakf?, Mahmud Han-? Evvel bin Mustafa Han (I. Mahmud) Vakf?, Mahmud Han-? Sani bin Abdülhamid Han-? Evvel (II. Mahmut) Vakf? ve Murad Pa?a bin Abdusselam (Murat Pa?a) Foundation.

European Islamic Investment Bank PLC Wednesday said it has appointed Neil McDougall as its interim finance director. According to the company, McDougall is a qualified accountant who has held senior board and management positions at financial institutions including Europe Arab Bank and Commerzbank. The company has continued the search for a finance director after the appointment of Michael Warren Kidd, the chief operating officer of its majority-owned Rasmala Investment Bank and head of Strategy and Principal Investment at EIIB, fell through back in July of 2014. European Islamic Investment Bank shares were down 3.9% at 161.00 pence on Wednesday.

London has set its sights on becoming the world centre for the Islamic finance industry according to the UK's foreign office minister for Middle East, Tobias Ellwood. Britain was also committed to promoting a "peaceful and prosperous" Middle East and expanding trade ties with the region, which topped £35bn last year, said Mr Ellwood. Mr Ellwood also celebrated notable sharia-compliant investments that have been used to fund some of the capital’s largest developments, including The Shard and the Olympic Village. The sovereign Sukuk market, which makes up only 0.1pc of global financial assets, is predicted to expand by 20pc a year.

Turkey's Doga Group plans to enter the takaful market in the coming months with what would be the country's first such product. Its Doga Sigorta insurance unit is close to signing a cooperation deal with reassurance companies such as Swiss Re and others from the Gulf and Malaysia, the unit's Chairman Nihat Kirmizi said. Kirmizi said the Doga Group wanted to take advantage of the growing interest for Islamic finance products in the largely Muslim nation. The firm will be completely ready by May, and has received verbal permits from the Treasury. He added that at least three to four other firms planned to enter the takaful insurance market by 2018.

As uncertainties over the management of the Islamic lender Bank Asya continue, auditors from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) who are uneasy about a possible penalty that they may be subject to, have warned the agency, since the takeover decision was not made at a general assembly meeting of the bank. A news report in Bugün daily on Monday said the BDDK's auditors are worried about a possible fine for the takeover decision and had called on the agency's top officials to convene a Bank Asya general assembly meeting. The report further claims that the auditors expect a penalty of around TL 8-10 billion for the failure to gain a general assembly decision in the handing over of the management of the bank.

Greece’s new Syriza government has two major economic challenges to address: a Resolution of Greece’s unsustainable debt burden followed by a Transition to a long term sustainable economy. Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis' proposal is for a conversion of the existing dated ‘debt’ liabilities into a modern form of the undated credit instruments (‘stock’). Firstly, Greece would dedicate an agreed proportion of tax income to long term funding. Greece then issues stock at a discount, each of which is returnable in payment of Greece’s taxes. This new issuance would then be allocated between the different creditors in a way reflecting the repayment date and interest rate of Greek liabilities. From then on Greece would use part of its tax income to buy back this stock for cancellation.

Kuwait's Warba Bank has successfully arranged a US$150 million, Sharia-complaint syndicated finance facility for the International Bank of Azerbaijan ("IBA"). The facility has a tenor of one year with a bullet repayment due at maturity. Warba Bank has participated in this transaction with a stake of US$20 million in a consortium of six regional and international banks: J.P Morgan Bank, Citigroup, Barwa Bank, Al Hilal Bank, Noor Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank. In addition, Warba Bank has also announced its contribution of US$15 million in an Islamic Sharia-complaint facility amounting US$80 million arranged by HSBC for the Turkish Ozun Group. Moreover, the Bank sold its real estate investment in West Bromwich in the United Kingdom achieving net profit of KD 640 K.

Why an Islamic Finance training programme?

The Islamic banking and finance (IBF) sector has experienced substantial and unprecedented growth in recent years: growing at a rate of 10-15% per year. Today, more than 500 IBF institutions are operating worldwide, which are claimed to manage assets worth no less than $1.2 trillion, while the assets held in IBF institutions were only less than $10 billion in 1985. In Malaysia the IBF institutions are planned to capture the 25% of the market share, in terms of assets owned, by 2012, while it is expected that Islamic finance will be the mainstream finance in the Gulf region in the next decade.

Such immense growth has brought Islamic finance to the attention of the international banking and finance community, prompting the major banks to set up Islamic financial windows to take advantage of demand for Shari'ah compliant finance.