IslamicFinance.de

Kenya is set to host the first East Africa Islamic Finance Summit (EIAFS2015) that will be held on December 14th at Nairobi’s Villa Rosa Kempinski. The Cabinet Secretary for Treasury Henry Rotich will give a presentation on Kenya’s role in developing East Africa as an Islamic Finance investment destination. The summit themed “Unveiling opportunities”, aims to initiate dialogue, build network between East Africa’s financial institutions, policy makers and the Islamic Finance institutions in the region and the Middle East. Experts in Islamic Finance will discuss the development of Islamic Finance in East Africa, explore infrastructure projects in the region and discuss alternative opportunities for project and trade finance for both public and private sector projects.

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. is looking at debuting at the Islamic financing market by issuing sukuk securities, to boost its fledgling venture into Malaysia’s property industry. ALI in April acquired 9.16 percent of Malaysian company GW Plastics Holdings Bhd. through a private placement amounting to $43 million or P1.9 billion. The Malaysian firm was later renamed MCT Bhd. ALI subsequently entered into a call option agreement with the two founders of the Malaysian firm, allowing it to increase its shares in MCT up to a maximum of 32.95 percent. To fund the entire investment, which needs to be accomplished in a month’s time, Ysmael said ALI is looking at the cheapest options available.

The Obama administration has launched its first-ever crowdfunding campaign this week to raise money for Syria’s growing refugee crisis, in a bid to draw the American public into supplementing the U.N. refugee agency’s strained budget. The initiative is also a first of its kind for Silicon Valley crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. As of Wednesday, the second full day of the campaign, donors had raised over $800,000 for the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) — enough to cover immediate necessities and a place to sleep for 3,000 people in need, the campaign page says. However, the UNHCR has only received $1.8 billion of the $4.5 billion it has requested from foreign governments for Syrian refugees in 2015.

Saudi Arabia's Arab National Bank has issued SR2 billion ($533 million) of 10-year sukuk through a private placement, the kingdom's seventh largest lender by assets said in a bourse statement on Thursday. The bank has the right to call the sukuk after five years, it said. The yield was expected to be 140 basis points over the six-month Saudi interbank offered rate, the statement added. The proceeds of the issue will enhance the bank's capital in addition to allowing it to expand its activities through its Islamic window, the bank said.

L’université Paris Dauphine lance, en collaboration avec le cabinet Fidaroc Grant Thornton, l’Executive Master principes et pratiques de la finance islamique au Maroc, à Casablanca. L'occasion aussi de faire le point sur les perspectives de la finance islamique au Maroc et dans le monde. Le choix du Maroc pour lancer cette formation n’est pas dû au hasard. Au contraire, il traduit les atouts et les perspectives de développement de la finance islamique au Maroc. Faïçal Mekouar, président de Fidaroc Grant Thornton a par contre rappelé le niveau non satisfaisant de la bancarisation au Maroc.

Indonesia's regulators have launched a plan aimed at growing the sector, which currently accounts for less than five percent of banking assets. It is modelled after similar bodies in other countries, such as the International Islamic Financial Centre in Malaysia. In addition to the OJK roadmap, the government has announced plans to merge the Islamic banking subsidiaries of four state-owned banks to create an Islamic mega-bank, which should be able to provide better services than the current Islamic lenders. Authorities believe it is a good moment, with many Indonesians getting wealthier after years of strong economic growth and an increasing trend towards piety across broad sections of society.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has welcomed the progress made by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) with respect to the capitalisation of the banking sector. In the eighth review of Pakistan’s economic performance under a 36-month loan programme of about $6.6 billion, the IMF said the SBP should continue its efforts to bring a number of small banks into compliance with statutory requirements. After the recapitalisation through a rights issue in the only capital adequacy ratio (CAR)-non-compliant bank in July, it noted with satisfaction that all Pakistani banks have now become CAR-compliant. However, five small banks are still operating below the Rs10 billion minimum paid-up capital requirement (MCR).

China’s foreign-exchange reserves fell by a record in the third quarter as the central bank sold dollars to support the yuan after a surprise August 11 devaluation sparked the currency’s steepest slide in two decades. The stockpile plunged by $180 billion in the three months through September to $3.51 trillion. The hoard shrank $43.3 billion in September, less than the $57 billion predicted in a survey, suggesting the pace of central bank intervention has eased. The central bank has this year lowered the proportion of deposits that lenders must lock away in an effort to offset capital outflows and intervention to support the yuan.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank has no current plans to raise more capital after a rights issue last month, its chief executive Tirad al-Mahmoud said, adding that the lender would eschew expansion to focus on existing markets. The largest Islamic lender in the emirate raised Dhs 504m ($137m) in September. Mahmoud said the bank would grow by “mid-single-digits” in 2015 and its capital was sufficient for this level, though he did not say what growth he was referring to. ADIB posted a 10.5 per cent rise in net profit in the second quarter. ADIB had no plans to expand into new markets and would instead focus on where it has existing operations, he added.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the City of London on Tuesday pledged to work together to deepen Islamic finance in Nigeria in order to bring financial inclusion to Nigerian Muslims and non-Muslims averse to traditional financial system and products. The Lord Mayor of London, Mr. Alderman Yarrow said London with six Islamic banks and another 20 lenders currently offering Islamic financial products and services had the capacity to help Nigeria to deepen its Islamic financial system. Meanwhile, the commission is considering modalities for setting up a Sharia advisory council as a body of experts to advise it on non-interest product applications.

European Islamic Investment Bank plc (EIIB-Rasmala) has announced the expansion of its real estate business. Simultaneously, the Group has also announced the acquisition of a commercial office building for GBP 11.8 million ($17.9 million, AED 65.9 million), located on the Doxford International Business Park. The real estate division will focus on identifying high quality, income generating opportunities in the UK, Europe and the United States. The primary focus will be on the UK. The Group expects to invest approximately $1.5 billion in a broad mix of real estate transactions over the next three years, with $750 million being allocated for investments in the UK.

The Dubai Center for Islamic Banking and Finance (DCIBF) released an extensive report entitled ‘Takaful: Global Challenges to Growth Performance and Governance’ during the 2015 Global Islamic Economic Summit in Dubai. There are still critical gaps that need to be addressed by industry practitioners and experts in cooperation with government. The report reveals that the GCC region currently dominates the Takaful business, with Southeast Asia and Africa as the next biggest markets. The report notes that the future rate of growth of Takaful sales is being inhibited by the relative under-development of insurance distribution channels in several emerging markets into which Takaful is being launched.

Islamic lenders will find it difficult to compete in Lebanon's banking sector without regulatory amendments to support growth of the Islamic banking industry, Mutasim Mahmassani , the general manager of Al Baraka Bank Lebanon said. He said that the market share of Islamic banking assets in the overall banking industry in Lebanon remains below 1%. Al Baraka Bank Lebanon , a subsidiary of Al Baraka Banking Group, expects its profits to grow by 7-8% this year to nearly USD 1 million, he added. The official said that lack of awareness of Islamic banking options in Lebanon was also a major obstacle to growth, adding that murabaha is the most popular tool of Islamic finance in Lebanon.

Queen Noor of Jordan, the founder and chairperson of the King Hussein Foundation (KHF), recently announced the launch of Ethmar, a microfinance institution (MFI) that is compliant with Shariah. Queen Noor expressed the vision of Ethmar becoming an innovative model for economic empowerment similar to the other pioneering programs launched by the King Hussein Foundation. As of 2015, the foundation operates programs including the Jubilee Institute; the Information and Research Center; the National Center for Culture and Performing Arts and the National Music Conservatory.

According to a 2011 report by Jones Lang LaSalle, the MENA and GCC region was in need of 3.5 million affordable homes. A 2015 update by JLL said that this shortage has in all likelihood increased since then. In Saudi Arabia, JLL estimated the shortage in 2011 to be around 400,000 homes, which has resulted from a rapidly growing population, a limited supply of completed developments and a lack of access to housing finance for middle-income earners, it said. For other Gulf markets, the roots of the problem are in the ground. Governments across the Gulf are being moved to take action.

Noor Bank is set to support an art and design exhibition at the Global Islamic Economy Summit 2015 (GIES) that will run on October 5th and 6th in Dubai. In partnership with Thomson Reuters, Noor Bank will spotlight new Islamic artwork at the event in its role as the official Arts and Design Sponsor of GIES 2015. Additionally, as part of Noor Bank's participation at the landmark summit, Hussain Al Qemzi, CEO of Noor Bank and Chairman of Awqaf & Minors Affairs Foundation will headline a session on Awqaf as a keynote speaker. GIES 2015 is scheduled to take place at the Madinat Jumeirah.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) participated as a primary dealer for short-term Sukuk issued by the International Islamic Liquidity Management IILM worth $1.85 billion. KFH is considered as the most active dealer in the market in terms of acquisition and volume traded. AbdulWahab Al-Roshoud, Acting Chief Treasury Officer at KFH, said that the average trading of IILM's previous three issuances in the secondary market surpassed 50 per cent of their volume which is considered high in comparison with the rest of Sukuk, indicating that this reflects the market’s strength and its contributions in increasing the liquidity. KFH forecasts that several local and global banks will participate in IILM’s upcoming Sukuk.

To expand its capital market, Oman will sell its first sovereign Islamic bond this week, the sultanate’s Ministry of Finance has announced. The country will open subscriptions for its first issue of sovereign sukuk on October 8 and close them on October 22. The rial-denominated issue will have a tenor of five years and will mature in 2020, with its profit rate set through a uniform price auction, according to the ministry. The issue will be open to sophisticated investors – usually taken to mean fund managers, banks and other institutions, as well as wealthy individuals – with a minimum subscription of OMR500,000 ($1.3 million).

Iran has long had a hard time attracting foreign cash. But with this summer’s historic nuclear deal, foreign investors are finally eyeing the pariah nation. Investors, though, are going in with their eyes open to the numerous obstacles, such as limited company transparency, a small number of outstanding shares for trading, a lack of custodial services and high inflation. Most foreign entities aren’t yet legally allowed to buy shares on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Still, more foreign buyers are now considering the Iranian equity market because, over the next six to 12 months, they’ll likely be able to access the TSE as the nuclear deal takes effect.

Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Mian Muhammad Adrees appreciated the joint collaboration between Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited (PQGTL) and non-bank financial institutions (NBFI) & Modaraba Association of Pakistan (MAP) while speaking at the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony. He said that it is a milestone of collaboration for promotion of the Islamic financial system. The ceremony was jointly arranged by NBFI&MAP and PQGTL for providing takaful coverage to the members of the association on the basis of Islamic modes.