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Asia presents huge developmental potential for Islamic finance and is likely to be the main driver of Islamic banking growth in the near future, given the untapped potential in India, Bangladesh and Indonesia, a Kuwait Finance House Group report said. Islamic finance can be utilised for greater integration of financial markets with the real economy and for improvement of the economic balance between emerging and frontier markets, according to the report. However, the report did not provide details of Islamic banking operations in countries like India, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Driving the industry in the region is Malaysia, particularly in areas of Islamic banking, bonds and funds, it said.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) and Fitch Learning concluded a three-month paradigm training course in order to enrich the banking experience of employees, and boost their productive abilities. The training course had a capacity of 90 trainees that were divided into six groups. Fitch Learning staff gave this course based on the requirements of employees. Workshops witnessed competitive performance among the trainees. The course was divided into Sukuk, Client Handling Framework, Real Estate, Traded Equity, Private Equity, Asset Allocation and Diversification. After assessing the requirements of Wealth Management, the bank collaborated with Fitch Learning, in order to address those needs.

The CEO of Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the Gulf country’s largest Islamic lender, has reportedly stepped down, according to two company sources. Mohammed al-Omar’s resignation as CEO is linked to wider management changes at KFH, one of the sources said.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) reported a 13 per cent rise in first quarter net profit which rose to 26.06 million dinars ($92.54 million) from 23.0 million dinars in the same period a year ago. Revenues were 1 per cent higher at 224.4 million dinars. Five analysts in a Reuters poll had estimated an average net profit of 32.76 million dinars for the quarter. KFH’s total assets were 17.3 billion dinars at the end of the first quarter, an increase of 16 percent compared to the same time last year while deposits rose 7 per cent to 636 million dinars. Shares in the company closed at 0.85 dinars on Thursday on the Kuwaiti stock market, which reopens on Sunday. Chairman Hamad al-Marzouq said KFH wanted to expand in Turkey and adjacent countries’ markets, without giving details.

The month of March has produced the most volume of sukuk issuances for the global sukuk market in 2014 with total sukuk issuances amounting to USD11.2bln. This represents an increase of more than 23% as compared to the USD9.07bln issuances in February 2014 and a 3.13% increase as compared to the USD10.86bln issuances in January this year. However, there was a substantial decline in corporate sukuk issuances in March with only USD1.45bln worth of issuances. The decline in corporate sukuk issuances was contributed mainly by a noticeable absence of issuers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The sukuk volume in March saw heavy involvement of the sovereign and government related entities issuers in the primary market as collectively these two types of sukuks represented over 87% of total sukuks issued.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) offered a new financing product that allows the public to purchase seats at schools and universities using monthly installments. KFH purchases seats at universities, schools, and institutes, then resells those seats to the public. People can pay through monthly installments, and the ceiling of the service is KD 15,000. The first installment can be postponed for six months, and the service is possible for all people in Kuwait, regardless of whether they are KFH clients or not. However, the service is subject to the credit rules and regulations. The person requiring the service must have an original price quote, original ID, a recent salary certificate that shows the net salary, and a balance inquiry for the clients of other banks.

According to Kuwait Finance House (KFH) CEO Mohammed Al-Omar, the continuous increase in profit over five consecutive quarters underlines the success of the restructuring process and the management's decision to focus on main operations to achieve sustainable profit, offer better returns to shareholders and depositors, and easing burden off the institution. He explained that that a rearrangement of the real estate portfolio is occuring, to benefit from current developments in the real estate market, in terms of rates and shifting to certain kinds of real estate and land. Furthermore, Al-Omar noted that the strategy that KFH adopted regarding its overseas banks, has played a role in cementing their roles and making them more profitable.

Kuwait Finance House has signed a memorandum of understanding to finance $115 million for Bahrain-based Foulath Holding Company for five years. Shaheen Al-Ghanem, International Banks General Manager, KFH said the deal was part of KFH’s efforst to expand in foreign markets. Foulath is owned by GIC and Qatar steel Company in addition to the National Industries Group, Gulf Cables and Kuwait Foundry Company. Foulath owns factories in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and its businesses cover various countries in the Middle East.

A report issued by KFH-Research revealed that the global sukuk market recovered during the month of September last year to reach in its new issuances USD 7.8 billion - a 33pct growth. Malaysia still accounts for the largest share of the issuance where the Malaysian Ringgit came in first place in terms of the currencies that sukuk issued through. No sukuk were issued of the U.S. dollar in September. The most notable issuance during the month was by Saudi dairy and food firm Almarai Co. which completed the sale of a SAR1.7 billion (USD 453.1 million). Sovereign issuers made up 84.9pct of the primary market in September, while government related entities accounted for 4.0pct and corporates took the remaining 11.1pct. A total of 47 sukuk were issued in September vs. 55 sukuk in August and 66 in July.

Kuwait Finance House KFH Wealth Management General Manager Matthew Welch stated that reinforcing the Bank's private banking and wealth management service is a key pillar of the restructuring and transformation plan that the Bank is presently implementing. Matthew noted the rising competition in the high net worth segment and that clients are increasingly discerning in selecting the institution with whom they choose to invest. He explained that KFH is keen on harnessing the investment capabilities of the wider KFH group to bring new opportunities and investment ideas for the benefit of the Bank's high net worth client base. In addition, he noted that clients now expect increased access to investment advisory and discretionary management services to help them navigate the present volatile market conditions.

The $490 million short-term sukuk program issued by the International Liquidity Management Corporation is an important stage in the evolution of Sukuk product, according to Abdulwahab Al-Roshood, Kuwait Treasury General Manager at Kuwait Finance House (KFH). The corporation has recently issued the first issuance for 3 months with the participation of 8 gulf and foreign banks including KFH. The sukuk issued by the corporation enjoys the privilege of being short term, rated as the short- term highest credit rating A-1 by the international Standard and Poor's. Al-Roshood expressed his confidence that KFH 's participation of the corporation's businesses since establishment will add value to its efforts and its role in sukuk market.

The number of the I phone Quran application users that was launched by Kuwait Finance House (KFH) 3 years ago has reached a million and 800 thousand, around 1800 daily users. The third version of I phone Quran application has high resolution, in addition to having the numerous features like night Reading and different color schemes. Moreover, the number of Android users of the Quran application has increased to reach 50 thousand, about 60 users a day. The Android app has been recently launched with many distinguished features, and users can download the application for free by typing 'KFH' during the search. KFH is keen to upgrade its applications and its programs on the internet. KFH is also eager to use advanced technology to serve the public, since this is part of its social responsibility.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH), represented by the Personal Finance Department, has organized a meeting with suppliers of installments finance. The meeting discussed the current market conditions and how to find means to improve it in a beneficial way to all parties on the one hand, and catering to clients' needs on the other. Personal Finance Executive Manager at KFH Talal Al-Hnaidi said, on the sideline of the meeting, that the bank is keen on organizing continuous forums and meetings with large companies and institutions. Moreover, Al-Hnaidi mentioned that KFH supports merchants and communicates with them to discuss the market conditions and to share ideas, thoughts and information that can serve the progress business and can contribute in strengthening the economy and obtaining growth.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) in collaboration with Kuveyt Turk (KFH Turkey) has launched a new Turkish real estate financing service. This service provides KFH customers with an end-to-end solution to their Turkish real estate requirements, tailored to their specific needs. It will support them searching for properties in Turkey, providing assistance on negotiation of an acquisition price, competitive Islamic real estate financing and offering post-sales services, should investors need to manage the properties in their absence. A specialized section has been established by KFH in Kuwait City, in order to support customers purchasing real estate in Turkey. This office acts as a contact point and provides customers with the relevant administrative services related to Turkish real estate, like document gathering and handling, information distribution and logistics handling.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) announced 103 million Kuwaiti dinar or $362 million of precautionary provisions on Tuesday, as it posted a smaller than expected rise in second-quarter net profit. The bank did not provide any more details on the provisions, which cover the first half of the year, nor a comparative figure for the same period the year before. It added that indicators related to profit growth and operating revenues were positive. Net profit rose to 26.8 million dinars in the three months ended June. The lender did not provide further details on its profit. It said it would continue with its expansion plans after its 319 million dinar capital increase last month.

General Manager of International Banking and Acting Chief Investment Officer at Kuwait Finance House KFH Shaheen Al-Ghanim has announced the emerging KFH Investment Company, previously named Liquidity House. He added that this company will be KFH's main investment arm locally, regionally, and globally. Renaming Liquidity House to KFH Investment is one of the results of the new investment strategy, which is considered to be part of KFH's development and restructuring plan. All of KFH investment holdings and activities will be consolidated and supervised by KFH Investment Company. Furthermore, Al-Ghanim revealed that this company will survive Liquidity Management House (LMH). He noted that the Shareholders General Assembly of LMH had been convened last Thursday and approved changing the name of the company.

Kuwait Finance House said on Monday that a customer had settled $296.6 million of debt owed to the bank and that the impact of the receipt would be reflected in its second-quarter results. The customer had owed 32.6 million dinars or $114.3 million to KFH and 51 million dinars to subsidiaries. KFH did not give any details about the debtor, or say whether the customer was a corporate entity or an individual. The bank is expected to release second-quarter earnings in August.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) announced the official launch of its new Gold Account. This product enables KFH's clients to buy and sell physical gold biscuits securely. Available at KFH's Head Office branch in Kuwait, the gold biscuits each weigh 100grams and have a purity value of 999.9. KFH clients will be able to open Gold Accounts with no fees charged from 01 July by purchasing a minimum of one gold biscuit. They will then be able to choose whether to withdraw the physical gold or to keep it in custody with KFH without charge for an initial period. Further purchases or sales of gold can then be done conveniently and securely through crediting or debiting a customers' current or savings account. KFH currently plans to offer customers the ability to open Gold Accounts in other branches in Kuwait City in the near future.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has been granted an Independent Assurance Certificate of its Corporate Sustainability Report from Ernst and Young (E&Y). This certification came after meeting or exceeding all requirements of the certification criteria. Nadeem Shafi, the partner of (E&Y), handed the certificate to KFH's CEO Muhammad Sulaiman Al-Omar in the presence of a number of officials. The bank has been certified according to data and information related to the bank's sustainability performance, internal protocols, processes and controls related to the sustainability performance data and information related to the workforce. Moreover, environmental data, achievements and awards as well as training and community development initiatives, were also taken into consideration. E&Y sustainability assurance team also visited the company's corporate office to gain confidence in the data and selected claims presented in the report.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has launched the first version of a Quran Application for android users. Strategy and Corporate Affairs General Manager Fahad Al-Mukhaizeem said that KFH is keen to grant this gift since Ramadan is approaching. Moreover, Al-Mukhaizeem explained that this service sheds lights on the meanings of the Quran, and helps reciters in memorizing it. He revealed that the number of users is expected to reach 2 million users by the end of the year, after launching the current version that will be constantly updated through Play Store. It is worth noting that the new version has high resolution, in addition to features like night reading. Furthermore, the application will include many meanings in English, Arabic, French, and Turkish, not to mention the feature that allows users to listen to the Quran. Features also include choosing the colours that the reader wishes to see.