IslamicFinance.de

Bank of London and Middle East - BLME - is going to acquire a multi-let site property with six tentants for its Light Industrial Building Fund. This investment will bring the gross asset value of the fund over £20 million and an annualised yield of over eight per cent from the new acquisition which should help to achieve or even exceed target return of the fund, according to BLME Director Asset Management.

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"Tackling the Profitability Chalange: Fresh Thinking for Islamic and Cooperative Insurance in the Middle East" ist the name of the Middle East Takaful Forum 2012 that is going to be held on the October 17th and 18th, under the patronage of the Central Bank of Bahrain. More than 200 top decision-makers will discuss the key challenges of Middle East Takaful operators and conditions of achieving sustainable profitability in the insurance sector.

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The Co-Lead Manager for the Republic of Turkey's debut $1.5 billion Sukuk is appointed to be Barwa Bank of Qatar. Also, a number of high profile arranger positions for the bank follow the appointment. What is more, Barwa Bank has received following ratings by Bloomberg: sixth in international Sukuk, tenth in global Sukuk, and eighth in MENA region bonds and Sukuk. Since Turkey is believed to be one of the most prestigious issuers in emerging markets, it is a further testament for the bank to be apointed by them.

More on: http://www.cpifinancial.net/news/post/15819/barwa-bank-appointed-co-mana...

The products Bank Muamalat is planning to launch are intended to be competitive not only in terms of returns, but also in terms of corporate social responsibility. The bank wants to concentrate on products it can channel towards corporate social responsibility, what they call ethical banking. The reason therefor is that Islamic banking is pereived to be ethical banking in its core and Bank Muamalat believs there is a market for such products.

More on: http://www.cpifinancial.net/news/post/15773/bank-muamalat-to-issue-more-...

According to Reserve Bank of India, Indian banks are not legally allowed to involve in Islamic banking operations. Even though India is the country with the third largest Muslim population, Islamic finance has been denied several times already. Due to lack of interest-free banking products people, economically disadvantaged strata of society, cannot access banking products and services because of faith issues. In addition, India is cut off substantial sources of savings from near countries.

More on: http://www.cpifinancial.net/blog/post/15763/interest-free-in-india

At the Global Islamic Finance Forum (GIFF) 2012 in Kuala Lumpur the new Thomson Reuters Global Sukuk Index and the MYR-denominated Bloomberg AIBIM Bursa Malaysia Corporate Sukuk Index were brought into public. The Islamic finance industry demonstrates a growth of more than 15% a year, its leading area being the Islamic debt capital market, primarily constituted of Sukuk. According to Thomson Reuters, the Global Sukuk Index is likely to contribute to the increase in secondary market trading as well as to the facilitation of cross-market relative value trading among different asset classes.

More on: http://www.cpifinancial.net/news/post/15752/thomson-reuters-bloomberg-bo...

International Finance Corporation (IFC) proposed an equity investment in Gulf African Bank (GAB) worth $5 million. The investment is expected to improve the bank's strength and provide additional capacity for growth. under IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP), an additional $3 million trade line will be made available by IFC to the bank.

The senior notes under HSBC Amanah Malaysia's proposed Multi-Currency Sukuk Programme of up to MYR 3 billion have received a long-term rating of AAA by RAM Ratings. At the same time, respective long- and short-term financial institution ratings of the bank have been reaffirmed at AAA and P1. The outlook for both long-term ratings in terms of stability looks positive.

Many Islamic banks thought the financial crisis as the ultimate marketing opportunity. In contrast to the scandals in Western banks, Islamic banks could present themselves as the opposite. Thus they could tempt consumers with promises of fairness, transparency and morality.

Istanbul Real Estate Investment Trust Is REIT signed a Murabaha facility worth $50 million in a syndicate with a number of GCC banks. The facility has a two-years tenor and a profit rate of LIBOR +250 bps. Playing different roles, banks included in the syndicate are Qatar Islamic Bank, Barwa Bank, First Gulf Bank, and Mashreq Bank. Sole Bookrunner and Structuring Advisor to Is REIT was QInvest .

Emirates Money intends to launch Banca Takaful in conjunction with Dubai Islamic Insurance and Reinsurance Company and Global Takaful Solutions (FWU). A key feature of the new Shari'ah-compliant financial plan is to protect invested capital in a bear market situation that we are experiencing nowadays. Banca Takaful shall offer two different investment strategies - equity and cash - allowing customers to choose their investment strategy.

Al Baraka shall provide Shari'ah-compliant finance to small projects in Egypt with cooperation with World Bank through the Social Fund and its subsidiary in Egypt. Bank authorities claimed in their statement that small projects hast become the highest priority for countries and international financial instututions due to high unemployment rates.

Malaysia's CIMB Islamic Bank defended its AA+/Stable rating on MYR 2 billion Tier-2 Junior Sukuk programme, issued by rating agency MARC . The programme rating is one grade lower than bank's financial institution rating of AAA. However, MARC confirmed the stable outlook for the rating of the programme, as CIMB Bank meets their expectations for the rating category.

A report on Global Financial Stability was launched at the Inaugural Financial Stability Forum organised by the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) on Tuesday, 6th April in Khartoum. The report examines the intrinsic strength of the Islamic finance model, the state of the Islamic financial services industry and challenges and strategies for strengthening financial stability in the Islamic financial services industry.

Mr. Abdullah Bin Sulaiman Al Rajhi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Al Rajhi Bank announced that the bank has achieved a net profit for 2009 amounted to SAR 6,767 million ($1,804 million) compared to SAR 6,525 million ($1740 million) in 2008 with a rise of 4 per cent.

Barwa Bank, a major new Qatari financial services provider, today announces the approved acquisition of Qatari based investment shareholding company, The First Investor. The acquisition by Barwa Bank has received full approval from the Qatar Central Bank and filings with the Ministry of Business and Trade are in progress.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has revealed plans to expand into the US and Canada in 2010.

The comments from Barclays came in a report which recommended that investors sell their Nakheel Sukuk. How much money banks and investors are likely to obtain from Nakheel is under some dispute since the Dubai World conglomerate which Nakheel is a part of announced last December that it would be seeking to restructure its debt.