IslamicFinance.de

Kuwait Finance House plans to shed its stake in education investment company Nafais Holding. KFH is currently restructuring its activities, which could also include a sale of assets such as its Malaysian business. This is ahead of planned divestments by its largest shareholder, the Kuwait Investment Authority. The Islamic bank is the second-largest shareholder in Nafais with a 19.01 percent stake. Nafais, involved in education, healthcare, financing and investment, has a market capitalisation of around $206 million, which would value the bank's stake at close to $40 million. The Islamic bank only acquired the Nafais stake in March 2014 from Aref Group Company.

In 2013, a 26-year-old Syrian called Dishad Othman built a system to warn his countrymen when a Scud missile launched by the regime was headed their way. The system, called Aymta, calculated the trajectory and likely arrival time, and sent mobile alerts to registered civilians inside the strike zone. Aymta is part of the fledgling field of Peacetech, which applies technology, media tools, and data science to the cause of reducing violent conflict around the globe. Both conflict prevention and peacebuilding have been fields of academic study and practical application since the 1970s but technology has rarely played a part in either. Sheldon Himelfarb, President and CEO of PeaceTech Lab, thinks it should.

The rise of Islamic finance and sukuk issuances have brought with it a growing phenomenon: Shariah banking is increasingly taking advantage of offshore banking jurisdictions. Many offshore centres around the world meanwhile offer a wide range of features allowing Shariah principles to be upheld when creating Islamic financial products. Many offshore jurisdictions also offer multiple other benefits such as low income, capital gains, profit or withholding taxes or no taxes at all, no restrictions on foreign exchange or foreign ownership, experienced service providers and operational support. Offshore financial centres that since have attracted Islamic finance are, among others, Cayman Islands, Jersey, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and Labuan in Malaysia.

The Egyptian Islamic Finance Association (EIFA) obtained the licence from Bahrain-based Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), EIFA's Chairman Mohamed Al-Beltagy said. By this licence, the association is capable of conducting accreditation tests for bankers and auditors of Islamic banking on behalf of AAOIFI in Egypt, the chairman stated. A number of bankers have already applied to conduct the accreditation tests, he added. The Bahraini organization will provide the necessary training for the bankers and auditors before conducting the test. Passing the accreditation tests is considered as an international accreditation for those who work in the field of Islamic banking.

Khalid Alsweilem, a former senior official at Saudi Arabia's central bank says he believes the kingdom may soon change the way it manages its oil wealth as part of efforts to protect its financial reserves in an era of cheap crude. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency ( SAMA ) manages the vast bulk of petrodollars earned by the world's top oil exporting country; net foreign assets at the central bank totalled $664.5 billion in June. Alsweilem, who managed the assets as chief investment officer at SAMA , argues the arrangement is dangerous because the finance ministry can draw freely on the reserves when it wants to cover budget deficits caused by periods of low oil prices.

GFH Financial Group has announced its financial results for the first half of 2015 ended June 30, 2015. For the first six months of 2015, the Group reported a net profit of US$13.6 million compared with US$14.8 million during the prior year period. Net profit for the second quarter of 2015 was US$7.6 million versus US$12.4 million reported in the second quarter of 2014. Last year's results included a one-off income of US$33 million as a result of a recovery. Excluding this one-off gain, net profit for the first six months of 2015 increased to US$13.6 million compared to a loss of US$18.2 million for the prior year period.

After delivering strong results in 2014, Islamic banks in the Gulf face a gradually weakening operating outlook in 2015-2016, largely due to declining oil revenues, says a report published today by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. But as the report, titled Gulf-Based Islamic Banks Grapple With Weakening Regional Economies, also points out, Standard & Poor’s believes investor demand for Shari’ah-compliant products and supportive government actions will enable Islamic banks in the region to continue to grow and gradually increase their market share. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates continue to offer the strongest growth opportunities in the GCC region.

One of Cullen Roche's major criticisms of Thomas Piketty’s blockbuster book on wealth inequality was that it didn’t highlight the global effect of inequality well enough. For instance, it didn’t note that global poverty has declined substantially over the last 75 years. He wrote that in a global sense, one could argue that the rise of the developed world and its accompanying wealth explosion has been an instrumental driver in helping to bring the emerging world out of substantial poverty. Over 1 billion people have been brought out of extreme poverty in the last 20 years alone. Capitalism has plenty of weaknesses, but the fact is that this system has also done a tremendous amount of good for the world.

Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C (ABG) announced a net profit of US$ 150 million for the first half of 2015, reporting an increase of 5% over the net profit of the same period of last year, while the net income of the second quarter of 2015 reached US$ 82 million, increasing by 19% over the net income of the first quarter of 2015. The balance sheet items achieved moderate increases, as total assets increased by 2%, total financing and investments by 2% and customer accounts by 1% at the end of June 2015 compared to the end December 2014. During the first half of 2015, the premier rating agency in the world Standard & Poors’ (S&P) had re-affirmed ABG’s rating of BB+ (long term) and B (Short term), upgrading the Outlook to Stable.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, which has a 26% corporate and commercial banking portfolio, is looking to raise the figure to 30% by end-2015 to reduce its dependency on consumer banking from 74% to 70%. It is looking to further tap the green technology sector, particularly hydropower projects, as well as the infrastructure sector, to up the commercial banking contribution. Managing director Datuk Seri Zukri Samat noted that the bank intends to focus on organic growth for the time being, even as it looks into the possibility of a merger and acquisition (M&A) beyond 2017. He also said Bank Islam’s overall financing growth is expected to be lower for its financial year 2015.

Rating agency Standard and Poor's says regulation and fiscal incentives could speed Islamic finance development in Africa. The report further noted that African sovereigns have issued only about $1 billion of Sukuk instruments, compared with global Sukuk issuance of an average $100 billion per year over the past five years. Samira Mensah, an associate director at Standard and Poor's joins CNBC Africa to share more insight on this report. Watch the video on http://www.cnbcafrica.com/video/?bctid=4413568917001#.

Fitch Ratings says in a new report that total new bonds and Sukuk (with a maturity of more than 18 months) from the GCC, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Singapore, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan (GCC+7) declined 27 per cent in 1H15 from a year ago. Bonds were down 30 per cent and Sukuk by 16 per cent. In 2Q15 Sukuk accounted for 20 per cent of total new issuance, marginally up from 18 per cent in 2Q14. The decline is driven by falling oil prices, challenging external funding conditions due to the expected Federal Reserve interest rate hike, and uncertainties over Greece during 2H15. These factors have led to increased volatility in global financial markets.

Saudi Arabia's Al Othaim Real Estate and Investment Co, owner of five shopping malls in the kingdom, is marketing a five-year debut sukuk issue which could raise up to 1 billion riyals ($267 million) for the company. The firm, also known as Othaim Malls, is part of Al Othaim Holding, a family-owned conglomerate which includes listed food retailer Abdullah Al Othaim Markets Co. Othaim Malls launched the transaction last week, with pricing earmarked at between 165 basis points and 175 basis points over the six-month Saudi interbank offered rate. Part of the proceeds will be used to fund its expansion plans.

Arcapita recently acquired Phase One of Saadiyat Beach Residences, a premium residential apartment complex in Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, for a reported $200 million. Built by Mubadala Development Co., the complex boasts three low-rise buildings in a gated community developed in 2013. It is under a three-year master lease to the Tourism Development & Investment Co. Arcapita has been actively sourcing for new real estate deals within the region, which includes Abu Dhabi. The firm's current focus sectors are residential and logistics. Additionally, on a global basis, Arcapita looks forward to closing a number of real estate and private equity transactions in the coming months.

Market Research Reports, Inc. has published the research report “Challenges and Opportunities for the Wealth Sector in Saudi Arabia 2015” on their website http://www.MarketResearchReports.com. The report focuses on HNWI performance between the end of 2010 and the end of 2014. This enables us to determine how well the country's high net worth individuals (HNWI) have performed through the crisis. This report is a thorough analysis of Saudi Arabia's Wealth Management and Private Banking sector, and the opportunities and challenges that it faces. The report also includes comprehensive forecasts to 2019.

Malaysia’s benchmark Islamic borrowing costs are seen rising to a record as global investors exit the nation’s government and corporate bonds at the fastest pace in three years. The yield has climbed 16 basis points to 4.20 percent since July 3, when a Wall Street Journal report into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s finances plunged the country into political turmoil. Manulife Asset Management Services Bhd. says the unprecedented 4.5 percent is in sight this year, compounded by falling commodity prices and a potential U.S. interest-rate increase. Pheim Asset Management Asia Bhd. also sees that level being reached as the ringgit slides.

The Islamic Development Bank has announced Scholarships in order to improve the socioeconomic
conditions of the Muslim Communities in Non-Member Countries (including India) around the world to promote professional education among the Muslim community. Students must have secured minimum marks in certain subjects and examinations. They may not be older than 24 years and not in receipt of any other scholarship. The scholarship will only be granted if the students or their parents are financially weak and unable to pay for his/her education. Students benefiting from this scholarship must undertake to serve their community and country on completion of their studies.

Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB) has signed a strategic partnership with Russia-based Islamic Business and Finance Development Fund (IBFD Fund) to become its Official Sharia Advisory Partner. Under the agreement, IBFD Fund’s partnership will leverage SRB’s extensive Shari’a consultation footprint and scholarly network to promote, upgrade and administer Russian financial establishments to set up Sharia compliant funds and transactions. Alongside the Sharia Advisory activities, the engagement will see SRB focus on developing and building its scholarly capabilities in the Russian language while IBFD Fund will add promotional service locations to its existing network as well as increasing their overall capabilities. The partnership will also strengthen credibility between CIS and GCC countries in the domain of Islamic finance.

Al Barak Bank Egypt's total cash and due from Central Bank of Egypt reached around EGP 3.656 billion (US$ 229.8 million) at the end of June 2015 versus EGP 1.850 billion at the end of December 2014. The financial lists showed that bank's investments in governmental notes recorded 5.319 billion Egyptian pounds at the end of June 2015 opposed to 3.604 billion Egyptian pounds at the end of 2014, making EGP 1.71 billion increase. According to the lists, Al Baraka Bank Egypt 's total volume of Murabaha, Mudaraba and Musharka for customers hit EGP8.534 billion at the end of June 2015 compared to EGP8.462 billion at the end of 2014.

Bankers expect the overall profitability to be moderate this year while top-line growth is expected to be significantly lower, while factors such as improved recoveries, stronger collateral values and lower provisions could continue to boost their bottom lines. Non-performing loans (NPLs) and provision figures for the first two quarters confirm this argument. For Emirates NBD (ENBD), during the first half, the impaired loan ratio improved to 7.4 per cent from 7.9 per cent at the end of 2014. For Mashreq, NPLs remained stable at Dh2.8 billion in June 2015, leading to NPLs to gross loans ratio of 3.7 per cent at the end of June 2015.