IslamicFinance.de

Baku will become the regional Islamic financial center and has a potential to press internationally recognized centers. According to Behnam Gurbanzadeh, IBA (International Bank of Azerbaijan OJSC) Islamic Financing Department Manager, the idea to establish the CIS Islamic Development Bank proposed several years ago has become very attractive for the countries of the Commonwealth. In addition to Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan are very interested in establishing such a bank, Gurbanzadeh said. Today there are up to 700 million users of Islamic financial services in the world.

A package of amendments and additions to legislation in order to regulate the activities of Islamic banking in Azerbaijan will be introduced to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan in the first half of 2015.

International Bank of Azerbaijan OJSC will provide services on Islamic financing in Russia, the director of the Department of Islamic Banking of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) Behnam Gurbanzade said.

Pakistan's Pak Qatar Family Takaful Limited (PQFTL) has signed a BancaTakaful agreement with JS Bank Limited. This agreement marks the first direct arrangement between Pak-Qatar Family Takaful and any Bank for Banca Takaful. The signing ceremony was held at JS Bank’s head office in the presence of senior officials from both partners, including Muhammad Menhas, Deputy CEO and Country Sales Head, Kamran Rashid, Head of BancaTakaful and ADC and S Adnan Hasan, Head of Marketing and Corporate Communication from Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Ltd. JS Bank was represented at the session by Khalid Imran, President and CEO, Kamran Jafar, Group Head - Corporate and Retail Banking Group, and Babbar Wajid, Head of Product Development & Business Management.

Pakistan's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that foreign currency reserves will be increased up to $15 billion till December 31 this year through selling Sukuk bonds worth $500 million as IMF has also nodded to give $1.1 billion installment. Ishaq said the government would first hold roadshows and then float sukuk in the Middle East and Europe between November 21 and 24. He claimed to achieve $15 billion target till the end of this year. He said that the government would increase the size of Sukuk bond from $500 million to $1 billion after observing the investors' interest. Pakistan's foreign currency reserves stood at $13.443 billion on October 31, 2014, including $8.618 billion reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan and $4.825 billion reserves held by the commercial banks.

Al Hilal Bank recently received Kairat Kelimbetov, the Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan at its headquarters in Abu Dhabi. Both parties discussed the key role of Al Hilal Bank as the first and only Islamic bank operating in Kazakhstan. Mohamed Jamil Berro, Al Hilal Bank’s Group CEO, personally welcomed Governor Kelimbetov and briefed the guest on the Islamic products offered by Al Hilal. Kelimbetov noted the role of Al Hilal Bank’s activities in the development of Islamic finance in Kazakhstan, and added that the National Bank of Kazakhstan will continue to support development of Islamic finance in Kazakhstan.

Dr. Hussein Hamed Hassan, Chairman of Shari’a Board for Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), recently visited Pakistan to meet various Shari’a Scholars, Government Dignitaries, senior Islamic Bankers, State Bank of Pakistan officials, prominent Pakistani businessmen and Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan (DIBPL) management. Dr. Hussein during his visit held various crucial meetings on Islamic Banking and Shari’a compliance with major stakeholders in the country. He is considered as one of the founding fathers of Islamic finance due to his contribution to developing structures for the day to day running of Islamic banks and financial institutions.

The adoption of good governance practices is beneficial to listed companies, unlisted companies, and family-owned enterprises. Good governance practices strengthen companies by building relationships among investors, boards of directors, managers, and employees. Implementing corporate governance guidelines allows businesses to obtain capital at lower cost, enhance business strategy, and attract the best human capital. Corporate governances also promotes competitiveness in the marketplace and is an antidote to corruption. CIPE partnered with the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan to assess sectoral needs and develop the Corporate Governance Guide for Family-Owned Enterprises.

After a false start, Islamic banking has become the fastest growing segment of the Pakistani banking industry, with the full support of the government. Apart from the ever-present challenge of liquidity management, most local Islamic bankers agree that their most important task now is to build awareness in the country.

Iranian banks gave 1,463 trillion rials (some $45.7 billion based on the exchange rate of US dollar at the free market) worth of loans in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year. However, a great portion of the bank's loans are bad loans. Iran's Melli Bank, Parsian Bank and Tejarat Bank have the highest amount of bad loans in Iran. Of the total 870 trillion rials (about $28 billion) in bad loans, Melli Bank's share is 130 trillion rials (about $4.2 billion), Parsian and Tejarat banks' shares is 110 trillion rials each (about $3.5 billion).

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http://www.islamicfinancejobs.com/

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http://www.isdbcareers.com

https://jobs.thelawyer.com/jobs/islamic-finance/

Best regards,

Michael Gassner

Caspian International Investment Company CJSC (CIIC) is a private equity investment firm founded in March 2008. CIIC's shareholders are Azerbaijan Investment Company OJSC;Aref Investment Group; Al-Ahmar Group for Trading, Industrial and General Agencies; as well as The Islamic Corporation For The Development of The Private Sector and Islamic Development Bank. The main goal of CIIC is to serve as an investment vehicle in order to receive exposure to the growing Azerbaijani economy. Orkhan Aghalarov, the acting General Manager of CIIC, said that investments into the private sector is CIIC's primary goal, and thus, the company is one of the main supporters of realization of the President's economic policy.

The central bank has asked Islamic banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) to participate in its newly introduced Shariah-based refinancing scheme. The advice came at a meeting with the senior executives of the Islamic banks and NBFIs with Deputy Governor of the Bangladesh Bank Abul Quasem in the chair.
At the meeting, the central bank assured the Islamic banks and NBFIs that it would provide extra fund in the scheme if necessary. Five Islamic banks have already deposited Tk 3.75 billion with the BB's newly opened account for introducing the refinancing scheme exclusively for Sharia-based banks and NBFIs.

Adamjee Life is going to enter the Islamic insurance market by March next year, company CEO Fredrik de Beer announced in a recent interview. “We will complete the business plan to seek the board’s approval by the end of October. We are hoping to launch Takaful products by the end of the first quarter of 2015,” Beer said.
Adamjee Life follows Jubilee Life Insurance and EFU Life Assurance that have already announced their plans to enter the Shariah-compliant segment of life insurance. Pakistan’s insurance industry has seen quite some activity lately, as both life and non-life entities have shown interest in setting up Islamic window operation

The proposed merger between CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, RHB Capital Bhd (RHBCap) and Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) would be credit negative for CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s vice-president Eugene Tarzimanov noted that the merger would see CIMB Islamic Bank’s asset size triple as a result of acquiring RHB Bank’s and MBSB’s Islamic operations.

Jubilee General Insurance Co will seek shareholder approval to offer Islamic insurance Takaful to enter the sector after conventional firms were allowed to offer sharia-compliant products earlier this year. Other firms entering the market include United Insurance Company of Pakistan and EFU Group, Pakistan's largest insurer, which plans Takaful windows for both its life and general businesses.

Kourosh Parvizian, the governor of Sina Bank, welcomes the move of the British Treasury's to repeal of an asset freeze on the bank. It says that other European countries are expected to make the same decision, according to Iran's IRNA news agency.

The Pakistani unit of Bahrain's Al Baraka Banking Group has raised 2 billion rupees ($19.5 million) via the country's first issuance of subordinated sukuk, or Islamic bonds. The seven-year private placement is the first to be issued by an Islamic bank in Pakistan, according to Abdullah Ghaffar, head of investment banking at Al Baraka Bank Pakistan.

Due to the phasing in of Basel III global banking standards around the globe, several Islamic banks have issued subordinated instruments in order to raise capital, including those in Turkey, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan's new president has re-opened an inquiry about the theft of almost $1bn from the Kabul Bank, which had cause much turmoil and is said to be one of the largest banking failures in the word. Thereby he fulfils his campaign promise to fighting corruption as a priority and to combatting corruption comprehensively.
The bank's founder Sher Khan Fernod and the former chief executive, Haji Khalil Ferozi, were jailed for five years for taking $810m of the $935m.

Almaty-based Al Hilal Islamic Bank may expand into neighbouring markets as legislation in the Central Asian countries changes. Islamic finance is gaining popularity in the region, but Al Hilal is currently the only sharia-compliant lender in Kazakhstan. The Abu Dhabi government wholly owns Al Hilal's parent company and according to its chief executive, Prasad Abraham, the bank is considering increasing its geographical presence as part of its 2015 business plan.