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A new study by International Finance Corporation (IFC) showed that around 35 per cent of SMEs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are excluded from the formal banking sector because they seek Sharia-compliant products that are not readily available in the market. The study, which was carried out across nine countries, found a potential market gap of up to $13.2 billion for SME Islamic financing in the region with a corresponding depository potential of $9.71 billion to $15.05 billion across these countries. The study pointed out that apart from a high level of risk aversion that banks in the region have, poor regulatory environments, differing perceptions of Islamic finance, and a lack of relevant products were hindering the growth of Islamic SME banking.

Countries including Pakistan, Tunisia and South Africa are drawing up plans to issue government bonds that comply with Islamic law as they seek to take advantage of strong investor demand for emerging market sovereign debt. Tunisia is working with the Islamic Development Bank to issue a 1bn dinar ($580m) sukuk this year, while Jordan has instructed a committee to look into the possibility of issuing sukuk next year. Governments in South Africa and the Philippines also say they are considering raising money through the sale of Islamic debt.

Regulators in Jordan have introduced a set of long-awaited rules covering the structuring, issuance and trading of sukuk. Jordan is one of several Muslim-majority countries keen to develop their domestic Islamic finance sector and the government is studying a proposal to issue a sovereign sukuk, mirroring efforts by Egypt and Tunisia. The Kingdom has an established Islamic banking sector but sukuk have been slow to appear. Local company Al-Rajhi Cement has thus far been the only one to issue a sukuk, an 85 million dinar deal in 2011. Lawmakers passed legislation in 2012 allowing the government to issue sukuk but the sector has been held back by, among other things, legal limitations on the transfer of assets required to underpin such transactions.

Alpha Capital Holding (AC) has been chosen to manage Wethaq Takaful Insurance - Egypt's launched-to-be mutual fund. Wethaq's planned fund will be at an initial capitalisation amounting to EGP 50 million. It is expected to be launched in local markets within the next three months. The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) has recently given its regulatory approval for the launch of six open-ended mutual funds by insurance companies, with total capitalisations worth EGP 450 million. Wethaq is currently completing the regulatory procedures required to launch its mutual fund. The fund's investment objective is to provide a savings and investment pool in order to give daily liquidity through accumulating daily returns on the fund's investments.

The Gulf banks are fast replacing European lenders in expansion within the Middle East region and into some of the fast growing emerging markets in Asian and Africa in the context of improving health of their balance sheets and strong support from shareholders. Banks from GCC, particularly those from the UAE and Qatar are in the forefront of overseas expansion.First Gulf Bank (FGB), for example, announced last month that it has a new representative office in South Korea as part of plans to expand its presence in Asia Pacific. Qatari banks have been seeking overseas expansion to cut dependence on local markets and access trade flows across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Doha Bank is expanding its presence in Hong Kong, India and Saudi Arabia.

Jordan's Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Thursday acted as patron at a ceremony to launch a historic piece of legislation regulating the Islamic sukuk. The prime minister described the Islamic Sukuk Law as a milestone in Jordan's financial and economic history, noting that launching these items of legislation is the final step in building the pillars of finance compatible with Sharia. He also noted that the government will use sukuk to finance its productive projects, especially those in partnership with the private sector. The Jordan Securities Commission (JSC), Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) and the Securities Depository Centre are now ready to receive orders for issuing sukuk for the public and private sectors.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC (ADIB)’s Egyptian unit sees demand for Shariah-compliant finance picking up, expecting to complete deals for about 5 billion pounds ($699 million) in the next year. The institution is working to provide syndicated financing for as much as five infrastructure projects in electricity, oil and gas, Nevine Loutfy, the only woman chief executive officer of a Shariah lender in the Middle East, said. ADIB Egypt was one of six lenders, including state-owned Banque Misr SAE that arranged a $110 million Islamic facility for East Delta Electricity Co. in February 2013, the nation’s first Islamic loan, she said. ADIB Egypt expects 2014 to be its second profitable year in a row, Loutfy said.

The Commission Bancaire of the Bank of Algeria decided on July 3, 2014 to put Al Salam Bank Algeria under temporary administration, due to differences between certain shareholders of Al Salam Bank Algeria, who were also the founders of the Bank.

Egypt’s minister of industry, commerce and small and medium enterprises, Mounir Fakhry Abdel-Nour has said the World Bank has approved a $300m interest-free loan to fund Egyptian micro and small enterprises (MSEs). The Egyptian government plans to cooperate with the World Bank in building infrastructure for small and medium enterprises, particularly in the impoverished Upper Egyptian governorates, Abdel-Nour said during his meeting with a delegation from the World Bank.

Growing their business remains the primary and dominant goal for high net worth business owners in the Middle East, according to a recent study on the wealth management needs and preferences of high net worth (HNW) business owners in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The report by Standard Chartered Private Bank and Campden Wealth Research showed that 82 per cent of Middle East based high net worth business owners surveyed have already internationalised their businesses, implying the need for international banking services that support the geographic reach and growth of these businesses. Increasing market share is the top growth objective (82 per cent) of participants, followed by increasing production capacity (65 per cent) and international expansion (58 per cent).

Banque Centrale Populaire – BCP a signé un partenariat stratégique avec Guidance Financial Group. Anticipant la promulgation de la nouvelle loi bancaire autorisant la création de banques islamiques au Maroc, la Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) travaille discrètement depuis deux ans déjà sur le lancement d’une filiale dédiée à la finance islamique. Outre la mise en place des ressources humaines qualifiées et l’adoption d’un système d’information adéquat, la BCP s’est assurée l’expertise de Guidance Financial Group. Sur le marché des particuliers, Guidance propose notamment des produits conformes à la Charia pour l’achat immobilier et le financement des biens de consommation.

Two weeks after the launch of the 037037 bank account to collect donations to help Egypt’s economy, the total value of donations exceeded EGP 400m, the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) informed. The latest donation was from a Saudi businessman who contributed EGP 214m to the fund. The CBE announced in a Tuesday statement that donations from banks operating in the Egyptian market have increased to record around EGP 160m, including EGP 20m from State-run Banque Misr, Banque du Caire and National Bank of Egypt each. Other contributing banks include the Commercial International Bank (CIB), Arab African International Bank, Emirates NBD, the United Bank, QNB Al-Ahli, Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt, SAIB, Egyptian Gulf Bank and Arab International Bank (AIB).

The Tunisian government is studying the possibility to present cash collateral highways, for the issue of Islamic sukuk so as to mobilise funding from 180 to 300 MTD in 2014, according to Minister of Economy and Finance Hakim Ben Hammouda. The Minister underlined the difficulties on the level of issuing sukuk because of the obligation to present cash collateral. He specified during a hearing session devoted to the examination of the complementary finance law for 2014, that negotiation with the Islamic Development Bank reached an advanced stage.

Lors d’une séance plénière, la Chambre des Représentants a adopté à la majorité des voix, le projet de loi n° 103.12 relative aux établissements de crédit et organismes islamiques. Le texte prévoit la création d’une place financière de dimension régionale et internationale pour incorporer ce segment de la finance internationale, soulignant la nécessité d’offrir une gamme de produits et de services financiers non seulement aux citoyens résidents mais aussi aux MRE, dont les pays d’accueil offrent des produits de type finance participative. Ce texte a été adopté par 75 voix pour et 19 absentions.

The crowdfunding platform Kiva and Grameen-Jameel Microfinance Ltd. have partnered to launch ‘Change is in Your Hands’. The campaign enables individuals who want to help entrepreneurs with a plan. As part of the launch, Grameen-Jameel is offering up to 13,000 visitors to www.kiva.org/MiddleEast a ‘free trial’, the equivalent of $25 to lend to the entrepreneur of their choice. To double the campaign’s impact, Grameen-Jameel is also matching up to $665,000 in loans made by Kiva lenders. In total, Grameen-Jameel has committed $1 million to this campaign. Loans that meet both traditional and Islamic financing standards are available. ‘Change is in Your Hands’ will focus as a first step on lending to support entrepreneurship among women and youth in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Yemen, and Turkey.

According to a recent IFC study on Islamic banking opportunities across small and medium enterprises in Mena, there is potential gap of up to $13.2 billion for Islamic SME financing across nine countries in the region. The study, carried out in Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan, shows that approximately 35 per cent of SMEs are excluded from the formal banking sector because of the lack of Islamic products, despite huge demand. A high level of risk aversion by banks, poor regulatory environments, differing perceptions of Islamic finance, and a lack of relevant products have been identified as lack of bank funding to SME sector in the region.

The European Union's second highest court has annulled an EU asset freeze on Syria International Islamic Bank, dealing another blow to EU sanctions following legal victories last year by several Iranian companies. The EU imposed sanctions on SIIB in 2012, alleging that it had acted on behalf of two other banks, Commercial Bank of Syria (CBS) and Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank (SLCB), that were both under EU sanctions. But the court said the bloc's governments had failed to provide evidence. The bank has also been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury. The ruling is subject to appeal.

The expected total investments of the property business of the Egyptian Takaful Insurance Company will reach EGP280 million by the end of Month, Mr. El-Sayed Bayoumi - head of the banks investment department said. The investment returns of the company reached EGP36.7million at the end of the third quarter of this year against EGP26million in the previous period.

The European Union on Thursday lifted sanctions on the Syria International Islamic Bank and businessman Sulieman Maarouf with ties to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who lives in London. The moves came as part of a decision to extend the Syria sanctions on nearly all targets for another year, until June 1, 2015. A European diplomat said the decision to lift sanctions against the bank was taken because of a lack of strong evidence linking it to Mr. al-Assad's regime. The Syrian International Islamic bank was placed on the list because the EU alleged it facilitated transactions for the Commercial Bank of Syria and the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank. The list now includes 179 people and 53 entities that the EU says are "linked" to violent repression by Mr. al-Assad's regime.

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