IslamicFinance.de

A plan to merge state-owned sharia banks into one large lender is one of the Financial Services Authority’s main projects this year, as part of a broader commitment to consolidate the Indonesian overall banking industry. Chairman Muliaman Hadad said he had held talks with the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry regarding the consolidation and that they were currently developing a “mechanism” to integrate the three lenders and one business unit. The current three state-run sharia banks are Bank Mandiri’s Syariah Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia’s BRISyariah and Bank Negara Indonesia’s BNI Syariah and a sharia business unit under Bank Tabungan Negara.

Dubai Islamic Bank said on Tuesday it picked eight banks to arrange fixed income investor meetings from Thursday for a potential benchmark size dollar-denominated capital-boosting sukuk issue. These banks, as well as Al Hilal Bank, Emirates NBD, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Noor Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank will arrange the roadshows. The meetings will be held in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe and a sukuk transaction which enhances its Tier 1, or core, capital may follow subject to market conditions.

The Islamic Research and Training Institute of the Islamic Development Bank Group and the African Development Bank are to jointly organize a workshop on the development of Islamic Banking in Africa to be held in Nigeria on January 6 - 8 2015. It is organized with the Al-Hikmah University as well as the Department of Islamic Law, University of Ilorin. The workshop will expect Experts in Islamic banking, regulation, and financial economics and take stock of current academic research, policies, practice and development of Islamic banking in Africa as well as current issues in Islamic banking and financial products, academics, regulators and practitioners of Islamic banking and finance from different African countries and from those who show considerable familiarity with the development of Islamic banking in Africa.

The Weekly Number's analysis of a new Pew Research Center report - a study based on methodology developed by Brian J. Grim - finds that the 12 countries identified in the study as having very high religious diversity each outpaced the world's economic growth between 2008 and 2012.

Full Report: http://www.pewforum.org/2014/04/04/global-religious-diversity/

Islamic Economic Journal of King Abdulaziz Journal online: http://iei.kau.edu.sa/Pages-CVOL28.aspx

JKAU: Islamic Econ., Vol. 28 No. 1, 230 Pages (2015 A.D./1436 A.H.)
DOI: 10.4197/Islec. 28-1

Contents
Glossary

Articles
- Islam?c Wealth Management in History and at Present
Murat Çizakça ............................................................................................. 3
- Loan Loss Provisioning in OIC Countries: Evidence from Conventional vs. Islamic Banks
Ali Ashraf, M. Kabir Hassan, and Syed Abul Basher .......................... ..... 23
Discussion Paper
Factors Influencing the Behavioral Intentions of Muslim Employees to Contribute to
Cash-Waqf Through Salary Deductions
Anwar Allah Pitchay, Ahamed Kameel Mydin Meera and
Muhammad Yusuf Saleem …………………… ……….................. 63
Discussion Forum
- Severe Financial Crises and Fundamental Reforms: The Benefits of Risk-Sharing
Hossein Askari ....................................................................................... 101
- Why Economists (and Economies) Should Love Islamic Finance

Islamic finance products are more and more being seen as a mainstream source of financing for governments and not as a niche product for Muslim communities. In December, Kenya banned fifteen NGOs accused of funding terrorism, as the country struggles to defend itself from attacks by the al-Shabaab terror militia based in neighboring Somalia. In 2013 a similar crackdown in the UK had 250 money transfer companies put on notice by Barclays Bank as part of a move to meet stricter money laundering rules. Somalia to date as no formal banking system and therefore relies on companies from abroad to send remittances.

Nigeria’s insurance industry showed significant signs of positive gains in 2014. The sector’s contribution to the GDP was still at 0.4 percent even though it could achieve no less than 10 percent annually if well developed. The low level has been largely due to low awareness, poor purchasing power of Nigerians, poor market drive and unexciting products from insurers as well as lack of government patronage of insurance. At the National Insurance Summit held in Abuja, in December 2014 the government announced that it has set a target of N1 trillion in the next three years, and N5 trillion gross written premiums for the insurance sector within the next 10 years.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd is offering a moratorium of up to six months for its financing products' monthly installment payments to flood-affected customers which include Personal Financing-i, Vehicle Financing-i and Home Financing-i. The "Prihatin Programme" aims to ease the financial burden during this emergency situation.

According to a report from the Oxford Business Group Brunei's financial system is in transition to one in which Islamic banking and takaful are the dominant forms of banking and insurance. The publication of the Report says that in 2014, Brunei two Islamic banks, Perbadanan Tabung Amanah Islam Brunei and Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam had a total combined assets of $7.9 billion at the end of 2013. Takaful is also dominant in the general insurance sector with a 68 per cent share of the general insurance and takaful assets. Insurance Islam TAIB and Takaful Brunei compete in Brunei’s insurance market.

Russian lenders would like to tap Islamic finance just as the international sanctions and a low oil price brings their country to the brink of a recession. The Vnesheconombank is currently seeking advice from Middle East lenders on how to sell Islamic bonds. Banks and companies are seeking Shariah financing after the Russian currency recently weakened to an all-time low.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait has cut its stake in Boubyan Bank down by 2,2 %.
The data showed that the stake dropped to 17.7 %.
Trade in Boubyan shares has lately been extremely heavy, with more than 94 million shares, changing hands and the stock price was up 1.25 % at 0.405 dinar. The identity of the buyer of CBK's holding in Boubyan was not clear.

Djibouti has hosted the last three summits of the African Conference of Islamic finance, mainly in order to attract foreign direct investment, including Muslim countries. The country’s economic expansion depends entirely on the service sector. Islamic banks have helped strengthen Djibouti’s financial ambitions. The four Islamic banks that have settled down the last eight years in the country are now holding 15 to 20% market share. Thesê banks could make Djibouti a sub-regional financial center.

In Mogadishu the country’s first Islamic insurance company was launched after decades of instability and civil war. The opening Ceremony of the Takaful and Re-Takful Islamic Insurance Company was had representative guests from major Somali financial institutes as well as business people and federal government officials. In Somalia the insurance banking system sector collapsed in 1991.

The deal for Kuwait Turkish Participation Bank (KTPB) was arranged and syndicated in record time and twice oversubscribed. 12 regional and global banks participated. This affirmed the KFH Group the Turkish Economy a strong global position.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has signed a partnership agreement with the UAE’s Ministry of Social Affairs and will thereby support the "Tejuri" initiative. H.E. Naji Al Hai Mubarak strongly believes in the importance of strengthening the cooperation between the governmental and the private sector, in order to provide the best services. The banks will also offer cash prizes to encourage children to open long-term savings accounts. He believes that providing children with financial literacy will play a key role in their future financial decisions and will build a sense of responsibility which will contribute to a strong national economy.

Under sharia compliance principals penalizing is different to that in conventional finance. Also the Islamic financial market is quite young and many cases have no precedent. Malasian sukuks have though developed a framework for banks to handle default in a similar manner as conventional bonds.

Bahrains Housing Ministry launched the second Social Housing Finance Programme exhibition. The event is one of the ministry's efforts to inform about the programme launched in October 2013.

The board of directors of Turkey’s VakifBank’s has authorized a major loan procurement to set up an Islamic banking operation and confirmed that the bank’s general directorate office now has the authority to push ahead with the $300 million financing. The Turkish government wants to see the establishment of three Islamic banks as subsidiaries of the current state-run conventional banks by the end of 2015.

CEO of the Franco-American Alliance for Islamic Finance (FAAIF), Camille Paldi, explained that, while South Korea moved forward to entering the global Islamic finance market but its tax code still has to be amended to facilitate sukuk issuance. South Korea is one of the major exporters to Islamic nations and wants to become the hub of Islamic finance in East Asia.

Dubai World can repay its 2015 maturity in full, while 2016 looks to be more challenging with approximately $6bn in restructured debt coming due, according to Jean-Michel Saliba, Mena Economist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. In the near-term, Dubai should be able to tackle refinancing challenges, but the possible increase in government external borrowing needs is set to take place against a more challenging backdrop, Saliba said. Direct impact of low oil prices will be more muted in UAE than in other GCC countries - thanks to Dubai's diversified economy, he added.