IslamicFinance.de

The Borsa Istanbul issued a statement providing the reason for suspending the trading of shares of Bank Asya under the name ASYAB between August 7 and 12. The statement noted that the reason for the suspension was the contradictory news announced by various media institutions about the partnership structure of the bank and news which has caused fluctuation in the prices of share certificates. Therefore, it was noted that ASYAB share certificates are being temporarily suspended from trade. It further explained that the temporary suspension of trade continued since the statement Bank Asya gave to the Public Disclosure Platform on Aug. 8, 2014 did not completely remove the current uncertainty. In this respect, in order to not damage trust, clarity and the stability of the market, the temporary suspension of trading ASYAB stocks continued until Aug. 12, 2014, the BIST remarked.

Islamic lender Bank Asya posted a net profit of 10.6 million Turkish Lira ($4.9 million) in the second quarter, a slide of 81 percent from a year earlier. The bank’s total profit decline for the first half of the year was 48.8 percent, making its non-consolidated profit 51.5 million liras for the six-month period. The lender has been going through a whirlwind year of deposit withdrawals, acquisition talks and state contract annulments, due to the ongoing power struggle between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and Gülen’s supporters. The bank’s future looked dim after the authorities cancelled its tax collection and social security payment deals on Aug. 7 - a sign according to observers that the government may be a step closer to winding down the lender.

Reactions are snowballing against the government's operation to force the closure of the participation bank Bank Asya as part of its fight against the Hizmet movement, with the matter brought to Parliament's agenda in the form of a parliamentary question from the Republican People's Party (CHP). CHP ?stanbul deputy Umut Oran directed a question at Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan to ask for the rationale behind the government's attempts to sink a private bank and risking a domino effect which could damage the entire economy. Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said that Bank Asya's financial situation was worsening. His remarks were criticized strongly as a premeditated act intended to damage the bank, which is a crime punishable with a jail sentence of between one and three years. After the prime minister's words, the bank's shares in Borsa ?stanbul (B?ST) plummeted.

London-based Gatehouse Bank is developing new business lines and widening its investor base as the Islamic wholesale lender looks to build a more stable revenue stream. The bank remains focused on real estate in Europe and the United States but wants to expand its investor base beyond Kuwait, its traditional source of funds, while generating more deals outside the British property market. New chief executive Henry Thompson, who joined in April this year, says he wants to reduce the bank's dependence on transaction fees. This comes after fee and commission income dropped more than two-thirds during last year, partly because of lower deal activity in Britain. The bank also plans to launch an online retail deposit product in December and is considering structuring private investment funds.

Curtis Law Solicitors were one of the lead sponsors for the Srebrenica Memorial event held at Blackburn Cathedral earlier this month. It aimed to remember the victims of July 11 1995, when 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed. Earlier this year, Noordad Aziz, a councillor and head of finance at Curtis Law Solicitors, visited Bosnia and paid witness to the, still devastating effects of the Srebrenica genocide. This trip fuelled Noordad with a passion to raise awareness and recognition of this modern tragedy in Britain. Following Noordad’s trip, Curtis Law Solicitors worked in partnership with Hyndburn Borough Council on organising an event to demonstrate the official ‘Remembering Srebrenica’ historic memorial programme.

Trading in the shares of Turkey's third-largest Islamic lender, Asya Katilim Bankasi AS, was temporarily suspended Thursday after its share price whipsawed in the last 24 hours amid conflicting government statements about a takeover of the bank. Bourse Istanbul made the announcement just as the afternoon session commenced. Shares of the lender known as Bank Asya plummeted by as much as 9% on Thursday after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s chief adviser, Yigit Bulut, decried talks of an acquisition by the state as a farce, reversing a 7% rally from Wednesday. The stock was down 5.3% at 1.24 liras ($0.57) at midday before trading in the shares was halted. Bank Asya was also hit Thursday by the Presidency of Revenue Administration and the Social Security Institution, which canceled agreements.

The European Association for Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance (EUIEBF) and the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) is organizing Sarajevo's third Islamic Finance Conference. The conference will take place in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina from 20-21 November 2014. This conference aims to gather Islamic banking, economics, and finance experts and students to discuss a wide range of topics and fill this gap in research. It will continue the development and acknowledgment of Islamic banking's increasing role in the world. Papers about relevant areas in Islamic economics and finance can be submitted for this conference. Please find detailed information in the attached document.

Luxembourg will start meeting investors in the next two months to drum up support for a debut sale of shariah compliant bonds. The country, which has an AAA credit rating at Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, is planning to become the second non-Muslim nation to issue a sovereign Islamic bond after the U.K. raised 200 million pounds ($335 million) in June. Ministry of Finance officials will meet investors in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia from the end of September to promote the proposed sale. The ministry is planning to use three government buildings as assets in the deal.

The pressure on Islamic lender Bank Asya is growing as it has pit two senior government figures against each other amid a whirlwind day that saw the annulment of deals with two state institutions and suspension of its shares’ trading at the stock exchange. The lender has been under scrutiny after contradicting statements from Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and Prime Minister Erdo?an’s economic adviser Yi?it Bulut regarding the possibility of its acquisition by state-owned lender Ziraat. Amid the political figures’ ongoing row, the lender received another blow when the Revenue Administration and state social security institution announced ending service deals with the lender. Bank Asya downplayed the impact of the annulment, but vowed to use its legal rights against the decision.

Turkish Islamic lender Bank Asya said an exclusive deal with Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) to acquire a stake in the Turkish lender was annulled, opening the way for alternative suitors. QIB and Bank Asya have reportedly ended the talks after a disagreement over price. Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said on Wednesday that state-run Ziraat Bank, which is looking to launch its own Islamic banking unit, could buy Bank Asya. The bank's future looked dim after the authorities cancelled its tax collection and social security payment deals on Thursday - a sign according to observers that the government may be a step closer to winding down the lender.

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan has said the public Ziraat bank is considering purchasing Turkey's Bank Asya, a move that many have interpreted as the authorities' latest effort to crush the lender as a form of vengeance against the Hizmet movement, with which Bank Asya is affiliated. However, Bank Asya said no such talks have taken place. Pressure on the bank intensified on Thursday as an agreement between the Finance Ministry and Bank Asya allowing the bank to collect taxes was canceled. The bank said it will take legal action against these decisions. A source involved in the financial market who asked to remain anonymous said the government has apparently launched a new campaign, this time trying to purchase the bank after numerous failed attempts to sink the bank earlier this year.

Plans to levy capital gains tax on property owners who hold their homes through a company structure risk discouraging investment in the private rented sector, tax specialists and investors warn. Scott Nicol, vice-president of Gatehouse Bank, which channels Middle Eastern investors' money into UK property, said he was also worried about the proposals. Gatehouse backed Sigma Capital last year to develop 6,600 privately rented houses in a deal worth £700m. If all the homes are built, Sigma will become Britain's biggest private landlord.

From 2002 UK banks, led by Lloyds and HSBC, tried to appeal to British Muslims by offering specialised mortgage products differing in structure. The lender generally buys the property outright and leases it to the consumer, charging a rental fee in addition to taking repayments. However, the mainstream market’s foray into the sector did not go as planned and Lloyds ceased offering the products in 2010 with HSBC following suit in 2012. Sharia home purchase plans can be more expensive than standard mortgages, with the Islamic Bank of Britain charging variable rates of 3.99% and 3.59% for 20% and 35% deposits until 30 June 2016. However, the market may simply need more competition to drive rates down.

Turkish lender Turkiye Finans Katilim Bankasi has raised 800 million ringgit ($252.21 million; Dh922.5 million) from an Islamic bond in Malaysia, its first issuance from a 3 billion ringgit programme announced last month. The issuance by Turkiye Finans, in which Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank is the largest shareholder, is the first ringgit-sukuk done in Malaysia by a Turkish issuer. Proceeds from the five-year sukuk will fund general corporate purposes and working capital requirements, according to HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd. HSBC Amanah and Standard Chartered Saadiq Bhd are jointly advising the Turkish bank.

Islamic finance is a trillion-dollar industry with many financial institutions, corporations and governments keen to embrace it as a profit-making alternative to mainstream financial dealings. The book "Heaven’s Bankers: Inside the Hidden World of Islamic Finance" by Harris Irfan asks the reader to consider whether the Islamic world can bring something of benefit to the Western world, and vice versa. Irfan’s intentions might be noble, but I suspect that here in the West he faces a real struggle. The big banks and companies hit by the financial crisis are determined to recover and some are increasingly wary of Islamic banking for all kinds of reasons.

Looking back at Islamic finance in the UK over the last eight years is rather like looking at a roller coaster, with peaks of excitement and troughs of depression. On the one hand, in 2006 Gordon Brown MP, announced the ambition for Britain to be the global gateway to Islamic finance and trade. However, the excitement of these early developments was followed by a trough. The UK is already the world’s pre-eminent centre for international conventional finance. It also has a very strong position in international Islamic finance. These developments pose an important competitive challenge to Islamic finance centres such as Kuala Lumpur, Bahrain and Dubai. Each has a very strong domestic Islamic finance market, and a significant level of international reach, but lacks the overall scale and credibility of London.

The 9th Durham Islamic Finance Summer School 2014 will take place on 1st-5th September 2014 at the Durham Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance, Durham University Business School, Durham University, UK. The Durham Islamic Finance Summer School is an essential learning and training programme in the field for current and aspiring Islamic finance professionals and academics. Registration form is attached together with further information.

On 9 July 2014, the Luxembourg Parliament approved draft law 6631 on a sale and buy-back transaction of real estate assets necessary to issue an Islamic finance bond. By obtaining parliamentary approval, the Ministry of Finance has now paved the way to the issuance of the Sukuk transaction, marking a milestone in the development of Islamic finance in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. This approval in Parliament underlines the political will to diversify and develop alternative markets within the financial services industry, according to a statement of the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance.

Turkish Islamic lender Bank Asya has decided to sell its stakes in two subsidiaries for TL 132 million ($62 million). In a statement to Borsa ?stanbul (BIST), Bank Asya said it is selling a 24.18 percent stake in Turkish construction firm Tuna Gayrimenkul for TL 62.8 million. The bank also said it is selling another construction company, Nil Yönetim Hizmetleri, for TL 69.25 million. The move comes amid efforts of Bank Asya to raise capital. Meanwhile, Qatar Islamic Bank and Bank Asya have reportedly ended exclusive talks over QIB acquiring a stake in the Turkish lender, with valuation concerns said to be behind the decision. Turkish state bank Ziraat may now be the most likely partner for Bank Asya.

Turkish lender Bank Asya announced on Sunday that their corporate governance rating had increased in June over its score from last year. The bank released the figures in an announcement addressed to the Public Disclosure Forum (KAP). According to a recent report prepared by the Capital Markets Board (SPK), Bank Asya's corporate governance rating increased from 84.20 in June 2013 to 90.85 in June of this year. The founders of Bank Asya are known for being affiliated with the Hizmet movement, inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. News reports circulated earlier this year indicating the government had attempted to sabotage the bank by withdrawing nearly one-fifth of the bank's deposits.