IslamicFinance.de

Turkey’s stock exchange prolonged a freeze on Asya Katilim Bankasi AS’s shares, a day after it twice suspended trading in the Islamic lender. Bank Asya swung between losses and gains of as much as 11% before Borsa Istanbul called the halt because of “abnormal” buy and sell orders on Thursday. The shares had resumed trading on 15 September after a five-week suspension. The bank fell 48% in the three days through 17 September. Meanwhile, the president this week called for Turkey’s banking regulator to take action on Bank Asya, citing deteriorating finances. On the other hand, Bank Asya issued a statement earlier this week saying that it was facing an “economic lynching campaign” and continued to carry out its responsibilities to depositors and shareholders.

The scope and potential of Islamic finance, insurance, and banking in the Maldives is yet to be fully explored, suggests Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) Governor Dr Azeema Adam. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the first ‘Maldives Islamic Banking and Finance Industry Conference’, Dr Azeema said Islamic finance provides a springboard to generate innovative ideas to cater to the financing needs of the domestic economy. Islamic banking and capital market services were introduced in the Maldives in 2011, with the opening of the Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB). However, providing banking services to all inhabited islands might not always be profitable Azeema continued, requiring innovation within the Maldivian financial sector.

The fast growing Islamic insurance package, Takaful, is not exclusively meant for Muslims, as it has been designed to cater for the needs of non-Muslims as well. This clarification was made by the founder of Takaful Insurance of Africa, Mr Hassan Bashir, who disclosed that the Kenya-based company’s products could bring fruitful possibilities to the doorsteps of non-Muslims as well as, not just for people of the Muslim faith. Bashir made this known at a recent chat with the media where he also revealed that non-Muslims currently constituted about 15 per cent of the company’s customer base, adding that the figure was expected to increase as time passed.

Tanzania has big potential for Islamic Finance and could be the Islamic banking hub for east African countries, Muhammad Zubair Mughal, the Chief Executive Officer of AlHuda Center of Islamic Banking and Economics said during the concluding ceremony of "African Islamic Banking and Finance Road show". This road show was conducted in 6 African Countries for the Promotion of Islamic Finance on the African continent. He stated that Islamic finance is not only taking root in North African countries e.g. Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria etc, as potential exists in all African countries. Islamic Banking and Finance is growing rapidly in Nigeria, Libya, South Africa, Kenya and Morocco, while Egypt, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia have already taken good initiatives in the mentioned field.

AIG Re-Takaful (L) has brought in additional capacity to spur growth of the Malaysia general takaful industry which is currently constricted by limited capacity. In addition, the fully Shariah-compliant unit of insurance giant American International Group Inc (AIG) is differentiating itself from competitors consisting of retakaful operators backed by global reinsurance companies. AIG Re- Takaful CEO Idzuddin Zakaria said the company has treaty and facultative capacity to take on larger risks and offer more sophisticated products and services. AIG Re-Takaful, in operation since April 2014, has undertaken a few facultative risks which frees takaful companies to undertake more risks and thus growing the general takaful sindustry. AIG Re-Takaful will also explore and expand on opportunities to grow in the Malaysian market.

Backed by a good track record and triple A ratings IsDB issued a 1.5 billion sukuk as part of its ambitious program to raise 10 billion. The issuance was met with success despite the general market uncertainty. The value of sukuk offered is still small despite the fact the Islamic finance industry is believed to have grown to 2 trillion. Governments and institutions in the west and Islamic states are driving this lucrative business. However, existing regulations suffer from being incomprehensive and untested in most cases and that again could be traced to the lack of a central body with authority to enforce such regulation. Accordingly it is left to each individual country to come up with whatever it sees fit to adopt and apply.

Qatar has expressed its willingness to set up an Islamic bank in Tajikistan, which would be the first Shariah-based financial institution in the Central Asian country. The establishment of a full-fledged Islamic bank under Qatari-Tajikistan partnership was discussed when Ezdan Holding chairman Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah al-Thani called on Tajikistan President Emomalii Rahmon in the country's capital Dushanbe last week. Sheikh Dr Khalid said the Qatari business community was viewing the Tajikistan market with great interest and willing to invest in the country, besides sharing its knowledge and expertise with local businessmen in different sectors, particularly Islamic banking. He termed as "extremely positive", the Tajikistan government's decision to enact necessary legislation required for Islamic banking.

As the bank will be soon marking its first year of operations, Alizz Islamic Bank's performance has been in line that of other Islamic banks operating in Oman. Alizz Islamic Bank last week signed an MoU with Pride Home and Max Electronics (Home Centre & Emax) for personal asset finance (goods murabaha) services. As a result of this MoU, Alizz Islamic Bank will be a preferred Islamic banking financier for personal asset finance, encompassing both home furniture buyers and electronic retail and corporate buyers. All account holders will be entitled to home finance at Home Centre and Emax at an interest rate of 5.25 per cent, on purchase of good worth over RO 1,000. Besides, the bank also plans to have agreements with hospitals and travel agencies and this is the first step in this direction.

Nearly 60 per cent of the world’s family-run businesses are struggling to find external finance to fund investment with 58 per cent of family businesses currently seeking external financing to fund their investment plans, according to KPMG. Despite family businesses creating more than 70 per cent of the global GDP, many say they find their fund-raising options limited and finding the right strategic investment partner can pose a challenge. KPMG has identified one possibly underutilised route for investment with the involvement of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), many of whom have family business experience as well as significant investment capital. According to the Survey, the top priorities of HNWIs and family owned businesses align, meaning that family businesses and HNWIs could prove to be highly compatible partners.

Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank set the size of its five-year sukuk issue at $1.5 billion while tightening the pricing to the low end of its previous guidance. Final pricing was given at a spread of 10 basis points over mid-swaps; previous guidance was in the range of 10 to 12 bps, and initial price thoughts were 15 bps. The order books were approaching $2 billion. Books closed at 1000 GMT on Thursday. The AAA-rated IDB had mandated CIMB, Deutsche Bank, First Gulf Bank, GIB Capital, HSBC, Maybank, Natixis, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, and Standard Chartered Bank as joint bookrunners to arrange the sukuk sale. The IDB is looking to increase its issuance of sukuk, partly to raise its profile among international investors and to secure similar pricing levels to other development banks.

Tanzania has big potential for Islamic Finance and could be the Islamic Banking hub for east African countries, Muhammad Zubair Mughal, Chief Executive Officer of AlHuda Center of Islamic Banking and Economics said during the concluding ceremony of "African Islamic Banking and Finance Road show". This road show was conducted in 6 African countries to promote Islamic Finance on the African continent. He stated that Islamic finance is not only taking root in North African countries, as potential exists in all African countries. Islamic Banking and Finance is growing rapidly in Nigeria, Libya, South Africa, Kenya and Morocco, as well as Egypt, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia. The total volume of Islamic finance in Africa is an estimated 78 Billion USD, which is less than 5% share of the global Islamic finance industry.

Azerbaijani company Joint Leasing will conclude the first corporate Islamic leasing agreement next week. The company is considering the opportunity of attracting additional resources as part of the Islamic leasing project. At present, there is an opportunity to attract additional funds. In principle, leasing is a tool of Islamic finance. Ijara is among the tools used in Islamic finance.

Turkey’s stock exchange halted trading in Asya Katilim Bankasi AS (ASYAB) twice today, deepening concern about the Islamic lender that has lost almost half of its market value this week. Istanbul-based Bank Asya swung between losses and gains of as much as 11 percent before Borsa Istanbul halted trading, saying “abnormal” buy and sell orders warranted the decision. The stock resumed trading on Sept. 15 following a five-week suspension imposed on the heels of a failed takeover bid by Qatar Islamic Bank SAQ and amid speculation the government will seize the lender. It fell 48 percent in the three days through yesterday. The lender is “just trying to stay afloat,” Erdogan said today.

Improving asset quality and declining credit losses will add up to healthy third-quarter earnings for the region’s banks, says Standard & Poor’s. With the release of quarterly results coming soon, S&P predicted in a report yesterday that the banks will sustain their strong performance – and should continue to do so into 2016. The ratings agency said in a report yesterday that even though interest rates are low, the reductions in banks’ non-performing assets should offset the contraction in net interest margins. Besides, the many infrastructure projects planned in the Gulf should translate into sustained streams of corporate lending.

South African state-owned companies Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. and Transnet SOC Ltd. are weighing Islamic bond sales after the government sold its first sukuk at a record-low cost. Eskom, the national power utility, said yesterday it will use the sovereign sale as a “barometer” for its own financing plans, while rail and ports operator Transnet has said it may access the market amid growing demand for Shariah-compliant debt. Al Baraka Bank is awaiting regulatory approval for a 300 million-rand ($29 million) issue next year. South Africa sold $500 million of Shariah-compliant bonds two days ago at a 3.9 percent profit rate. Yields on the bonds rose 10 basis points to 4 percent by 5:30 p.m. in Johannesburg yesterday.

Hassan Bashir, Founder of Takaful Insurance of Africa, says the Kenya-based company's products can bring possibilities to many and are not exclusively for people of the Muslim faith. Takaful Insurance of Africa started in Kenya, but opened an office in Somalia 6 months ago, as well as expressed interest in Uganda, Djibouti and Tanzania. Hassan Bashir believes that Islamic finance can bring possibilities to many people by helping them get employment and access to finance. With the company's index-based livestock takaful, pastoralists are continuously educated so that they understand that the cover is in line with their religious sensitivities and this is to sustain their livelihoods despite droughts. In the long run, this will solve the negative perceptions about Islamic finance.

The RHB Banking Group is keen to participate in more global sukuk issuance after making significant inroads in the market via its units, RHB Islamic Bank Bhd and RHB Investment Bank Bhd (RHBIB), in recent global transactions. Yesterday, RHBIB co-managed the Government of Hong Kong SAR of the People's Republic of China's inaugural US$1 billion sukuk issuance which also marks the world's first US dollar-denominated sukuk originated by a AAA-rated government. RHBIB meanwhile was lead manager cum underwriter to IDB Trust Services Ltd's recent 5-year US$1.5 billion sukuk issuance under its US$10 billion (RM32 billion) sukuk programme guaranteed by the Saudi based Islamic Development Bank.

Two of Malaysia’s 16 Islamic lenders now have female CEOs and three of the 11-member central bank Shariah Advisory Board are women, becoming role models for Prime Minister Najib Razak’s push to raise the female labor participation rate to 55 percent by 2015, from 52.4 percent now. The push, which mirrors similar efforts in Japan and South Korea, aims to widen the pool of available talent and help Malaysia maintain its position as the world’s preeminent center for Islamic finance. Only one Shariah bank in the Middle East has a female CEO. Besides, being open to female talent has allowed Malaysia to access a wider pool of Shariah scholars, an area where there is a shortage of experts.

The Islamic Development Bank is aiming to price a U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk of benchmark size and five years duration on Thursday, after releasing initial price guidance for the issue. The Jeddah-based institution is targeting pricing in the area of 15 basis points over midswaps. The IDB was due to wrap up a series of investor meetings on Wednesday after announcing last week it had chosen banks to arrange roadshows ahead of a potential deal. The AAA-rated IDB chose CIMB, Deutsche Bank, First Gulf Bank, GIB Capital, HSBC, Maybank, Natixis, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, and Standard Chartered as arrangers.

South Africa sold its first ever Shariah-compliant bonds at a record-low borrowing cost, opening the way for state-owned companies to tap a growing Muslim investor base. The $500 million of 5.75-year securities were priced with a coupon of 3.9 percent, at the bottom end of the range marketed to asset managers. Fifty-nine percent of investors participating in the deal were from the Middle East. The sale is likely to prompt more African nations and companies to follow. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., South Africa’s state-owned electricity company, and Transnet SOC Ltd., the ports and railways operator, have said they may tap the Islamic finance market. BNP Paribas SA, KFH Investment and Standard Bank Group Ltd. arranged the sale.