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The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) today launched the Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) Sukuk framework to facilitate the financing of sustainable and responsible investment initiatives. The proposal on the SRI sukuk framework was first announced in the 2014 budget speech.

The launch of the SRI sukuk framework is in line with the initiative set out under the SC’s Capital Market Masterplan 2 to promote socially responsible financing and investment. With the shifts in investor demographics, there are growing concerns over environmental and social impact of business and greater demand for stronger governance and ethics from businesses. The Malaysian capital market is well-positioned to capitalise on these changing trends and facilitate sustainable and responsible investing. ommission Malaysia (SC) today launched the Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) Sukuk framework to facilitate the financing of sustainable and responsible investment initiatives. The proposal on the SRI sukuk framework was first announced in the 2014 budget speech.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange is currently intensifying its efforts for promoting new initiatives and plans in this direction in order to help our country overcome the present difficult and challenging economic situation,thus contributing to the rebuilding of Cyprus’ economy. Very recently, within this general direction, the Cyprus Stock Exchange has started examining, along with other interested authorities and market participants, the possible development of the Islamic Financial Instruments. It is believed that the development and promotion of CSE’s initiatives could bring significant benefits to the Cyprus economy, as well as to the Cyprus Stock Exchange. The CSE is ready to discuss listings of Islamic financial investment with interested parties.

Covered bonds are generally backed both by the issuer and by a specific pool of assets. Issuers of covered bonds are generally banks and they typically issue covered bonds at tenors of 5 to 10 years, compared with a norm of 3 to 5 years for unsecured bonds. Covered bonds allow banks to diversify their investor base and reduce their funding risk. From an investor’s perspective, such bonds can be attractive because they are high-quality instruments that offer attractive yields and are often more secure than relying on the credit worthiness of the issuer alone. Covered bonds usually trade at lower yields to corporate debt because of this. From an issuer perspective covered bonds can be a low-cost way to expand the business in preference to issuing unsecured debt instruments.

South Africa said it appointed BNP Paribas SA, KFH Investment and Standard Bank Group Ltd. to arrange a debut sukuk sale of at least $500 million. Investor meetings will reportedly run from Sept. 8 to Sept. 12 in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. A sukuk issue may follow but the timing will depend on market conditions. South Africa is looking to issue a benchmark-size sukuk. Former South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan earmarked $1.5 billion of foreign issuance over this and the next two fiscal years in his February budget, including a sukuk of as much as $500 million. Standard & Poor’s cut South Africa’s rating to BBB-, on par with Russia and Brazil, in June, with a stable outlook. Fitch Ratings has a negative outlook on its BBB assessment, the second-lowest investment grade.

Hong Kong's government will hold investor meetings next week for its maiden Islamic bond issue. A meeting will be held in Hong Kong on Monday before one in Singapore on Tuesday, Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday and meetings in Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi and London on Thursday. The AAA-rated government earlier mandated HSBC, Standard Chartered, CIMB Group Holdings and National Bank of Abu Dhabi to arrange the issue. The sukuk ijara issue is expected to be listed on the Hong Kong, Malaysia and Dubai bourses. The sukuk is expected to be denominated in U.S. dollars and have a tenor of five years. Officials have previously said issuance size is expected to be about US$500 million to US$1 billion.

Chief Executive of Bank of London and the Middle East, Humphrey Percy expects the sukuk market issuance to grow and that will be underpinned by new sovereigns. He is not only referring to the U.K.’s maiden sukuk but also potential new Islamic bond sales by Luxembourg, South Africa and Hong Kong. Mr. Percy argues that demand for high-quality sukuk is on the rise because under ever more stringent banking regulations those investments can be treated as part of the lenders’ mandatory liquid assets buffers. In addition, as global interest rates could go up, entities would be more compelled to consider selling sukuk, Mr. Percy said. And the more sukuk issuance from relative newcomers outside the traditional markets, the better for the overall development of the industry, Mr. Percy noted.

Bank of London and The Middle East (BLME), Britain’s largest stand-alone Islamic bank, aims to pay its first dividend in early 2016 as the lender diversifies its revenue and funding streams. Founded in 2006 by Kuwait’s Boubyan Bank, BLME has not paid a dividend, but its net distributable reserves are expected to reach a sufficient level in 2015, chief executive Humphrey Percy said. BLME, which provides corporate banking and wealth management services, posted a net profit of £4m ($6.6m) in the first half of 2014, up from £1m during the same period last year. This was aided by diversification of revenue streams, with the corporate banking division seeing its total operating income grow 32.5 percent from a year earlier.

Pakistan's health ministry has said that if new funds are not arranged for the delayed anti-polio campaign, it is likely to halt after two months. The Economic Coordination Council (ECC) was supposed to approve funds for the campaign in the second week of August, but it has not been allocated owing to a political crisis. The Islamic Development Bank, Japan and other organisations were to provide a loan of $326 million, with the interest on the amount to be paid by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A total of 115 polio cases has been registered in Pakistan this year. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), only 39 polio cases were registered last year.

Islam itself encourages its adherents to be wealthy so that they can use their wealth to help others. A wealthy society has the means to make others wealthy too. The wealth gathering should continue not only for those who are still struggling to be rich, but also for people who are already wealthy because it is a prerequisite for a holistic success in this life and the hereafter. This process is called "wealth management". Unlike conventional wealth management, there are four stages in Islamic wealth management. These consist of wealth creation, accumulation, protection and distribution. This wealth management knowledge should be learnt early in life, especially so when the person has an income, although one is still far from being rich.

A pair of creditors of troubled Indianapolis developer HDG Mansur want a federal bankruptcy court to force the firm into liquidation, claiming it has no hope of reorganizing and is using Chapter 11 as a stall tactic to fend off a $5.8 million judgment. Two affiliates of HDG Mansur, HDG Mansur Investment Services Inc. and HDGM Advisory Services LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May. The creditors, KFH Capital Investment Co. and Kuwait Finance House Real Estate Co., on Aug. 14 asked the bankruptcy court to convert the case from a Chapter 11 reorganization to a Chapter 7 liquidation. KFH's court filing requesting liquidation mentions a criminal probe launched by the U.S. Attorney’s office. A trial has been set for Oct. 6.

Since there are no banks in some parts of Somaliland, the money-transfer industry in the Horn of Africa is important due to its pragmatic versatility. Remittances to the Somali region alone are estimated at $1.3 billion each year. But these transfers now risk becoming impossible: Long-standing Western worries that remittance flows serve as a cover for money laundering and the funding of armed Islamist groups mean the taps could soon be turned off. Somaliland's uneasy transition from informal coping mechanisms to the formal systems of a conventional state remains deeply incomplete. This is one reason for the absence of an internationally recognized banking sector, which makes Somaliland particularly reliant on remittances.

Qatar is exploring investment opportunities in Ethiopia’s banking, insurance, real-estate development, and health and communication sectors. This was announced by a Qatari businessmen delegation, chaired by Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah al-Thani, chairman of Ezdan Holding Group. Dr Mulatto Shuma, president of Ethiopia, highlighted government’s readiness to offer all possible support to encourage foreign investment in Ethiopia by offering facilities and incentives as well as adopting a policy that protects investments in the country. Other members of the delegation included Ali Abdulrahman al-Hashemi, delegated member of Mackeen Holding Company; Ali Ibrahim Abdulghani, CEO of Qatari Islamic Insurance Company; and Kyle White Hill, CEO of Vodafone Qatar.

Collaboration between Islamic finance market players must be strengthened further in the effort to ensure continuous growth of the industry, especially in the international arena, said Kamarul Ariffin Mohd Jamil, Chief Executive Officer of Affin Islamic Bank Bhd. He also highlighted the fact that interest to venture into the Islamic finance industry has been expressed by non-Muslim countries such as Germany, Luxembourg, France, Australia, South Korean and Japan. The establishment of market infrastructure and regulatory frameworks in these countries are currently at various stages of development, he added. Moreover, the industry needs more professionals who are conversant and well trained in Islamic banking and finance.

Capital Intelligence (CI), has raised Gulf Finance House's (GFH) Long-Term Rating to 'BB' from 'BB-' and affirmed the Short-Term Rating at 'B'. The Outlook for GFH's ratings reverts to 'Stable' from 'Positive' following the rating action. The ratings reflect the recent successful refinancing and resultant extended debt repayment period. Also supporting the ratings is the significant reduction in leverage in recent years and the moderately improved liquidity position. The factors constraining GFH's ratings are the forced debt restructuring a few years ago, an encumbered asset base, and the small balance sheet coupled with single name and sector concentrations. Also constraining the ratings is the still challenging investment environment.

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has approved $987 million in funds for supporting economic and social development projects and programmes in its member countries, in addition to grants for Muslim communities in non-member countries. The funds approved by the IDB's Board of Executive Directors at a recent meeting include $176 million for Oman, $100 million for Uzbekistan, $179.3 million for Cameroon, $26.7 million for Lebanon, $20 million for Yemen and $10 million for Uganda. Egypt alone received $198 million for the development of develop Assiut Oil Refinery and $226,8 for the development of Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, from IDB's latest funds.

Bahrain's Gulf Finance House (GFH) said on Wednesday that it had signed to obtain a $105 million, five-year Islamic credit facility from Kuwait Finance House, which would help GFH redeem two syndicated debt facilities and allow the release of some major GFH assets. GFH, which suffered heavily in the wake of the global financial crisis and required multiple debt restructurings, said Kuwait Finance House would have an option to convert its outstanding debt into GFH shares. It did not elaborate on the terms of any equity conversion. The Bahraini firm noted that it had paid down some $30 million of current outstanding debt facilities to date in 2014, representing payment of more than 15 percent of its total liabilities.

Argentina's debt default imposed by US Judge Thomas Griesa and his earlier court rulings will have enormous ramifications for the global debt system. The ruling effectively declares that the rights of few wealthy investors supersede those of a sovereign nation to protect its citizens under international law. However there are two emerging avenues which may end this relationship of dependence and provide new-found economic sovereignty for such countries. The first involves significantly reducing reliance on western lenders by pursuing alternative and ostensibly less-harmful sources of finance. The second option is to press for the establishment of an International Debt Court under United Nations auspices, with a specific brief to regulate against harmful speculative practises.

CIMB Islamic, the shariah-compliant unit of Malaysia's second largest bank, is preparing an Islamic bond programme to raise up to RM5 billion ($1.58 billion). The Basel III compliant sukuk programme, assigned a preliminary rating of AA+ by ratings agency MARC, will go towards replacing an existing RM2 billion Tier-2 sukuk and to fund working capital. The securities commission is still finalising approval and CIMB is not expected to issue sukuk from the programme any time soon. The company did not specify the range of maturities or sizes for sukuk under the programme. CIMB is currently in talks with two smaller banks to create a mega-Islamic bank.

Malaysian property developer Sunway will raise up to 2 billion ringgit ($633 million) by issuing sukuk mudharaba, it said in August; short-term commercial paper under the programme will have maturities of between a month and a year, while medium-term notes will have maturities of one to seven years. Sunway will make its first issuance within two years. Turkey's Treasury said it plans to issue lira-denominated sukuk worth 1.5 billion lira ($705 million) in October. Tunisia will sell its first sovereign Islamic bond in September after months of delays, raising $140 million. The Islamic Development Bank plans to issue a benchmark-sized sukuk around May next year, close in size to a $1.5 billion, five-year sukuk which it issued in February this year, among others.

The government of Bangladesh has signed a Tk 340 crore ($44 million) loan contract with Islamic Development Bank to install the second submarine cable for the country. The installation may complete by 2016, while Bangladesh entered a consortium in March this year. Monwar Hossain, managing director of Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd (BSCCL), said BSCCL has already paid $19.2 million to the consortium from its own fund. Bangladesh will have to spend a total of $72.5 million for the new cable. The IDB will provide $44 million, while BSCCL will spend $70 million from its own fund. The rate of interest for the loans will be LIBOR+1.35 percent and the loans will have to be repaid in 13 years.