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Moody's lowered the long-term deposit rating of Bank Asya, which is known for its close ties to the controversial Gülen Movement, from "Ba2" to "B2". The financial strength rating of the Gülenist bank has been downgraded from "D-" to "E+". According to the rating agency's statement, the bank's standalone financial strength rating was lowered due to a fall back in negative asset-quality trends, funding volatility, and post-provision profitability. Moody's also stated that the bank has been placed on review due to uncertainty in deposit ratings and that the financial strength note is also under review in case of a possible reduction.

Bank Asya, which is known for its close ties with the Gülen Movement, is now in an even more critical condition after the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) reportedly issued a "warning letter" to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK). The "confidential" note delivered to the BDDK states that the bank might not be able to provide the required reserves for its deposits in the central bank. The bank faced a TL 6 billion deposit outflow and a TL 7.6 billion decrease in assets as well as an 81 percent drop in its profits in recent months. Furthermore, the default loan amount of the bank and the rate of loans being followed up have reached critical levels. The BDDK started to investigate transactions of Bank Asya in order to determine whether the bank will be able to fulfill its obligation.

The attempts to offer conventional financial products in Afghanistan are perceived as yet another foreign attempt to challenge basic tenets of the Afghan society. This perception - shared not only in the countryside but also by sectors of urban society - is fuelling resentment and distrust among people. As a consequence, the already meager financing in the rural areas, where 75% of the population lives, is drying up and almost non-existent. This is undermining any meaningful economic and social take-off. Within this landscape, Islamic finance and takaful represent a necessary tool to address the population's discomfort with the conventional approach, ease cultural tensions and creatively mend social relations.

AIA Public Takaful Bhd has declared a total surplus of RM8.5 million for the financial year ended Nov 30, 2013. In a statement, the insurance company said the surplus distribution will involve more than 36,000 certificates under AIA Public, marking the first surplus distribution since the company’s inception three years ago. The distribution will benefit eligible customers who had participated in Takaful products offered by AIA AFG Takaful Bhd and ING Public Takaful Ehsan Bhd, the two companies which had integrated their businesses in March 2014 to form AIA Public. AIA Public said the surplus will be distributed to those who are registered as a customer of AIA Public as at Nov 30, 2013, do not have any outstanding contribution payments and have not made any claims.

Currently, Pakistan ranks ninth globally terms of development of the Islamic financial services industry but some recent purposeful steps would prove to be a game changer, said Mian Shahid, Chairman United International Group (UIG). Now, the conventional insurance companies in Pakistan are set to make major inroads into the Islamic insurance business with the active support of regulators, he added. The potential of Takaful in the Muslim world is still largely unexploited, he said, adding that its premiums are expected to reach $20 billion by 2017. Saudi Arabia, UAE and Malaysia enjoy the lion’s share on account of their advanced Islamic finance sector while Pakistan would need more simplified regulatory frameworks to propel the industry’s expansion, the insurance veteran observed.

Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim today said there was nothing dubious about the out-of-court settlement with regard to the loan of more than RM60 million he took from Bank Islam. He said he had taken court action against the irresponsible people who had slandered him. Khalid made the statement when speaking at the monthly gathering of Selangor government departments. The Port Klang state representative reminded those who were not satisfied with him to lodge reports with Bank Negara for an audit to be carried out and not to act as they pleased. He said he had decided to remain silent as he had to protect the bank’s secrecy practice.

Abu Dhabi-listed Islamic insurer National Takaful Co (Watania) said on Tuesday that United Arab Emirates regulators had approved the sale of 60.53 percent of the firm to MB UAE Investments and an affiliate of MB. Watania said MB UAE Investments would acquire 51 percent and Al Madina Insurance Co would take 9.53 percent. The group would buy a total of 90.8 million shares. The deadline for the purchase is next Feb. 24, Watania said in the statement. It did not give details such as the purchase price or who would sell the shares. In a separate filing on the Oman bourse, however, Al Madina said it would buy 14.3 million Watania shares for 17.88 million dirhams ($4.87 million), implying it would pay 1.25 dirhams per share.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has officially submitted a request to Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) to up its stake in Jakarta-listed Bank Panin Syariah (PNBS). It has expressed its intention to increase its ownership in Panin Syariah to 40 percent. DIB currently owns a 24.9 percent stake in Panin Syariah, a subsidiary of private lender Panin Bank (PNBN). The United Arab Emirates lender acquired Panin Syariah’s shares, reportedly worth Rp 251.79 billion (US$21.7 million), in two stages in May this year. The rest of Panin Syariah’s shares are controlled by Panin Bank with 52.5 percent, Hesti Femi Nugraheni with 5.4 percent and the public with 17.2 percent. The OJK expects to complete the talks and issue approval for DIB later this year.

The laws regulating Islamic financing in Kenya need fine tuning to fully support sharia compliant banking, First Community Bank general manager Omar Sheikh has said. At the moment there is no double taxation for the murabaha contracts but the law ought to be clear on this matter for future operations. Sheikh also cited the loss sharing principle as a matter that creates confusion in terms of declaration and their accounting statements whereby while sharia law requires that profit and loss be shared among the bank and clients, the local industry's guidelines require that they record it as loss provision in their books. Sheikh urged non Muslims to also seek services at the bank adding that wrong perception that the lender is restricted to Muslim clients has been the biggest challenge to its growth.

Hasan Say?n, a major shareholder of Bank Asya, is accused of insider trading for capitalizing on his knowledge to trade away his shares of the Gülenist bank and illegally earning millions of dollars. It was determined that Hasan Say?n traded millions of dollars on the stock exchange right before it was announced that Bank Asya was negotiating with Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB). The Capital Market Board (SPK), which is investigating the insider trading claims, is now getting ready to file a criminal complaint. Bank Asya had reportedly invited the holders of 290 privileged shares of the bank to discuss partnership options with the QIB, including Hasan Say?n and ?brahim Say?n. It was determined that both of them then traded millions of Bank Asya shares.

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBAR), the biggest bank in Azerbaijan managing more than 35% of total banking assets in the country, has announced the signing of a Shari'a Supervisory agreement with Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB). IBAR hopes that SRB and its experience will help the bank to build the Shari'a Complaint business and lift its Islamic financial sector to a successful future. Shariyah Review Bureau is today recognized globally for its iconic Shari'a Compliance services. With more than 37 Shari'a scholars, the company's growth includes recently doubling Shari'a review and Certification capacity in the GCC. As the pace of change in the Islamic financial industry accelerates at an international level, institutionalized services of Shari'a Advisory firms like SRB has become increasingly evident.

Indonesia is about to get an annual scorecard from Islamic bond investors and the signs are good. The nation’s first dollar sukuk in a year may yield 3.8 percent to 4.5 percent if the tenor is 10 years. That’s less than the 6.125 percent on 2019 global Islamic notes sold last September. Bank Indonesia has added $18 billion to currency reserves over the past year, inflation has almost halved from January and bond risk fell as Joko Widodo fended off legal challenges to his victory in July’s presidential election. Demand for Indonesia’s sukuk will be buoyed by a shortage of global Shariah-compliant securities. The nation’s dollar sukuk due November 2022 returned 17 percent this year, outpacing gains of 9.2 percent and 12 percent for similar notes from Malaysia and Dubai.

A consortium comprising a reputable bank, royal families, and a group of leading businessmen in the GCC, has announced that an agreement to set up the first Islamic bank in the eurozone has now been concluded.
Eurisbank will have a start-up capital totalling Euro 60m, branches in Paris, Brussels, The Netherlands and Frankfurt are planned. Set to be headquartered in Luxembourg, the founders, promoters and Deloitte have concluded a meeting with the CSSF (Luxembourg's Supervisory Authority), which has welcomed the idea. Deloitte has completed a feasibility study for the bank, which is said to demonstrate high return on investment, taking advantage of being the first of its kind to operate from the eurozone countries.

slamic banks in the Gulf and elsewhere could increase their issuance of Additional Tier 1 sukuk over the next two years to support growth, according to an analyst at Standard & Poor’s. Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE are at different stages of implementing Basel III guidelines, giving Islamic banks an additional incentive to strengthen their capital buffers. Most Islamic banks are well capitalised, but there are still compelling reasons to issue capital in the near future, according to S&P. Several bonds have already been issued that the issuers said were compliant with Basel III regulations. One of the key recommendations is that any instrument must contain elements of loss absorption to comply with Basel III.

Turkish Islamic lender Bank Asya said in a note to Borsa ?stanbul that the company continued its banking operations smoothly, defying any kind of uncertainty regarding the bank’s shareholders and board. The bank’s statements follow on the heels of an announcement from state bank Ziraat Bankas? a few hours earlier. Ziraat said it had ended unofficial talks to acquire Bank Asya, saying such a purchase was not in line with its priorities. Observers said the statement from Bank Asya would help ease earlier concerns that the bank would be seized by the state amid an intense pressure from President-elect Recep Tayyip Erdo?an’s ruling party.

Malaysia’s 11 takaful companies should consider merging soon, especially in the general takaful business due to potential limited growth prospects in addition to insurmountable competition especially with the upcoming detariffication of motor and fire insurance in 2016. Apart from new regulatory requirements like the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 which many companies have difficulties to comply with, takaful products have failed to differentiate itself from conventional insurance products. In addition, limited product offerings by takaful makes conventional insurance more attractive. Nonetheless, other than the regulatory aspects, the synergy offered by a merger would make the company more competitive in addition to having more products to offer.

The domestic Islamic finance asset is expected to continue posting double-digit growth at between 10 per cent to 15 per cent over the next five years, said the Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM). Products like takaful, will, consumer and corporate products are all maturing and with such maturity level, Islamic finance also grows, said its President Datuk Mohd Redza Shah Abdul Wahid after a briefing on the upcoming Global Islamic Finance Forum (GIFF 2014) here today. GIFF 2014 will be held from September 2 to 4, in Malaysia, discussing key issues in the development of Islamic finance industry. The association today revealed the domestic Islamic finance market share now stands at 24.2 per cent, estimated to be worth RM548 billion.

The Turkish regulator Capital Markets Board (SPK) said it won’t consider Bank Asya’s (ASYAB) application to sell 140 million liras ($65 million) in debt, dealing another blow to the suspended Istanbul-based lender. It cited ambiguity over ownership. The shares have been on hold since Aug. 7, after large swings on contradictory government statements about a possible state purchase. Bank Asya was subsequently suspended from trading on the Istanbul exchange and removed from the main indexes. Regulators have also revoked the bank’s right to collect tax on behalf of the government. The bank said it applied to sell the debt in March. Bank Asya shares declined 14 percent this year before being suspended. That compares with a 20 percent gain on the Turkish banking index this year.

Europe is the preferred target of Arab investors with 80% of the expected $180bn Arab investment flowing in to UK and Europe over the next 10 years. In the UK, London is the preferred destination. Arabs have invested heavily in European commercial real estate in recent years and have made huge profits from these investments. Some of the cash-rich Arab countries are unwilling to invest in the region because of the protracted social and political tensions in the region and see European market as safe havens to park their money. According to the latest report by global property advisor CBRE, Middle Eastern investors are expected to spend $180bn in commercial real estate markets outside of their own region over the next decade.

The DIFC Laws Amendment Law 2014, which amends the Regulatory Law 2004 and various other laws related to the Dubai International Financial Centre, is expected to give a new boost the financial services business from DIFC. The Amendments that will come to effect on August 21 makes a number of significant changes to the Dubai Financial Services Authority’s (DFSA’s) regulatory regime and investment laws. They are an important step in simplifying and improving the structure and procedures for decision making and review of DFSA decisions. They will also strengthen DFSA supervisory and enforcement powers, and improve the supervisory oversight of auditors.