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The Royal Award for Islamic Finance (The Royal Award) Dinner and Award Presentation will be held in Malaysia on 2 September 2014 in conjunction with the Global Islamic Finance Forum 2014 (GIFF 2014). The Royal Award, held once every two years, is spearheaded by Bank Negara Malaysia and Securities Commission Malaysia under the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) initiative. The Royal Award recognises and honours an Islamic finance visionary whose achievements and innovation contribute significantly to both the growth of the global economy and social progress of communities around the world. An independent seven-member international jury panel will select the deserving individual for the award.

In an attempt to check financing of militancy, the government will investigate how Islamic banks, including Islami Bank Bangladesh, and other financial institutions have spent their profits till date, said State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan yesterday. Intelligence personnel have been instructed to check whether there are any inconsistencies in the financial statements of the institutions, the minister added. Intelligence personnel will also intensify their vigilance in Chittagong Hill Tracts, as some NGOs in the name of Islam are carrying out suspicious activities there. The national committee will also launch a campaign against militancy involving eminent media personalities, said Asaduzzaman, adding that the government would intensify its monitoring on social media like Facebook.

Yesterday, the first results for the Peterborough social impact bond (SIB) were released and the outcomes are promising. Through a program related investment (PRI), The Rockefeller Foundation supported the Peterborough SIB pilot aimed at reducing prisoner recidivism—and now, four years later, we can point to tangible success for this new innovative finance mechanism. The first ever SIB project reduced reoffending by 8.4 percent when compared to a control group. While a reduction of 10 percent was needed to trigger immediate repayment to investors, the performance of this first group indicates that investors are on track to receive positive returns in 2016. If the reduction in reoffending remains above 7.5 percent, the Ministry of Justice will make payments to investors.

Retail investors will soon get to invest in Singapore’s first syariah-compliant real estate investment trust (Reit), the Sabana Reit – set to hold about $850 million of Singapore industrial properties. Maybank Singapore is offering smaller firms an Islamic commercial property loan that comes with one of the longest fixed interest rate terms here. The product, called Maybank Islamic Term Financing, will provide small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) with financing for completed commercial and industrial properties, on a mid- to long-term basis. Maybank Singapore head of Islamic banking Ismail Hussein said the product had contributed significantly to Maybank’s Islamic SME financing portfolio.

Eiger Trading launched the first ever fully-automated, Shariah-compliant 24/7 Commodity Murabaha platform, in conjunction with Gulf International Bank’s (GIB) KSA retail arm, under the ‘Meem’ brand name. This fully-automated Islamic e-banking solution offers 24/7 online personal finance and deposits to retail clients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Eiger and GIB’s combined technology provides online customers with a 24/7 real-time mechanism for executing Shariah-compliant transactions, using commodities all of which are located and deliverable within the Kingdom.

Investors treat a company’s shares differently depending on the specific types of Islamic bond it issues and the reputation of the Islamic scholars who oversee the instruments, a study by the International Monetary Fund found. About a dozen types of sukuk are in use worldwide. The study found the ijara structure tended to draw a positive reaction from the stock market, with the shares of companies using that structure performing relatively well. By contrast, equity-based structures such as musharaka met a relatively negative reaction. The IMF also looked at other characteristics of sukuk such as their tenors and pricing, but did not find these factors to be statistically significant for the responses of equity market investors.

While the UAE Government has launched a number of initiatives this year to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs), there are still industry executives who say that much more needs to be done – especially when it comes to the nascent Islamic economy. The UAE is especially keen to give Emiratis a chance of helping the economy by starting their own businesses, and a number of big companies are promoting the initiatives by inviting SMEs to be their suppliers. Banks have played their part in recent years as they recovered from the financial crisis of 2008. While criticism against banks for not doing enough to fund SME businesses was justified before the financial crisis, when banks were more focused on financing real estate and retail customers, that is no longer the case.

DIFC Investments, the investment arm of the company running Dubai’s financial free zone, is reportedly planning to issue sukuk. The company has appointed banks and could come to market as early as September. Key banks on a 2012 loan deal are among those involved in the new sukuk. DIFC took out a $1 billion syndicated loan in May 2012 with Emirates NBD acting as financial adviser, while Standard Chartered coordinated the debt. Dubai Islamic Bank and Noor Bank also participated in the loan. The purpose of that loan was to refinance a $1.2 billion FRN sukuk that was maturing later that year. The new sukuk, if successful, could be used to refinance that 2012 loan.

Azzad Asset Management has announced the launch of an online tool intended to help American Muslims observe Halal investing guidelines. Using input provided by shareholders of the Azzad Mutual Funds, an online Purification Calculator will provide a user-specific dollar amount that represents unintentional earnings that were potentially derived from religiously impermissible sources. Purification totals are calculated on a per share basis using Azzad's methodology for calculating unethical income. Azzad advises shareholders to give the indicated amounts to the charity or charities of their choice in order to avoid profiting from any activities deemed potentially harmful to society.

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.

A shortage of global sukuk will probably help cut borrowing costs on Pakistan’s first Islamic bonds since 2005, boosting a government besieged by opposition street protests. The government plans to offer $1 billion of the notes, with the sale scheduled for the first week of September. Assuming it’s a five-year maturity, the coupon rate will probably be 5.75 percent to 6.25 percent. The nation paid 7.25 percent for 2019 non-Islamic dollar debt in April. This deal will be an important test to see how a politically volatile country, as Pakistan is at the moment, can issue a high-yield sukuk. There will be demand because no other country is giving this huge return. The rupee has rebounded 9.3 percent from a record-low of 108.70 per dollar on Dec. 3. It closed at 99.49 yesterday.

The GCC debt markets in 2014 had an active second quarter, particularly in corporate bonds and sukuk. The region's noteworthy issuances include Commercial Bank of Qatar issuing $750m bond. On the sovereign front, Qatar Central Bank (QCB) issued three government bonds amounting to $261m, $577m and $261m in Q2, 2014. UAE corporate bond issuances were dominant in the second quarter. The GCC's ability to shield itself from the regional instability was again on display in the second quarter. Dubai yields continued to decline to their lowest levels in a year, with the yield of 5-6 year bonds reaching 3.27 percent. On the region's IPO market performance, the second quarter of 2014 started off and ended on a high, with a total of seven IPOs, compared to two in Q1, 2014.

Bahrain based Gulf Finance House (GFH) announced its financial results for the first half of 2014 ended June 30, 2014. GFH reported a net profit of $10.6m for the period compared with $4.2m for the prior year period. The Bank’s consolidated profits rose by 152% in current period compared to the prior year period although an impairment of $10m was conservatively taken. Net profit for the second quarter of 2014 was $9.5m. Total income for the first half of 2014 was $88.2m compared with $24.5m for the same period of the year 2013. Operating expenses for the period were $67.6m. GFH made debt repayments of approximately $7m during the period, representing a reduction of approximately 3.5% of the Bank’s total financing liabilities.

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.

A newly released report "Islamic Finance in Africa: Unlocking Opportunities for Growth" studies the evolution of the Islamic finance industry in Africa. Moreover, the report, a joint publication by Kuwait Finance House Research Limited (KFHR) and Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC), highlights the exciting growth prospects for the various Islamic finance segments on the continent. Africa's presence in the global Islamic finance landscape is growing, albeit from a small base. The sukuk market in Africa holds great potential over the medium-run, amid unprecedented funding needs for infrastructure building. Aside from the sukuk market, Africa's Islamic funds markets holds potential in the medium-run. The Islamic banking sector has recorded solid growth, and demand for takaful products in Africa islikely to increase.

This paper provides a survey on Islamic Finance in SSA. Ongoing activities include Islamic banking, sukuk issuances (to finance infrastructure projects), Takaful, and microfinance. While not yet significant in most Sub-Saharan countries, several features make Islamic finance instruments relevant to the region, in particular the ability to foster SMEs and micro-credit activtities. As a first step, policy makers could introduce Islamic financing windows within the conventional system and facilitate sukuk issuance to tap foreign investors. The entrance of full-fleged Islamic banks require addressing systemic issues, and adapting the crisis management and resolution frameworks. The IMF can play a role by sharing international experiences and providing advice on supervisory and regulatory frameworks as needed.

After a decision by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) prohibiting banks from compounding interest, Saudi commercial banks were expected to improve their services. However, the services remained substandard. In their terms and conditions for extending loans, the banks determine the profit rates depending on the size of the loan and the financial position of the customer. You will often see customers waiting in long queues to be served because the banks do not appoint sufficient number of employees to serve customers. The complaints against Saudi commercial banks have become a normal phenomenon. The banks would have improved their services if they had heeded SAMA's instructions.

Emirates have secured a $425 million shariacompliant loan from a group of UAE banks to finance the acquisition of two Airbus A380 aircraft. Emirates used the loan to take delivery of its 50th A380 in Hamburg last month. The aircraft is scheduled to enter into service sometime in early August. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (Adib), Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) were the joint book runners and initial mandated lead arrangers in the transaction. Emirates is the largest operator of the superjumbo A380 and have a further 90 on order. The airline’s president, Tim Clark, has previously said he is interested in ordering more of the superjumbos if Airbus is able to manufacture a more fuel efficient “neo” version.

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.

For the second consecutive year, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) presents findings from the Islamic Finance Development Indicator (IFDI), developed in collaboration with Thomson Reuters. The IFDI measures five key components that combine to depict the bigger picture of the state of Islamic finance in 92 countries: quantitative development, governance, social responsibility, knowledge and awareness. The number of Islamic finance conferences (>100 participants) worldwide surged by 41 per cent to 107 in 2013 from 76 in 2012, with 36 countries hosting conferences compared to 25 in 2012. Islamic finance in the UAE is most newsworthy, with Malaysia and rest of the GCC also make headlines. UK topped European coverage.