IslamicFinance.de

Some shariah-compliant banks are removing the word “Islam” from their names — a sign of both the potential of Islamic finance to grow, and the obstacles to it becoming mainstream. The changes are part of the banks’ plans to expand. They aim to move well beyond a relatively small group of customers who stress religious permissibility, to a much larger customer base for whom pricing and service quality are key. This approach could help Islamic banks establish themselves globally. Name changes can also help Islamic banks expand in markets where regulation limits their branding options.

United Arab Bank (UAB) has announced the completion of a 3-year syndicated Murabaha facility worth US$100m with four banks based in the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait. The Murabaha deal is the first Islamic syndication completed by UAB. Al Hilal Bank , headquartered in the UAE, served as the Mandated Lead Arranger and Bookrunner for the deal, while the Arab Banking Corporation, headquartered in Bahrain and Sharjah Islamic Bank, were the other Mandated Lead Arrangers. The National Bank of Kuwait also served as a Lead Arranger. The syndicated Murabaha facility which has been taken out for general corporate purposes, was almost twice oversubscribed.

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) and Turkey's Bank Asya have 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 Bank may now be the most likely partner for Bank Asya but the two banks have not officially begun talks. It is not clear what size stake has been under discussion. Bank Asya shares slumped 9.9 percent to 1.36 lira, their lowest since April 1, by 1304 GMT, on the news that Asya was no longer holding exclusive talks with QIB. Islamic lender Bank Asya has been under pressure to sell assets, after major investors sympathetic to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan withdrew deposits.

Ramadan, the month of fasting that is observed by Muslims around the world, has already started and can impact productivity.That's why Productive Muslim and David Seah came up with a quick modification of the Emergent Task Planner (ETP). Changes include the removal of fixed hours in the DAY GRID on the left, using the five prayer times instead, as the reference times. Sunrise and sunset vary by day and geographical region, so putting in hours w/ labeled prayer times would not have been feasible. Moreover, the NOTES section was splitted into two, adding a RAMADAN SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS section. The Ramadan ETP is available here: http://productivemuslim.com/new-productivity-tool-ramadan-etp/

Dubai-based Islamic mortgage provider Amlak Finance has proposed a new deal to restructure about $2.7bn in debt. The company, part-owned by Emaar Properties, said it met lenders last month to present the deal. If the deal is agreed, Amlak will make an initial 20% down payment to depositors worth about Dhs2bon ($545m). The remaining debt to “commercial depositors” will be paid over 12 years, with about Dhs1.4bn turned into a convertible instrument.

Ithmaar Bank has issued an investor report on its Shamil Bosphorus Modaraba (SBM), indicating the fund will not achieve its investment objectives and stating that there is also a low probability that investors will have their entire capital returned. The Bank will be contacting investors to discuss the investor report and to explain available options. The SBM is a $90 million investment fund opened in November 2007 and provided equity for the acquisition, development and sale of a diversified pool of assets that included land, property and development sites in Turkey. During 2013, the Bank attempted to negotiate an exit from Turkey with its Turkish partners and more recently it has been conducting enquiries through its appointed advisers and consultants.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) hopes to advise on the mandate for Pakistan's $1 billion Islamic bond. ICD and Karachi-based Burj Bank, 33.9 per cent owned by ICD, have applied to be advisers on the sovereign deal, meeting Pakistan's finance ministry earlier this week. A ministry statement also said that it would review the applications starting next week. The ICD has further initiatives in the pipeline. Among others, ICD signed separate agreements to help develop Islamic leasing businesses in Malaysia and Uzbekistan, as well as extending $5 million in financing to support SME lending in the former soviet state.

In his Keynote Address at the 2014 London Sukuk Summit on 18 June, Jaseem Ahmed, Secretary-General, Islamic Financial Services Board, noted that the high growth rate of the Islamic finance industry has led to the emergence of Islamic finance sectors that have attained systemic importance in a number of key economies in Asia and the wider Gulf and Middle East. The second aspect of the global IF industry he highlighted is that rapid growth of Islamic finance is taking place in a group of nations that display wide variation in their market, institutional and policy and regulatory development. The IFSB Secretary General noted that the key priority is to find the resources and organisational modes and partnerships that help committed jurisdictions to meet the challenges they face, and wish for assistance in addressing.

Abu Dhabi-based Al Hilal Bank has issued $500 million Perpetual Additional Tier 1 sukuk. The transaction, which was 9 times oversubscribed, drew demand worth $4.5 billion from over 200 investors. The offering follows Al Hilal Bank’s inaugural senior sukuk offering in October 2013 and has been structured to increase the probability of compliance with Basel III. The issuance was priced at par with a profit rate of 5.5 per cent, which represents the lowest coupon achieved by any bank for a USD Tier 1 issuance outside of the United States since 2008. Joint lead managers for the issue included Al Hilal Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Al Rayan Investment, Citigroup, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC, Sharjah Islamic Bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, and Standard Chartered Bank.

The crowdfunding platform Kiva and Grameen-Jameel Microfinance Ltd. have partnered to launch ‘Change is in Your Hands’. The campaign enables individuals who want to help entrepreneurs with a plan. As part of the launch, Grameen-Jameel is offering up to 13,000 visitors to www.kiva.org/MiddleEast a ‘free trial’, the equivalent of $25 to lend to the entrepreneur of their choice. To double the campaign’s impact, Grameen-Jameel is also matching up to $665,000 in loans made by Kiva lenders. In total, Grameen-Jameel has committed $1 million to this campaign. Loans that meet both traditional and Islamic financing standards are available. ‘Change is in Your Hands’ will focus as a first step on lending to support entrepreneurship among women and youth in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Yemen, and Turkey.

Around 80 percent of nonoil GDP within the Middle East region is accounted for by family-owned business groups. Typically, these privately-owned organizations span multiple business, are vertically integrated, own sizable real estate portfolios and their operational control is still maintained by the original founding family member or the second generation. Family-owned businesses in the Middle East face a range of challenges that affect not only the success of the business itself, but also the professional and personal goals of their owners and their stakeholders at large. Deloitte's Private Client Services practice (PCS) is a private client-focused practice that offers bespoke and region-specific solutions in the area of family governance, succession planning and generational change, wealth management, tax structures and exit strategies.

The Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) announced that its upcoming seventh annual conference will be held on 26-27 November 2014 at the Royal Convention Centre at Le Merdien in Amman. The theme will be food security options in Arab countries, based on a comprehensive report on the subject which AFED is preparing in cooperation with a group of experts at research and policy centers. The AFED Food Security report aims to provide an overview of the state of agricultural resources in Arab countries, and discuss the role of science and technology in enhancing water and food security. Experts are preparing case studies on vital issues such as virtual water trade in the GCC countries, marginal land productivity in the Badia of Jordan, and Morocco green plan, among many others.

The Government of Kyrgyzstan and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) started elaboration of joint projects. The First Vice Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Taiyrbek Sarpashev held a working meeting on implementation of the agreements, reached at the end of a working visit to Saudi Arabia. He stressed that with the leadership of the IDB signed agreements for projects totaling $46.570 million. For improvement of energy supply of Arkinsky array of Lyailyak district of Batken province $16.25 million will be allocated. For the reconstruction of Osh - Batken - Isfana highway - $21,320 million. For sustainable rural development in the Kyrgyz Republic - $9 million.

Sheikh Abdullah Salem Al Salmi, executive president of the Capital Market Authority of Oman, said the Islamic insurance law is in the last stages of completion.

The Islamic Bank of Britain plc (IBB) has accredited a new fully Sharia compliant auto-enrolment Pension Scheme: the Islamic Pension Trust. It has been launched to address the need for a Sharia compliant pension scheme to meet the criteria for automatic enrolment, as defined by the Government. This means that employers in the UK can meet their legal obligation to automatically enrol eligible Muslim employees into a qualifying workplace pension scheme. Eligible employees - i.e. those who are not in a company pension scheme, earning more than £10,0000 a year (2014/2015) and aged over 22 but under State Pension Age - represent a large proportion of the Muslim population.

On the African continent, the Islamic finance market’s assets are estimated to be more than $1.6-trillion (about R17-trillion) and are expected to surge to more than $5-trillion by 2020. The growth of Islamic banking has not gone unnoticed by the National Treasury. Earlier this year, former finance minister Pravin Gordhan revealed that South Africa will launch sukuk. Several banks like Absa, FNB, Al Baraka Bank and HBZ Bank offer Islamic commercial and corporate banking products in South Africa. The total Islamic banking sector in South Africa is estimated to be worth as much as R12-billion. However, the banks have their sights also set on expansion beyond South Africa’s borders.

Nigeria’s Jaiz Bank Plc has recorded a 141 percent increase in total assets, from N14 billion ($86 million) in 2012 to N34 billion ($209 million) at the end of the bank’s 2013 financial year. Customers’ deposits experienced a similar exponential surge to N21.9 billion ($134.3 million) - a 567 percent increase over the previous year. Last week, the bank announced that its social responsibility unit, Jaiz Foundation gave N10 million ($61,000) relief materials to victims of Boko Haram bombing in Borno State. Jaiz hopes to get a National operating license before the end of the year. Besides, the bank hopes to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the next few years to avail more Nigerians the opportunity to invest in the bank.

A new loan called a ‘takaful’ will be made available in Great Britain to allow Muslims to fund their studies without contravening their beliefs. The money allocated - and the repayment amounts – will be equivalent to the set-up for all other students, who must pay university fees of up £9,000 a year. But the co-operative system will see repayments paid back into a communal fund and used to finance future students who choose to join it, so all members benefit equally. That will allow those paying the tackaful to view it as a charitable donation – rather than a loan. However, the earliest the change can be introduced is 2016 and it could be later, because new legislation is needed.

There are at least 10 million Muslims in Russia, but the country lags behind in the industry. Russian Muslims are slow to change their financial habits, while nonbelievers are plagued by a deep-rooted distrust of Islam — as are, to some extent, the financial authorities, who are in no hurry to adapt economic legislation to facilitate Islamic banking. Still, an Islamic finance industry has been budding over the past decade in Russia, and analysts and players show cautious optimism about its prospects. The industry still has plenty of room to grow — Thomson Reuters forecasts that Islamic banking assets in Russia will reach up to $10 billion by 2018.

Indonesia’s sharia banking sector has recorded slow growth as it nears the end of this year’s second quarter, compared to the same period last year, according to a recent report from the Financial Services Authority (OJK). In order to lure more customers, banks have developed their own strategies. Bank BNI Syariah, for instance, has prepared special programs for Ramadan to anticipate the rise in spending that usually accompanies the fasting month. Meanwhile, the OJK disclosed its plan to issue a revised regulation on sharia banks’ minimum capital requirement to assist lenders in the face of a wider scope of risks. The revised regulation will contain two additional indicators to measure the capital sufficiency of each bank.