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Turkish participation bank Kuveyt Turk has launched a $500m five year sukuk at 340bp over mid-swaps, the tight end of refined guidance, after drawing $3.25bn of orders. Kuveyt Turk gave initial price thoughts of 375bp over mid-swaps on Wednesday, but tightened guidance to a 350bp plus or minus 10bp range on Thursday morning as books passed $2.25bn. Books went subject at 11am in London. The banks arranging the transaction are Citigroup, Emirates NBD, HSBC, Kuwait Finance House and Standard Chartered.

Thomson Reuters, in partnership with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, has launched the second annual Ethical Finance Innovation Challenge & Awards (EFICA) for 2014. The global awards are designed to recognize and reward innovation in ethical and Islamic finance. Applications are open for the following categories: 1) Islamic Finance Industry Development Award offers a prize of $100,000, 2) Ethical Finance Initiative Award offers a prize of $50,000, and 3) Lifetime Achievement Award offers a prize of $25,000. Submissions for these three awards will be open until 5 August, 2014. To learn more about the awards, guidelines for entry, executive board members and to download application forms, please visithttp://updates.thomsonreuters.com/events/efica/.

Kuwait's Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has rejected an appeal by Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House (GFH) against the regulator's decision to monitor its Kuwait-listed shares. The CMA decided to monitor the stock after it was traded in high volumes ahead of a company disclosure last year. GFH, which said the events were unrelated, appealed last month. However, the CMA commissioner board has maintained its previous decision in this respect after reviewing the details of the subject. In recent months, Kuwait's regulator has been clamping down on what it sees as unusual market activity.

QIB-UK, a subsidiary of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), is offering real estate investment opportunities for premium clients looking to purchase properties in London. The bank’s network gives interested clients early access to residential real estate opportunities. They will enjoy privileged introductions to opportunities in the London real estate market both for buyers and investors alike. In addition, the bank offers a full suite of Shari’ah-compliant structured commercial real estate financing products including investment, residential development and mezzanine financing to clients.

Last week, Britain mandated five banks to arrange a 200 million pound ($336 million) sukuk issue which could be issued in coming weeks, subject to market conditions. Britain's choice of HSBC, Qatar's Barwa Bank, Malaysia's CIMB, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered as arrangers appeared designed to ensure easy distribution and tight pricing. But the choice was notable for excluding all of Britain's six full-fledged Islamic banks; none was included in the mandate. That could reduce the impact of the issue in developing expertise and depth in Britain's Islamic banking sector. It may also limit British banks' access to the issue.

Representatives from Azzad Asset Management announced the selection of Federated Investment Management Company as sub-advisor for the Azzad Wise Capital Fund, America's first Halal fixed-income mutual fund. The Federated team has researched and purchased Sukuk, a significant holding in the Azzad Wise Capital Fund, for US and European mutual funds, as well as in separately managed accounts for large pension and institutional clients, said Azzad Senior Investment Strategist Fatima Iqbal. In addition, they have extensive experience managing fixed-income securities, generally. Much of the same analysis will be implemented in their management of the Azzad Wise Capital Fund.

Asset management firm Arabesque has received regulatory approval to start operations with its value-based investment strategies - the latest addition to Britain's Islamic finance sector. The London-headquartered firm now has in place a team of 18 staff, with additional offices in Frankfurt and New York, chief executive Omar Selim said. Moreover, Arabesque is backed by an advisory board of ethical industry professionals. The firm is backed by capital from its own management and has commitments from several institutional investors. Arabesque plans to establish funds in Luxembourg and will offer managed accounts as well.

Muslims in America are becoming a significant demographic force, and with that comes significant votes, which in turn translates into influence wielded in the social world they inhabit. And if Muslims in America today want to see interest payments prohibited on loans, then banks must find alternative ways to do business with them. These banks get around the prohibition of interest on loans by treating loans more like leases or profit-sharing arrangements. Giant financial institutions in the US now have their own Sharia advisory boards, while banks with relatively small assets rely on opinions from the Sharia Advisory Board of America.

Al Madina Insurance anticipates a robust growth in takaful insurance business in Oman, if the trend in neighbouring countries is any indication. Al Madina expects the market to grow between OMR60 million to OMR70 million in worst case scenario and OMR150 million to OMR180 million in best case scenario in the next three to five years, the company's chief executive officer Gautam Datta said. He added his company did not change the premium, after converting it into an Islamic insurance company from January this year. Referring to re-insurance, he said Al Madina has a re-insurance programme of over 55 per cent and is planning to expand its retail and personal lines portfolio.

Middle Eastern investors are expected to spend $180 billion in commercial real estate markets outside of their own region over the next decade, according to the latest research from global property advisor CBRE. Europe is the preferred target with 80% of the $180 billion (around $145 billion) targeted for the region over the next 10 years. While some increase in interest towards the Americas is expected, the need for Middle East investors to diversify away from US dollar-dominated investments will counteract the fundamental attractiveness of real estate as an asset choice. CBRE estimates that about 10% of the capital (around $18 billion) will flow into the region.

Asia presents huge developmental potential for Islamic finance and is likely to be the main driver of Islamic banking growth in the near future, given the untapped potential in India, Bangladesh and Indonesia, a Kuwait Finance House Group report said. Islamic finance can be utilised for greater integration of financial markets with the real economy and for improvement of the economic balance between emerging and frontier markets, according to the report. However, the report did not provide details of Islamic banking operations in countries like India, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Driving the industry in the region is Malaysia, particularly in areas of Islamic banking, bonds and funds, it said.

The Gulf Bond and Sukuk Association (GBSA) held a seminar on Islamic finance in Dakar, Senegal last week at the Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) Partnership Forum. The seminar covered key concepts in Islamic finance as well as current trends in the Sukuk market and the use of Shari’ah-compliant financing as a development tool. GBSA President Michael Grifferty said it has to be ensured that African companies and sovereigns are aware of all financing options available along with the respective risks and rewards.

Malaysia hopes to be the first country in the world to introduce Islamic wealth management and champion new products under the Islamic financial system, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan. According to him, Islamic wealth management is an attractive sub-sector and promises good returns in the financial services industry. Ahmad said, to boost Malaysia’s aspiration to be the center of intellectual excellence in Islamic finance, the government stepped up efforts in that direction. The Islamic wealth management is expected to evolve to the next stage in the Islamic finance industry with the availability of infrastructure in terms of human resource development for the Islamic financial institutions and expertise that is existing today.

Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB) has launched an investment account based on the Sharia principle of Mudharabah. The Call Mudharabah Account combines a current account with the concept of profit sharing of the Mudharabah Investment Account. The Call Mudharabah Account is open to companies as well as individuals who are residents of Bahrain and the GCC for a minimum BD10,000 deposit. Linked to a current account, one can make a host of transactions such as redemptions and increments, withdrawals and debits, as well as use ATM facilities and acquire 24-hour online access on the KHCB e-banking system.

According to a recent IFC study on Islamic banking opportunities across small and medium enterprises in Mena, there is potential gap of up to $13.2 billion for Islamic SME financing across nine countries in the region. The study, carried out in Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan, shows that approximately 35 per cent of SMEs are excluded from the formal banking sector because of the lack of Islamic products, despite huge demand. A high level of risk aversion by banks, poor regulatory environments, differing perceptions of Islamic finance, and a lack of relevant products have been identified as lack of bank funding to SME sector in the region.

Saudi Telecom Company has issued a debut Islamic bond worth 2 billion Saudi riyals ($533.3 million) after receiving good demand. The 10-year Islamic bond carries a floating profit rate of 70 basis points over three-month SIBOR and was offered under its newly established 5 billion Saudi riyals private placement sukuk program. The debut Sukuk issuance of STC was almost two times oversubscribed. J.P. Morgan Saudi Arabia, NCB Capital Co. and Standard Chartered Capital Saudi Arabia were joint arrangers of the sukuk program as well as joint managers on the debut issue.

The European Union's second highest court has annulled an EU asset freeze on Syria International Islamic Bank, dealing another blow to EU sanctions following legal victories last year by several Iranian companies. The EU imposed sanctions on SIIB in 2012, alleging that it had acted on behalf of two other banks, Commercial Bank of Syria (CBS) and Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank (SLCB), that were both under EU sanctions. But the court said the bloc's governments had failed to provide evidence. The bank has also been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury. The ruling is subject to appeal.

Bahrain’s Gulf Finance House has become entangled in a dispute with a former executive at its Dubai-based private equity unit who the company alleges falsified invoices to siphon almost $5 million into bank accounts controlled by him. David Haigh, who was the deputy chief executive of GFH Capital until resigning this March, was arrested shortly after he arrived in Dubai about a month ago and has been in detention since. Legal authorities in Dubai are weighing criminal charges, according to an emailed statement from GFH, while the company has also filed a civil suit against him in the Dubai International Financial Centre. Mr. Haigh denied the GFH allegations.

Willis Group Holdings P.L.C. is set to offer sharia-compliant commercial real estate coverage in the United Kingdom. The coverage will be offered through the Islamic insurance platform developed by Cobalt Underwriting Services Ltd. The policy retains price neutrality, meaning premiums are equivalent to those in a conventional insurance policy. In March, Cobalt Underwriting added QBE Insurance Ltd.'s European division to its platform.

Abu Dhabi government-owned Al Hilal Bank may sell a benchmark-sized Tier 1 capital-boosting sukuk after announcing plans to meet fixed income investors, joining a raft of issuers from the United Arab Emirates taking advantage of benign markets. The unlisted Islamic lender has chosen itself as well as Citigroup , Emirates NBD, HSBC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered to arrange roadshows. A benchmark-sized, U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk offer with a perpetual lifespan may follow the investor meetings, subject to market conditions. Al Hilal will meet investors in the Middle East on June 15 before moving to Hong Kong on June 17, followed by Singapore on June 18. After a day in London on June 20, roadshows end in Switzerland on June 23.