IslamicFinance.de

Yasaar media published a new report called Islamic Finance in North America 2009 for free download, which is co-published by Codexa Capital, UM Financial Group, King & Spalding, and Doha Islamic.

According to the report Islamic finance in North America has developed along two quite separate paths:

• The first path focuses on retail Islamic finance and centres mostly on home financing products and credit cards.

• The second path involves a number of high profile GCC-based Islamic investment banks and their deployment of hundreds of millions of dollars in private equity and real estate developments in North America.

Read the full report for free at the link below.

Yasaar Media published a report about Islamic Investment Banking for free download, with the co-publishers Unicorn Investment Bank, Doha Islamic covering data and principles regarding Private Equity, Venture Capital, syndicated lending, real estate, asset management, fund manageement, liquidity management, treasury, trade finance and capital markets in an Islamic context.

Bahrain-based Islamic investment house Tharawat said it plans to raise USD 100 million by year-end for a sukuk fund it recently launched to focus on bargains on the secondary market.

Tharawat was established in July 2008 with a paid-up capital of $33 million.

Press Release

PARIS, September 2, 2009--New issuance of sukuk (bonds compliant with Islamic law) topped $9.3 billion in the first seven months of 2009 compared with $11.1 billion during the same period in 2008, said Standard & Poor's Ratings Services in a report published today, "The Sukuk Market Has Continued To Progress In 2009 Despite Some Roadblocks."

"The smaller amount of issuance was due not only to the still-challenging market conditions and drying up of liquidity, but also to the less-supportive economic environment in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, particularly in the United Arab Emirates," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Mohamed Damak. "The medium-term outlook for the sukuk market remains positive, though, in our view, given the strong pipeline--with sukuk announced or being talked about in the market estimated at about $50 billion--and efforts to resolve the major difficulties impeding sukuk market development."

VTB Capital said that it has mandates to manage the sale of at least three Sukuk for Russian companies, each of which could raise USD 200 million to USD 500 mn. The sale shall start soon according to Yury Solovyov, VTB Capital's president and chief executive, said in an interview in Dubai.

Saudi Electricity Co, the state- controlled power producer, may raise as much as USD 1.87 bn, SAR 7 bn, in the largest sale of Sukuk.

The 5-year Sukuk, which is expected to be rated AA- by Fitch rating service, may pay between 90 basis points to 100 basis points over Saudi interbank rates a market expert is quoted.

The spread above the London interbank offered, or Libor, on corporate and government sukuk has narrowed to 7.6 percentage points from an all-time high of 12.3 percentage points in February, according to HSBC-Nasdaq Dubai indexes.

Organised and reverse tawarruq comply with Sharia, in the opinion of Engku Rabiah Adawiah Engku Ali who advises the central bank of Malaysia provided they involve the actual sale and delivery of goods.

Saudi-based Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Bros Co (AHAB) said it was about to start talks with creditors, after a newspaper reported it and Saad Group are seeking to restructure USD 10 bn in debt.

Sukuk growth might be limied due to higher costs of structuring, issuing, accounting fees, real estate downturn, and low hydrocarbon prices, says S&P in a report. Nevertheless, it said sukuk-based financing remained the most attractive means of raising funding for medium and long-term capital costs for GCC issuers.

The refinancing of Nakheel’s US$3.5 billion (Dh12.85bn) Sukuk will be of utmost relevance to the credit ratings Moody's has for Dubai entities. Nakheel has not the stand alone capacity to repay the Sukuk reported Paulo Vecina in The National.

The Investment Dar Co.The Investment Dar Co.held its latest financial restructuring update meeting in Dubai on Monday 8 June 2009 with its banks and investors. The firm expects its audited results soon. Morgan Stanley is appointed by the steering committee for debt restructuring as their financial advisor.

Saad Trading Contracting & Financial Services Co.’s debt securities, known as sukuk, are trading for 25 cents on the dollar compared with this year’s high of 79 cents on Feb. 26, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Saad Group on June 2 appointed BDO Capital Finance to advise the company on restructuring plans after the Saudi central bank last month froze bank accounts of al-Sanea and his family members, reported Haris Anwar on Bloomberg.

Bahrain's USD 750 mn sovereign sukuk issue attracted an order book of about USD 4 bn and the size was increased to USD 750 mn. The sukuk was priced at the low end of expectations at 340 basis points over US Treasuries. Some 55 % of the issue went to Middle Eastern investors, with Europe accounting for 26 % and Asia for 15 % of the investor base of almost 200 accounts.

Saudi Arabia said it launches its new market for Islamic bonds, or sukuk, and bonds.Tadawul currently trades Islamic bond issues by only two listed firms - Saudi Basic Industries Corp and Saudi Electricity, which will launch sukuk on Saturday worth 5 billion saudi riyals. The government is a major shareholder in both firms.

Dubai Islamic Bank announced that it has purchased USD 50.6 mn from the partial cash tender offer to retire USD 200 mn of outstanding Sukuk. DIB purchased the certificates at 88 % of the face value.

The CMA announced on 7 June that Saudi Electricity Company’s request to offer Sukuk in the period from (13/6/2009) G to (28/6/2009) G. More details will be published in the prospectus to the public.

Andrew England in Abu Dhabi and Abeer Allam in Riyadh reported in the Financial Times about the Saudi conglomerate owned by Maan Al-Sanea.

The statement by Saad Group – its first admission that it is facing difficulties – came after bankers said the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama) had frozen the personal accounts of Mr Sanea and members of his family.

IslamicFinance.de: Saad Group is related to the Golden Belt Sukuk. No information was given in the article hereto.

BUMIPUTRA-Commerce Holdings Bhd, said it received approval from the Securities Commission for the sale of as much as RM 2 bn Sukuk, to be made availabl to CIMB Islamic Bank.

Indonesian property firm PT Bakrieland Development Tbk wants to raise up to 300 billion rupiah from an Sukuk issue, or twice the amount previously indicated. Bakrieland has appointed PT Bahana Securities and PT Madani Securities as underwriters for the sukuk. The firm plans to issue a 2-year tranche with an indicative yield of 14-15 %, and a 3-year tranche with an indicative yield of 15-16 %.

A recent article in the Economist emphasizes the importance of the nascent debt markets for Gulf countries.