IslamicFinance.de

Leader of Russia’s Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, is courting investment from Saudi Arabia. Kadyrov received a Saudi delegation in St Petersburg over the weekend, during which he discussed increasing the partnership between Chechenya and Riyadh. In January Kadyrov announced he is looking to open an Islamic bank, in order to attract investors from the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf.

The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) announced the completion of a Shari’ah-compliant financing facility for Oil Recovery Services SAL (ORSsal) with operation in Algeria. The annual MENA Energy Investment Outlook Report issued by APICORP stated total planned energy investments in the MENA region will reach $900 billion over the next five years. According to the report, Algeria will invest $8 billion on gas as it focuses on developing its midstream sector as part of the country’s plan to expand total pipeline-network capacity by 30 per cent.

On the 10th anniversary of its presence in the Middle East, Lombard Odier demonstrates its long term commitment to the region by expanding its activities and services in the UAE. The team is also celebrating by moving its office location to the Conrad Business Tower. Patrick Odier, Senior Managing Partner of the Lombard Odier Group, said the bank maintains focus on wealth and investment management for private and institutional clients across the region.

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) has announced the appointment of Nada Ishaq Abdul Karim as Executive Secretary to its Board of Directors. The appointment of the first Bahraini woman in this position comes within the Bank's strategic plans in line with the "Ishraq" Initiative- Back to Basics 2016. CEO Hassan Amin Jarrar said this shows the bank's continuous support for qualified Bahraini women and promotion of Bahraini personnel.

The World Bank Group, the Islamic Financial Services Board and the Republic of Turkey are jointly organising a conference on "Realising the Value Proposition of Takaful Industry for a Stable and Inclusive Financial System" on May 30-31, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. The conference aims to provide a platform for global practitioners and stakeholders in Takaful industry. The current state of the industry will be discussed as well as the evolving nature of the related legal and regulatory requirements in various regions.

According to a report by Ernst & Young (2015), there were more than 300 Islamic financial institutions worldwide in more than 70 countries with Islamic banking assets estimated to reach US$1.6 trillion. The strong position of the Islamic financial institutions is largely attributed to the inherent stability of the Islamic financial system. Despite the achievements, Islamic banks are criticised due to favouring debt-based contracts rather than the equity-based contracts. This results in a lack of financial innovations aiming at financial inclusion, particularly to the poor in rural areas in the form of Islamic micro-financing.

The German car manufacturer Audi has partnered with BankIslami Pakistan to introduce its brand in the Pakistani market. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed with Premier Systems, Audi’s general importer in Pakistan. BankIslami will provide tailor-made financing packages to Audi customers across the country through its flagship product of Islami Auto Ijarah. The MoU was signed by Muhammad Yasin Khan, CFO of Premier Systems and Yasser Abbas, Section Head Auto Ijarah, BankIslami.

Hackers have leaked files online containing data on thousands of customers of Sharjah-based Investbank UAE. The files were stolen last December when an individual tried to blackmail the bank for $3 million. When the bank refused to pay, the hacker threatened to dump the stolen files online, yet they never appeared. Security expert Mohammad Amin Hasbini warned that the hackers are going to release data from a second attack. According to Softpedia, the hacker group is Bozkurtlar, the same group that claimed responsibility for the Qatar National Bank data breach two weeks ago.

On 27 April 2016 Ziraat Participation Bank closed its first Syndicated Murabaha Financing Facility. The debut transaction received a strong response from the market. Due to the significant oversubscription, Ziraat Participation Bank increased the facility size to US$155 mn. CEO Osman Arslan said the proceeds from the facility will be used to support the funding requirements of SMEs and the financing of trade related businesses.

Turkiye Finans announced plans for a EURO denominated Sukuk. This represents the first Euro denominated Sukuk in Turkey, though a number of US Dollar Sukuk have been issued previously, most recently by Turkish subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House (Kuveyt Turk) which issued a $350 million Sukuk in February 2016. Kuveyt Turk also recently issued an innovative CPI linked Sukuk, which illustrates a maturing market in Turkey.

Gatehouse Bank’s head of real estate David Swan has left the company.

#Malaysian fund Lembaga Tabung Haji has hired broker Savills to find a buyer for its London office building at 10 Queen Street Place. The building was purchased by Tabung Haji in 2012 for £165 mn and is now expected to sell for about £200 million. Malaysia’s state investment funds have been selling UK real estate as the government called on them to help the country’s stock and currency markets.

After a three-year pause The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) plans to sell ringgit-denominated sukuk in the Malaysian market. The IDB board has approved the issuance of up to 400 mn ringgit ($99.9 mn) in sukuk in 2016. IDB president Ahmad Mohamed Ali said it could be both private and public placement, but the specific size and timing of the deal depend on market conditions.

La Finance Islamique, c’est plus de $2.000 ms et 35% de taux de croissance. Une manne financière qui doit être saisie par le gouvernement du Sénégal pour le financement du Plan Sénégal émergent (Pse). Oulimata Diop, Directrice de la Monnaie et du Crédit au Ministère de l’Economie des Finances, a dit l'financement du Pse qui doit être pris en charge par le secteur privé à hauteur de 60%, c’est pourquoi le gouvernement compte mettre en place des stratégies pour capter l’investissement Islamique.

The Islamic finance industry has set sight on the gold market as initiatives are underway to establish a new standard to make the metal tradable under Shariah finance rules. World Gold Council (WGC) together with Amanie Advisors and the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions in Bahrain are now developing the standard to increase transparency and harmonisation of the use of gold investments. The Islamic finance entry could shake the gold market as Islamic financial institutions hold around $2tn in assets and are expected to double that asset base up to 2020.

#SouthKorea’s Woori Bank has launched a Korea Desk in Iran to help Korean companies with their business activities in the Islamic Republic. Central Bank of Iran's deputy Gholam-Ali Kamyab said this move could prepare the ground for the opening of Woori branches in Iran. Korean companies will be able to use Woori Bank’s service in the Iranian bank or the Korean bank’s outlets in neighboring cities of Bahrain and Dubai for their businesses in Iran.

Hong Kong bank accounts belonging to several unnamed individuals have been frozen amid global investigations into the finances of the Malaysian state fund 1MDB. Owners are being probed by authorities in countries outside of Malaysia. Authorities in Singapore charged two men following investigations into their dealings with the fund. A Malaysian parliamentary committee had identified at least US$4.2 billion of irregular transactions by the fund.

Alif Capital has been approved by the National Bank of Tajikistan to provide banking services in both hard currency and somoni, the currency of Tajikistan. Alif Capital is marketed as the first regulated microfinance institution in Tajikistan that offers Sharia-compliant finance. Its loan terms vary from four to six months, with an average size of $4,000 as of 2015.

The Middle East remains the most financially excluded region in the world despite being a middle income region. When the World Bank conducted its first Global Findex survey in 2011, the Middle East had the lowest bank account ownership rate of the six developing regions. In the Middle East only about 14% of adults have an account, virtually unchanged from 2011. The World Bank has made substantial efforts to ensure that SMEs obtain access to finance over the past six years – with large line of credit operations in Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco.

#Debt continues to be a major source of instability for the global economy. Since 2007, global debt has grown by $57trillion or 17 % of GDP. Since 2007, no major economies and only five developing economies have reduced the ratio of debt to GDP in the real economy. In contrast, 14 countries have increased their total debt-to-GDP ratios by more than 50 percentage points. Over 20 countries now have debt-to-GDP ratios above 200 per cent, led by Japan (400 %).