IslamicFinance.de

Turkish Islamic bank Turkiye Finans issued a $500 million dollar-denominated sukuk, at a price of 3.95 percent on Wednesday. The bank, majority owned by Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank, had mandated Citigroup, HSBV, NCB Capital and Noor Islamic Bank for the issue last week.

Islamic Bank of Britain has raised £10m through a placing of 1,000 million ordinary shares at 1p each with its majority shareholder, Qatar International Islamic Bank.

After the debt troubles of Kuwait's Investment Dar (TID) of the past few years, some creditors are hoping for their first payment in June. However, creditors are still concerned over Investment Dar’s court-agreed repayment schedule. The asset disposal plan is reportedly making progress, against a tough economic backdrop, while resisting pressure to sell at distressed prices to buyers who sense a desperate vendor. The debt plan agreed by the court split the creditors into three groups, with repayment over eight and a half years.

Conventional insurers are proving to be tough competitors for major takaful operators given their big capacity, according to Nassib Barbir, deputy director of Takaful Re Ltd. Takaful operators must keep to Islamic roots and invest in research and development to create true takaful products instead of competing with conventional insurers, Ghassan Marrouche, CEO of Takaful Emarat – Insurance (P.S.C), said. Strong and credible retakaful operators are needed to assist the growth and expansion of takaful. Consistent Shariah compliance is a must for the industry to grow and mature.

Bahrain-based Al Baraka Bank wants its new five-year global expansion strategy to put more emphasis on Africa, particularly North Africa. The bank already has ventures in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Its goal is to grow group assets and income almost twofold in the next five years. This five-year expansion plan will certainly include investments in Libya and Morocco. The bank could splurge up to $100 million this year in Libya. In Morocco, the financial services firm will launch a separate operation with a $100 million initial capital outlay within 12 months. Moreover, the group is thinking about having an Al Baraka Bank Africa brand presence.

L’installation au Maroc de la Faisal Islamic Bank appartenant au prince saoudien Mohammed Al Faisal Al Saoud n’est qu’une question de temps. En effet, la banque islamique n’attend que l’approbation du projet de loi sur la finance islamique qui devrait entrer en vigueur début 2014. Ce dernier ainsi que le ministre du Budget, Driss El Azami, se sont entretenus pour la deuxième fois avec les responsables de la banque sur le futur partenariat.

Iran plans to hold the 7th International Exchange, Bank and Insurance (FINEX) exhibition early May which is Middle East's largest financial and investment expo. Over 280 foreign and internal companies will join the event. The expo hosts 12 foreign financial companies from Turkey, the UAE, Russia, Pakistan, Indonesia and South Korea. Exchange, bank and insurance, that is, capital and money markets and insurance industry are parts of the exhibition. The expo is held on May 7-10. Besides, the 5th international Islamic capital market conference will be held in Tehran on April 28-29.

Morocco expects to sign a $ 2.4 billion loan deal next month with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The North African country has agreed a package with the IDB under which it will receive $600 million each year from 2013 to 2016. A small part of that sum will be a donation rather than a loan. A formal signing will be held in May. Moreover, Morocco is expected to raise around $ 1.5 billion this year by selling its first sukuk, with a final decision on borrowing to be taken by July. Morocco’s government has said it will limit its public debt to 60 percent of GDP despite the rising budget deficit.

Global Banking and Finance Review has announced Medgulf Allianz Takaful BSC (c) as the winner of the award 'Best Bancassurance Distribution Network Bahrain 2013'. The award honours the company's distribution network and regional presence. Medgulf Allianz Takaful was selected by the judging panel of Global Banking & Finance Review considering quality, performance and community commitment.

Turkey's Bank Asya is set to complete the general syndication stage of its Shariah-compliant loan imminently.

Qatar-based bank Masraf Al Rayan is in the final stages of due diligence to acquire a stake in a Libyan lender. According to the group chief executive Adel Mustafawi, after preparing the required studies, a memorandum of understanding will be signed before proceeding to secure the required approvals from the authorities in both Qatar and Libya. Shareholders of Rayan had approved in February its plan to buy a stake in a Libyan lender, while also voting to give the board of directors control over a QR1bn ($275mn) war chest to make acquisitions over the next two years. Moreover, the bank has also made significant progress in fulfilling the requirements of acquiring a stake in Islamic Bank of Britain.

London-based Gatehouse Bank plc (Gatehouse) has announced that its associate has successfully completed the sale of a real estate investment located in San Francisco's South Financial District in California. The total amount of the sale reached $71m (£46.4m), which yielded a profit on equity of 100% post costs and taxes. This real estate investment consists of two office buildings situated on a 15,306 sq ft parcel of land and is adjacent to the proposed Transbay Redevelopment Project. Gatehouse Bank and its associate were assisted by Arch Street Capital Advisors, L.L.C. and SKS Investments in this transaction.

Al Baraka Bank (Pakistan) unveiled its new head office, ‘Al Baraka House’ in the city of Karachi, Pakistan on 20 April 2013. The new building was inaugurated by Chairman Al Baraka Bank Pakistan, Adnan Ahmed Yousif, who is also the President and Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group. Adnan Ahmed Yousif emphasized the global strength of Al Baraka as a global Islamic bank, with presence of over 500 branches in more than 15 countries around the world.

Senior Shariah scholars and advisers of Islamic banks and conventional banks with Islamic windows have agreed to standardise Forex and interbank Musharakah agreements between Islamic banks and Islamic banking windows. This move will facilitate the availability of Shariah-compliant venues for deployment of excess liquidity of Islamic banks. This agreement was reached during a meeting called by Meezan Bank Ltd, in which Shariah scholars discussed the challenges in Islamic Treasury Operations.The forum was attended by several prominent Shariah scholars along with Product Development and Treasury professionals of all major Islamic banks and Islamic banking windows of conventional banks.

Burj Bank has launched an employee driven CSR initiative called “Giving beyond the Workplace Campaign”. As part of the programme, Burj Bank Employees along with the Senior Management team visited the TCF (The Citizen’s Foundation) Qayyumabad campus. Burj Bank members adopted one class each for the day where they spent their time in storytelling, book reading and educating the students about the importance of Earth Day. Moreover, Mr. Ahmed Khizer Khan, President & CEO of Burj Bank also presented a donation cheque from Burj Bank’s Charity Fund to Asaad Ayub Ahmad, President & CEO of TCF. This marked the beginning of a new relationship between the two organizations.

Mercer in partnership with the Institute for International Research Middle East (IIRME), will be presenting the findings of its latest survey on Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Programs, Policies and Practices in the region at the 10th CSR Summit held on May 21, 2013 at The Address Hotel Dubai Marina. Taking place over a period from April to May, 2013, the results will be ready for sharing at the conference organised by IIRME on the very same topic. The session will also provide a platform for benchmarking local practices to the global findings from the survey. The survey is open until May 1st, 2013.

Mohammed Abdulla, Chief Executive of Sharjah Islamic Bank rang the opening bell at Dubai Financial Market (DFM) to celebrate the listing of a Sukuk issued by Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) on NASDAQ Dubai. The listing of SIB's 500 million dollar Sukuk provides further support for the campaign to promote the 'Dubai the Global Center of Sukuk' initiative launched in January 2013. SIB's listing brings the nominal value of Sukuk listed on Dubai exchanges to 12.125 billion dollars. SIB's Sukuk was more than 6 times oversubscribed with 53% of the Sukuk allocated to MENA based investors, 30% allocated to investors based in Asia and 17% to investors based in Europe.

Islamic Development Bank plans to grant Kyrgyzstan $17.5 million for implementation of the Sustainable Villages Development Programme. The draft agreement between the Islamic Development Bank and the Kyrgyz government was approved by the Committee for Foreign Affairs on April 22. For the first stage of the project there will be allotted $9 millions, $6 millions of which is to be given by IDB; and $3 millions will be allocated for the second stage by the Islamic Solidarity Fund.

Sixty percent of Saudis save less than 10 percent of their monthly salary, according to a survey conducted by souqalmal.com. A recent report issued by Jadwa Investment confirmed that the Saudi consumer price index (CPI) inflation maintained the 3.9 percent year-on-year increase for the third consecutive month in March. According to the report, the main contributors to inflation are food and housing rent components. Financial experts have said Saudi families lack awareness on consumer consumption and financial management. Many reports confirm that Saudis are one of the highest spenders in the MENA region.

Islamic microfinance is rapidly gaining acceptance in Muslim and non-Muslim countries due to its success in poverty eradication. According to Muhammad Zubair Mughal, Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan’s AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE), the Islamic microfinance market has reached USD 1 billion. More than 300 Islamic microfinance institutions are offering their services to 1.6 million clients in almost 32 countries, he added. There is research needed so that new Islamic microfinance products can be introduced. At present, Murabaha alone has 80 percent share of total Islamic microfinance market.