IslamicFinance.de

Kuwait Finance House Turkey has realized a sukuk issuance of 300 million TL with tenure of 179 days, exceeding its own previous record breaking sukuk issuance of TL 200 million on Nov 13, 2015. According to CEO Ufuk Uyan the bank will continue similar public offerings in the future. The first lease yield shall be made on Aug 11, 2016, while the second on Nov 8, 2016 at the end of the maturity, together with principal sums. So far, KFH-Turkey has issued lease certificates of a total of TL 7,2 billion in domestic and overseas markets.

Azerbaijan and Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) will discuss the opportunities of financing the country's agriculture. The topic will be discussed by ICD's general driector Khaled Al-Aboodiin during his visit in Baku on May 31. The agricultural projects will be financed through the new Food and Agribusiness Fund with an authorized capital of $600 million. The fund will mainly focus on the production optimization of the companies working in agriculture and a decrease in their logistics inefficiency.

Dentons advised #Kuwait's Boubyan Bank on its issuance of $250 million Perpetual Tier one Capital Certificates, which completed on 16 May 2016. The transaction represents the world's first public fully Basel III-compliant Tier one Sukuk, while also being the first ever public Sukuk from a Kuwaiti bank, and the first public Sukuk out of Kuwait since 2007. Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC and Boubyan Capital acted as joint global co-ordinators, together with Emirates NBD Capital, Dubai Islamic Bank, KFH Capital and National Bank of Kuwait as joint lead managers on the issuance of the Capital Certificates. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Ajman Bank and Noor Bank acted as co-managers.

The recovery of the sukuk market is expected to continue as the threat of a steep increase in US interest rates is quickly diminishing. Based on the view of lower interest rates for a longer period, CEO of Maybank Islamic Asset Management, Ahmad Najib Nazlan has a cautiously optimistic outlook on the sukuk market. Following a renewed positive sentiment, Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) recently called on state-owned firms to issue more Islamic bonds. In Malaysia the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is also calling on the government to increase the supply of ringgit sukuk as it gears up for the launch of its shariah-compliant option for contributors in January 2017.

Two of the largest Russian banks will soon incorporate Islamic banking rules into their line of work. The proposal was made by Rustam Minnikhanov, President of Tatarstan and banks are displaying real interest. Minnikhanov pointed out that should the two banks incorporate the new system of transactions, Russia would be forced to revise a score of fiscal laws and regulations. Sberbank's First Deputy Chairman, Maxim Poletaev, said the bank plans several pilot transactions in autumn 2016 in the Republic of Tatarstan.

Central banks need to have a stronger role in setting regulations for the region’s Islamic banks. Abdulrahman Al Hamidy, the head of the Arab Monetary Fund, said regulators need to introduce new liquidity management tools. The region’s central banks have moved to offer Islamic banks new, Sharia-compliant liq­uidity facilities to help shore up their short-term financial positions. The UAE Central Bank introduced a Sharia-compliant short-term lending facility in March last year. It allows banks to sell and repurchase Sharia-compliant securities overnight at profit.

New bond issuance has swept the Gulf but there is still not enough volume to support the number of banks vying for the business. The number of banks hired to run deals in the Middle East is shooting up from the typical five or six arrangers. Qatar has hired 10 banks for an upcoming trade, DP World and Emirates Islamic Bank nine each while Noor Bank seven. For investors, having so many banks makes deals more cumbersome and potentially cuts into the allocation if each bank brings its own buyers.

Russia’s VEB development bank plans to announce its first deals with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in the near future. VEB Chairman Sergey Gorkov said the bank may announce particular transactions in the autumn this year. However, there are several opposite viewpoints regarding the partnership. Russia’s Federation Council deputy speaker Yevgeny Bushmin said that the Central Bank and the Russian legislation are not prepared for promotion of Islamic banking in the country.

RAM Ratings has assigned an A3/Stable rating to Bank Muamalat Malaysia's proposed Up to MYR 1 billion Subordinated Sukuk Murabahahh Programme. The proposed Sukuk is Basel III-compliant and will qualify as tier-2 capital. The bank aims to continue concentrating on personal and corporate financing this year while de-emphasising its home-financing portfolio, given the competitive mortgage segment. Bank Muamalat has made significant strides in cost savings, which had contributed to higher y-o-y pre-tax profits in 9M FY Mar 2016. Profitability, however, remains weak compared to peers.

Real estate developer Sharif El-Gamal has secured $219 mn in sharia-compliant financing for a luxury condominium tower in New York City. The financing is led by Maybank and Warba Bank, other participants include Intesa Sanpaolo and MASIC, the investment arm of Saudi Arabia’s Al Subeaei family. The financing comes seven years after El-Gamal purchased the property for $4.85 mn with the goal to build a centre for reconciliation between Islam and the west.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has committed US$5.2 billion worth of loans until 2020 to aid Indonesia’s priority development projects. Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said the prioritized sectors include energy, transportation, urban development, higher education and skills development, private sector development and Islamic financial broadening. The IDB will work with other lenders, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Going forward, the IDB will prioritize efforts to shift away from dependency on commodities.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is planning to establish the Islamic Infrastructure Bank, which would be led by Indonesia and Turkey. Indonesia plans to spend US$300 mn on equity participation in the project. However, Turkey has committed to surpass Indonesia’s capital in a bid to bring the new bank’s headquarters to Ankara. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla expressed his support for the Islamic Infrastructure Bank. The IDB has recently elected Bandar bin Mohammed bin Hamza Asaad Al Hajjar as its new president, following the retirement of Ahmad Mohamed Ali. Bandar will hold the position for a five-year term.

Malaysia’s biggest pension fund is calling on the government to increase the supply of ringgit Islamic bonds as the manager of $170 bn starts a Shariah-compliant option for savers. The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) prepares to launch the Islamic plan with an initial 100 bn ringgit ($25 bn) in January. Currently the Shariah-compliant share of issuance is 42%. CEO Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said the government is actively looking at it. Boosting sales would help expand the range of maturities of the securities and their investor base. Overseas investors owned 19 bn ringgit of the government’s Islamic bonds in April, 8.2% of their total note holdings in the nation.

#Qatar First Bank (QFB) is developing a pioneering private banking platform, which offers clients the opportunity to select from a wide range of financial solutions. According to CEO Ziad Makkawi the bank is transforming from being an investment focused to an investor-focused entity. QFB’s Head of Private Banking and Wealth Management, Nizar Ahmadi, said the open architecture platform will be available exclusively to private banking clients. QFB's Shariah-compliant products include financing, private banking services, innovative investment solutions, as well as family office services covering trusts, foundations, advisory, real estate planning, and statement consolidation.

Deputy prime minister in charge of the economy, Mehmet Simsek, has said Turkey will hold meetings to increase sukuk exports in the first half of 2016. The country is preparing a draft law which would bring balance to the taxation of Islamic financial contracts and encourage long-term loans. Simsek said that the Ministry wants this system but implementation depends on investor interest. Regarding the establishment of a megabank in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Simsek said the probable scenario includes two megabanks, one in Indonesia and the second in Turkey.

The International Islamic Liquidity Management (IILM) has successfully issued a $1.34 bn short-term Sukuk at a profit rate of 1.046%. The Sukuk rated A-1 by Standard and Poor’s will be issued on 24 May and has a maturity of 90 days. ILM sells its Sukuk through its primary dealers, who consist of: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, AlBaraka Turk, CIMB Islamic Bank, Luxembourg’s KBL Private Bankers, Kuwait Finance House, Maybank Islamic, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Qatar National Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Barwa Bank.

Nigeria hopes to use a proposed Sukuk issuance programme to help fund big infrastructure needs. The country plans to borrow as much as $10 bn from debt markets to help fund a budget deficit worsened by the slump in oil prices that has slashed revenues and weakened the naira. Secretary of finance Alhaji Mahmoud Isa-Dutse said the federal government is working on a sovereign sukuk with details expected within the year. In 2013, Nigeria's Osun State issued 10 bn naira ($62 mn) of sukuk, but no other sukuk transactions have followed.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will take part in financing of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project. The estimated cost of the project will exceed $10 bn. The annual capacity of the gas pipeline will reach 33 bn cubic meters. It is planned that the total length of the TAPI pipeline will be 1,814 km. Some 214 km will pass through the territory of Turkmenistan, 774 km through Afghanistan, 826 km through Pakistan. The project is expected to be completed in late 2019.

In Uganda the first Islamic Banking and Finance (IBF) conference was held last week. Prof. Ashraf Bin Hashim said in Malaysia, most of the Islamic banks are subsidiaries to conventional banks; therefore, they are not looked at as competitors. They are developing themselves together. IBF will widen the pool of investors and Islamic donor streams to Uganda. Instead of having only conventional investors, there will be several potential Islamic investors in the country.

Nigeria hopes to use a proposed Sukuk issuance programme to help fund big infrastructure needs. The country plans to borrow as much as $10 bn from debt markets to help fund a budget deficit worsened by the slump in oil prices that has slashed revenues and weakened the naira. Secretary of finance Alhaji Mahmoud Isa-Dutse said the federal government is working on a sovereign sukuk with details expected within the year. In 2013, Nigeria's Osun State issued 10 bn naira ($62 mn) of sukuk, but no other sukuk transactions have followed.