IslamicFinance.de

President of the Republic, Field Marshal Omer Al Bashir inaugurated Tuesday evening the Riyadh Centre of Faisal Islamic Bank in Khartoum. It includes the Electronic Branch, Banking Branch and Faisal Cultural Centre and is located in the Riyadh neighborhood of Khartoum. A speaker at the ceremony pledged going ahead with enhancing the work of the Bank to contribute to sustaining Sudan's economic growth through using modern technologies in transactions. Besides, the President of the Republic and the Governor of Khartoum State were honoured during the ceremony.

By the end of this year, the Islamic Economy Higher Committee will come out with a unified Islamic legislation to help encourage and support Islamic products in the emirate. The committee will also work on creating bodies or committees authorised to certify and check on the Islamic products. However this will be left optional, the Committee’s member and Director General of Dubai Department of Economic Development, Sami Al Qamzi said.

The lack of Sudanese banks in South Sudan is an impediment to trade between the two countries which could potentially reach a volume of $2 billion annually, according to the general manager of Sudan’s Export Development Bank (EDB) Mohammed Rashid Mohammed Salem. Therefore, he called for the swift signing of cooperation protocols between the central banks in Khartoum and Juba which would allow for a Sudanese banking presence in South Sudan. The Sudanese banker emphasised the readiness of the EDB to contribute to the development of trade and exports to South Sudan in order to support the banking system there.

Islamic banks in Malaysia and Indonesia are opening new branches in rural areas as they target the newly rich in Southeast Asia’s largest Muslim nations. HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd added 22 outlets in the last three years, bringing the total to 26 across the country. PT BRI Syariah, a unit of PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia, will set up 94 branches in 2013 to meet demand in smaller cities. The bank predicts its shariah-compliant savings will increase 73 per cent to a record 19 trillion rupiah (US$1.9 billion). Besides, increasing savings may help spur demand for sukuk as banks look to invest their funds and boost returns.

Islamic banking assets with commercial banks in the GCC grew by 14 percent in 2012, conventional banking assets grew by only 8.1 percent -- indicating the relative resilience and potential of the industry. Qatar was reportedly the fastest growing market where Islamic banking assets are expected to have grown by more than 23 percent during 2012. The outlook for the Islamic banking industry in the GCC is positive. However, Islamic banks remain technologically disadvantaged as software systems are primarily designed for conventional banking. Global Islamic banking assets with commercial banks are now at $ 1.55 trillion at end of 2012 and projected to exceed $ 2 trillion by 2015.

Islamic endowments, known as awqaf, receive donations from Muslims to operate specific social projects, such as mosques, schools and welfare schemes. Over the past few decades, awqaf have amassed a vast array of assets, from real estate to cash holdings, equities and even valuable books. However, the management of these assets has failed to keep up with their expansion. Basic changes in asset management methods could improve awqaf yields globally by between 1.5 and 2 percentage points. It can therefore be a source of long-term liabilities that the industry is desperately seeking.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH Malaysia) has appointed Datuk Seri Abdul Hamidy Abdul Hafiz as its CEO effective today.
Datuk Jamelah Jamaluddin, who has helmed the bank since 2010 as the CEO, would now assume the role of managing director of Kuwait Finance House (Labuan). The changes were part of the group's overall strategy to restructure its business, strengthen its presence in the Asia-Pacific region by focusing on investment banking and fee-based income. Hamidy will grow KFH Malaysia's banking business and fund-based activities, Jamelah will drive the region's capital market, investment banking and fee-based activities for the group.

Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) has assigned a national scale rating of A+/A-1 (QR) (A plus/A-one) to Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB). On the international scale, IIRA has assigned a foreign currency and local currency rating of A-/A-1 (A minus/ A-one). Outlook on the rating is 'Stable'. The fiduciary score has been assessed in the range of '70-75', reflecting strong fiduciary standards wherein rights of fund providers are adequately defined and protected. The fiduciary score captures the role of the management of the institution as Mudarib, the entity's governance practices and compliance with Shariah principles adopted by the bank.

Despite efforts to support financial literacy, only 35 percent of teens know how to manage a credit card and only 20 percent of teachers feel prepared to teach the subject. To help combat this critical social gap, some leading companies have started initiatives. For example, PwC is mobilizing its 35,000 people who are skilled in finance, accounting and business to address youth education with a focus on financial literacy. The firm’s centerpiece commitment, formally titled PwC’s Earn Your Future is a five-year commitment to reach more than 2.5 million students and educators and represents a $160 million investment for the firm, $60 million in cash and 1 million service hours.

Turkish Islamic bank Turkiye Finans is in the final stage of preparing a sukuk issue which is planned to have a volume of around 100 million lira ($55 million). The bank, majority owned by Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank, could make the issue within several weeks if market conditions are right. Is Investment is mandated for the issue.

The increased level of corruption and insecurity in the northern part of the country as well as mixed signals from power and petroleum sector reforms were likely to affect Nigeria's output performance, according to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Moreover, the CBN for the ninth time in a row decided to leave the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) also known as the benchmark interest rate at 12 per cent with a corridor of +/- 200 basis points. It also maintained banks' cash reserve requirement (CRR) at 12 per cent and liquidity ratio at 30 per cent with the net open position at 1 per cent.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama) has announced plans to launch a real estate refinancing company with SR5bn ($1.3bn) of capital to help develop the kingdom's mortgage market. The company will be launched through the government's Public Investment Fund (PIF) or its subsidiaries, said Sama governor, Fahad al-Mubara.

Ernst & Young conducted an analysis of housing affordability, as measured by “residual income” (household budget available after paying for housing) across the Middle East. The report shows that UAE and Qatar achieve higher levels of housing affordability for nationals, while citizens of Saudi Arabia have lower residual incomes. The report suggests that it is time for governments to make step changes in their delivery models, and in particular, to shift into a more outsourced and collaborative approach with the private sector on both the supply side (new homes) and the demand side (financing products).

Although optimism regarding global economic growth prospects has increased in the last year among Middle East intermediaries, their biggest concern for global financial markets is the Eurozone crisis. The results of a poll conducted during Invesco’s seventh annual Dubai Investment Meeting, reveal that 56% of the respondents feel positively or very positively about global economic growth prospects for 2013. Furthermore, currently the most favoured asset class is equities (54%), followed by property (20%) and bonds (19%). 39% of the intermediaries believe the Eurozone crisis is the biggest issue facing global financial markets.

Fitch Ratings has assigned Saudi Electricity Company's (SEC) upcoming international Sukuk issue a 'AA-(EXP)' expected rating. The rating is in line with SEC's 'AA-' Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and senior unsecured rating and SEC's 2012, 2010, 2009 and 2007 Sukuks' ratings. The Sukuk will be issued on an unsecured and unsubordinated basis. Among other aspects, the Sukuk benefits from a negative pledge and a cross default clause. Proceeds of the issuance will be used for general corporate purposes.

Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) has launched the syndication of its new $2 billion conventional and Islamic financing facilities. The purpose of the facilities is to refinance the $2 billion five year tranche of the original $6 billion three and five year facilities signed on August 21, 2008. The new facilities will have a tenor of five years. The $4 billion tranche which was due in August 2011 was repaid in full. ICD will be hosting a bank meeting in Dubai during the week commencing March 24, 2013.

Tarek Ali Fadaak, a member of the Shoura Council, said the Kingdom is in need of 143,000 housing units annually. He commended the "constructive steps" taken to end the housing problem with the 500,000-unit free housing project and the adoption of a housing strategy that seeks to facilitate every citizen owning a house, in addition to the launch of the mortgage law and the Real Estate Development Fund facility. By contrast, Tunisia's Housing Minister Shahida Faraj Bouraoui said that the Tunisian government's efforts in the housing sector focuses on encouraging private companies to invest in the housing sector. Jaime Lerner, former governor of the state of Parana, Brazil, warned decision makers that their housing strategies should consider people's tastes.

In the Middle East and North Africa, many of the region’s middle-class residents have grown dependent on their governments for jobs and services. To alter this, governments must first understand the middle class. There is, however, little information on this demographic group in the MENA region. The results of a study among 1,450 middle-class people show that for the most part, they do not believe that their home countries offer them what they need to succeed. The required strategic agenda should balance development across economic, social, and cultural parameters—and meets the expectations of the middle class in order to earn their trust.

Sheikh Ali Bin Abdullah Thani J. Al-Thani, Chairman of Pak-Qatar Takaful Group, inaugurated the village for Pakistani flood victims on February 27. The Sheikh Thani Bin Abdullah for Humanitarian Services foundation allocated a significant sum for the establishment of the "Doha Village Project". Total area of the village is 11 Acres and total number of beneficiaries is around 1600-2000. It includes 200 residential homes, a school, shops and clean drinking water, among other services.

Strong investor demand supported by improving liquidity is expected to boost both issuance and performance of sukuk this year. Global issuance expanded for the fourth year in a row in 2012, growing 64 per cent to about $138 billion. While sukuk is still considered an alternative investment, it is believed to have the potential to grow, especially due to funding needs and large infrastructure investments in Malaysia and the GCC.