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Dubai Electricity & Water Authority has given initial profit guidance of low 3% on its prospective five year benchmark sukuk. The dollar denominated ijara (asset leasing) deal, which could be as large as $1bn, is set to be priced this week.

The Arab Contractors (AC) has won a $30mln contract for the extension and modernization of the Abidjan International Airport cargo facilities in the Ivory Coast. The project is funded by the Islamic Development Bank and aims to create a commercial zone next to the airport, with a lodging area, hangars, a convention centre, a duty-free zone, office buildings, warehouses, exhibition halls, a shopping centre and housing for flying staff. Moreover, the Egyptian contractors will also have to refurbish the apron, renovate access roads and increase the terminal’s capacity from 11’000sqm to 26’000sqm.

Masraf Al Rayan got the approval by its extra ordinary general assembly to acquire an important share in a commercial bank in Libya. It now needs the nod of the Qatari and Libyan authorities before it can be a reality. The acquisition of the anonymous Libyan bank is part of the Masraf Al Rayan’s plan to pursue diverse investment opportunities. According to director Dr Hussain Ali al-Abdulla of Al Rayan, the Libyan bank is poised to be converted into an Islamic bank. Moreover, Masraf Al Rayan continues its efforts to acquire a large share in Islamic Bank of Britain.

Nearly 300 asset managers, water infrastructure and energy sector executives attended the event ‘Water: Emerging Risks and Opportunities' in New York to learn about opportunities for investing in water and the growing water demands of the United States’ booming unconventional energy sector. The event was sponsored by Goldman Sachs, GE and the World Resources Institute. On the other hand, the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility convened a roundtable on the obligations of companies to respect the human right to water. Seventy religious investors, major water-intensive companies, and grassroots activists came together to tackle the question of what companies can and should do to ensure their operations “do no harm” to water supplies of local communities. Investors at the Goldman event very well may be driving the green technologies that can help the industrial companies at the ICCR session clean up their acts. But the problem for companies is that in most places, water is so cheap that investing in these solutions can sometimes be hard to justify on a traditional ROI basis, if not on a moral one.

The real estate developer Nakheel on Tuesday announced that it paid an additional Dh206 million to its creditors as part of its debt restructuring. The funds, due to be paid at the end of February 2013 in accordance with the developer’s financial restructuring commitments, bring the total loan interest and trade creditor sukuk profit paid to Dh923 million since restructuring. According to Nakheel chairman Ali Rashid Lootah, The company is in a good financial position and has about $600 million of cash on its balance sheet.

State-owned Export-Import Bank of Malaysia (Exim Bank) plans to sell Islamic bonds in the global market. They invited proposals from banks to arrange US$1bil (RM3.1bil) of dollar-denominated debt for a possible second-quarter offering. The lender aimed to increase the proportion of syariah loans to 30% of the total in two years from 20% now, chief executive officer Adissadikin Ali said. Exim Bank will become only the fourth Asian corporate to ever tap dollar sukuk investors.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority plans to issue sukuk of at least US$500m this week, after releasing early price guidance for the deal on Tuesday. DEWA is aiming to sell the dollar-denominated sukuk at a profit rate in the low 3 percent area. The sukuk is widely expected to attract strong investor demand. Standard Chartered, Citigroup, RBS and local lenders Emirates NBD, Dubai Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank are mandated joint bookrunners on the deal.

Seera Investment Bank yesterday reported a total income of more than $12 million for last year. Net profit for the year was approximately $7m. Chief executive Abdulla Janahi said Seera's existing investments continued to generate income for the bank, and income realised during the year was primarily from recurring revenues from these investments including lease rentals and investment and management fees. Market conditions remain challenging and a quick turnaround appears unlikely he added.

Noor Islamic Bank has announced the appointment of Narendra Swarup as Chief Risk Officer (CRO). Swarup will be responsible for all the risk functions of the bank. These include credit, market, operations as well as compliance and governing information security, protecting against fraud and guarding intellectual property through developing internal controls. Swarup brings with him more than 25 years of international experience in risk management in sovereign funds and international banks.

The UAE insurance market is the largest and most developed insurance market in the Gulf region in 2011 where insurance premiums during the period recorded a 10% increase compared with 2010. UAE's insurance market has doubled in volume and achieved a CAGR of 21% through to 2010. The market, however, remains dominated by non-life insurance, which still accounts for 85% of total premiums. A total of 61 insurers operated in the country in 2011. The UAE government is working on reforms to implement a comprehensive legal framework in order to expand the insurance industry in its different forms.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published today the Report on Investor Education Initiatives Relating to Investment Services. This report was written to provide IOSCO members and the public with an overview of the different approaches that supervisory authorities and self-regulatory organizations take to educate retail investors on issues relevant to financial products that are distributed by intermediaries. It sets out the results of a fact-finding survey of members of the IOSCO Committee on Market Intermediaries. These findings show a wide range of approaches, though they also indicate that supervisory authorities share common approaches and face some common obstacles to determining the most effective educational measures.

Shareholders are filing resolutions asking companies to disclose physical risks posed by climate change for the first time this proxy season. The resolutions include setting greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, publishing sustainability reports, pursuing energy efficiency, and disclosing information about hydraulic fracturing operations. Although shareholder resolutions on sustainability rarely receive a majority vote, they can still prompt companies to take action to avoid risk to their reputation or address investor concerns. Environmental and social resolutions accounted for more than 40 percent of all shareholder resolutions submitted in 2012, the largest proportion of those addresses corporate political spending.

In recent years the GCC financial service regulators have given importance to corporate governance and have come up with rules and regulations to implement the same. Qatar Central Bank (QCB), Qatar Financial Centre ( QFC) and The Saudi Monetary Agency are among the institutions that provided principles of corporate governance. Regulation in the GCC region has been strengthened to promote risk governance and financial stability in the financial services sector. Corporate governance promotes financial stability and can attract foreign direct investment, support the development of the bond market and encourage the production of more high quality research.

Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation (AMAF), has launched an initiative to raise customer service levels and contribute to faster, more effective communication channels through a series of monthly open meetings between senior management and Foundation beneficiaries. The open meetings took place in the Foundation's headquarters since the beginning of January. Ahmed Hassan Nasser, Director of Investment Department met with beneficiaries on each Tuesday of the month, while Huda Al Mannai, Director of the Department of Minors, conducted meetings on Wednesdays.

Dubai-based investment bank Arqaam Capital has hired ex-Credit Suisse banker Wafic Nsouli. He is expected to join Arqaam on March 18 and will take charge as executive director and head of institutional equity sales. Before joining Arqaam, Nsouli was head of Middle East and North Africa equities at Credit Suisse, responsible for the company's offices in Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

The Egyptian government reportedly plans to raise up to $1bn by June through sukuk sales, with one for domestic investors and one for foreign investors. The cabinet has finished a draft law to pave the way for the issuance, which would be debated in parliament this week. The Egyptian sukuk is expected to trade with a yield of 6 to 6.5 per cent, however, the market conditions between now and the eventual issuance could change significantly. Moreover, any issuance in unlikely prior to the settlement of a deal with the IMF on the stalled $4.8bn loan package. Negotiations with the IMF will re-open in early March.

The Kenya Reinsurance Corporation is planning to venture in sharia-compliant business and confirmed that it will start ReTakaful insurance in the country and the areas where it already has a presence in West Africa and the Middle East markets. According to the firm’s managing director, Mr Jadiah Mwarania, the development is part of Kenya Re’s 2013-2017 core strategic areas that touche on market expansion and development of products. The firm elected a sharia-based supervisory board last year to advise the firm on acceptable aspects of the ReTakaful.

The Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Telenor Pakistan and Tameer Microfinance Bank (TMB) for extending financial services to poor and un-banked communities. Under the MoU, a pilot project is to be launched to extend financial services to select communities by establishing Easypaisa shops, which will provide services that include bill payments, money transfers, donations, international home transfers, withdrawals and deposits through mobile accounts. One Easypaisa shop will be set up in each PPAF community to cater to their banking needs. Once the pilot project is completed, it will be replicated nationwide, a press release stated.

The Finance Ministry raised Rp 14.9 trillion ($1.5 billion) from the sale of rupiah-denominated Islamic bonds to Indonesian citizens on Monday. The sale of the Shariah-compliant sukuk notes is intended to plug its budget deficit but also to spur growth in the Islamic finance sector in the country. The sukuk is called Sukuk Retail Indonesia (Sukri) and was sold to retail investors. Indonesia also plans to sell dollar-denominated sukuk and conventional bonds this year.

The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp) has set up a $150 million fund aimed at leveraging growth opportunities in the petroleum product tanker charter market. It is the first investment fund to be established by Apicorp and also the first fund in the region aimed at a specific vessel category. The fund has acquired five medium range petroleum product tankers and these will be employed in the regional and international tanker market for five years to help meet the projected upsurge in demand for petroleum product carriers. The fund is co-managed by Tufton Oceanic.