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Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank said on Sunday its shareholders have approved the decision to pay more than 24 per cent, or Dh0.2427, per share for the year. The annual general assembly also approved the financial statements for the year to December 2015. The bank posted an 11 per cent increase in net profit in 2015. The bank recorded a net profit of Dh1.943 billion compared with Dh1.75 billion in the same period in the previous year.

Noor Bank reported a net operating profit of Dh561 million for the year 2015, up 40 per cent compared to 2014. The bank attributed increase in profitability to a 73 per cent surge in fee and commission income and a 35 per cent rise in net income from financing. Bank’s total assets increased 36 per cent to Dh39 billion in 2015 compared to Dh29 billion in 2014. While customer financing grew by 29 per cent during 2015 customer deposits were up 35 per cent to Dh32.1 billion last year.

Emirates Islamic announced the launch of Social Banking, offering banking services via Twitter, making it the first Islamic bank in the UAE to offer banking services on a social media platform. Faisal Aqil, Deputy CEO, said banking via twitter is especially relevant given the UAE’s advanced social media and mobile phone penetration. Customers will be able to perform select transactions such as balance enquiry, view their last few transactions, and make enquiries about their accounts or credit cards with a simple tweet. To maintain privacy and confidentiality, the bank will only respond to customer queries via a direct message.

Dubai’s Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation (AMAF) has continued to spread its reach to a greater number of people with its initiatives and beneficiaries doubling last year. AMAF recorded a growth of 19 per cent last year, with its revenue reaching Dh172 million, up from Dh144 million in 2014. Tayeb Abdul Rahman Al Rais, secretary-general of AMAF, said there are currently 26 projects and initiatives that help orphans and ensure their well-being in a sustainable way.

Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance decided to give over ninety percent of its content, the Handbook of Islamic Finance, free of charge. The 800 page ebook came out of the Certified Islamic Finance Executive program as a handy way for bankers and students to access everything in one place: contracts, articles, recommended readings, hundreds of answers to questions, and Dr. Usmani's entire Guide to Islamic Banking. Ethica's spokesperson said the ebook is designed to take a newcomer to Islamic finance through the basics of how a market works on principles of equity, trade, and leasing, without debt.

University of New Orleans finance professor M. Kabir Hassan has won the IDB Prize in Islamic Banking & Finance from the Islamic Development Bank.The prize is awarded for outstanding merit in the fields of Islamic economics, banking and finance. Hassan will receive an award of about $47,000. He will be presented with the prize at the IDB board of governors’ annual meeting May 15-19 in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he will also deliver a lecture on his research in Islamic finance.

According to the fourth annual BNP Paribas Individual Philanthropy Index by Forbes Insights, the United States remains the leader globally in personal philanthropy. Europe comes in as a close second, followed by Asia, with the Middle East achieving the sharpest increase in philanthropic giving. Almost all countries were focused on Health as the top area of philanthropic giving (United States at 60%), while Asia as a region chose Environment.

KT Bank AG, a subsidiary of Kuveyt Türk Katilim Bankasi A.S., is the first Islamic bank in the Eurozone. CEO Kemal Ozan said his bank has officially established a previously unknown business model in this region. As location for the registered office he chose Germany where only 5% of the German Muslim population adheres to Islamic banking. When this is measured against the number of more than four million Muslims in Germany, a huge growth potential can be anticipated. The economic exchange between Germany and the Gulf region opens new opportunities for the mid-tier segment with regard to sales markets, and for Europe as a recipient for Arabic investors. In this respect KT Bank AG wants to serve as a bridge between Germany and the MENA region.

Development expert David Simms and Wharton University professor Tyler Wry discuss issues of microfinance and share insights on where the field is heading. Microfinance is a powerful tool that can transform communities by lifting the poorest individuals out of poverty. According to Simms the industry understands the power of microfinance and the ability to do that rural outreach, to drive costs down and to get training out is based on technology. The future is around the role of technology and banking coming together.

Meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals will require additional investments of $2.5 trillion a year in things like health care and education for the world’s poorest people, according to UNCTAD, a UN agency. The term blended finance appeared referring to a strong mixture of public, private and charitable money, a way to make the limited pool of money available for worthy causes go further. The idea of using public funds to attract private money is a venerable one. For it to change development finance fundamentally it will have to become easier to scale up.

The Malaysian government, via special purpose entity Malaysia Sukuk Global Bhd, has successfully priced the 10-year and 30-year benchmark sukuk papers at 3.18 and 4.08 per cent. The new sukuk format uses non-physical assets to underpin the agency-based transaction wakala, instead of the traditional use of physical assets. Finance Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah said Malaysia has strengthened its position as a top investment destination.

Governor of Ariana, Mehdi Zaoui announced the start of work on the construction of the Tunis Financial Harbour. Zaoui said they finished the dispute regarding the expropriation for public use under habitat. The Tunis Financial Harbour, considered as a mega project developed by the Gulf Finance House in the northern suburbs near Raoued, extends over 523 hectares with a total investment of USD 5 billion.

The Singaporean ex-BSI private banker Yeo Jiawei has been charged with receiving benefits from criminal conduct. He was charged on April 16 for receiving S$200,000 in his Bank of China account in 2013. While the charge sheet made no mention of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), Bloomberg reported earlier on Friday that Mr Yeo was charged with money laundering following investigations into 1MDB's money flows.

The call to set up a Royal Commission on Banking has set in motion the debate on ethics in banking and finance, and the possible remedies to overcome the problem of unethical conduct. It is accepted that the problem is systemic, and yet the remedy suggested is at the individual level - for example the Banking + Finance Oath. The latest Panama Papers scandal dwarfs the past scandals yet again. As long as the money banks can make out of the deals is in excess of the fine they pay, such scandals will continue.

Hundreds of readers have written to The National to share their financial woes, following a series of articles in the Money section about worrying levels of personal debt in the UAE. The reason why UAE residents are building up such alarming liabilities is the lack of knowledge about the sky-high credit card interest rates in the country. According to a recent Compareit4me.com survey, about two-thirds of credit card holders are unaware of their card’s interest rate.

Two billion people worldwide still lack access to formal and regulated financial services. In 2015, the World Bank Group with private and public sector partners committed to promoting financial inclusion and achieving Universal Financial Access by 2020. According to the Pakistan Microfinance Network
the estimated potential market size for microfinance is 20.5 million in Pakistan, yet the current Microfinance outreach is close to 3.7 million active borrowers, showing there is a long way to go.

According to a deal lead Malaysia has launched a US$1.5bn dual-tranche sukuk. The transaction is split between a US$1bn 10-year tranche that has a profit rate of 135bp over Treasuries and a US$500m 30-year tranche at 145bp over Treasuries. Guidance of 150bp area over Treasuries and 165bp area over was released earlier on Wednesday. The transaction is conducted by CIMB, HSBC, JP Morgan and Maybank.

The Federation of Malaysia returned to the international bond markets on Wednesday with a $1.5 billion wakala sukuk. However, this success is overshadowed by 1MDB's $11 billion debt after one of its guarantors failed to make a $50 million interest payment on a $1.75 billion note that matures in 2022. It has now entered a grace period, which ends on April 25.

Dubai-based property developer Limitless is set to complete a drawn-out debt restructuring after the final dissenting creditor sold its share of the company's 4.45 billion dirhams ($1.2 billion) debt. New York-based Stonehill Capital Management sold its debt in the state-controlled company, worth around $15 million at face value, to Dubai Islamic Bank, an existing creditor and one of the members of the creditor committee. They declined to say at what price the debt was bought.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded the Long Term Issuer Default Ratings (LT IDRs) of seven Saudi Arabian banks. The affected banks are Al Rajhi Bank (ARB), National Commercial Bank (NCB), Riyad Bank (RB), SAMBA Financial Group (SAMBA), Saudi British Bank (SABB), Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) and Arab National Bank (ANB). At the same time Fitch has revised the Outlooks on Saudi Hollandi Bank (SHB), Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB), Alinma Bank (Alinma) and Bank Aljazira (BAJ) to Negative from Stable, while affirming their ratings.