IslamicFinance.de

According to a statement by Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, Egypt will not use the Suez Canal or other state assets to back sukuk issues. The use of public assets such as the Suez Canal and public facilities for the issuance of instruments is excluded by the bill, which has been intensively discussed recently. Since Islam forbids interest payments, bonds must be backed by specific assets and pay investors with revenue from those assets. However, the Islamic Research Academy insists that the bill could allow authorities to abuse their control of public assets.

The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) received $265 million of funds from the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (IITFC). Since October 2012, the money provided to the EGPC from the IITFC has almost reached the $500 million mark. The funds are intended to help the state to secure a larger number of basic goods and other necessities for its citizens. The initiative includes petroleum products, wheat and other foodstuffs.

Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) has brought diversity to its Sharia compliant Buy to Let Purchase Plan product palette by launching a rent only BTLPP. It is a variable rental rate product which will be available to landlords of any faith. The deposit will be 35% and the rental rate 5.49%. Some of the other features of the product are the lack of early payment charge for clearing the finance in full and An administration fee of 1%. In addition, additional acquisition payments can be made without penalty, subject to a minimum amount of £4,000.

According to announcement, Emirates NBD's Islamic unit plans will start with a rights issue worth Dhs1.5bn ($408m) this month. Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB) will offer 1.5 billion shares at Dhs1 each between January 25 and February 3, thus increasing its capital to Dhs3.93bn. Since last year, Dubai Bank is formally part of Emirates NBD, since it was rescued by the Dubai government in May 2011.

To play a key role in ensuring the quality of Education portfolio performance management and to contribute to the development and implementation of Education sector strategy, policy dialogue and analytical/economic sector work (ESW).
· Play a significant role in the preparation of policy/strategy papers, new programs and knowledge product development.

To provide strategic direction, motivational leadership and operational oversight for the Cooperation and Integration Department. Determine the strategy for the Department, set and deliver ambitious objectives that enable IDB to achieve its goals, and take the significant operational decisions.
To actively promote and enhance cooperation between OIC Member Countries and collaborates with OIC and its Standing Committees, Specialized and Affiliated Institutions on behalf of the IDB Group on matters related to cooperation and coordination between Member countries.

Deloitte Islamic Finance Knowledge Centre is a thought leadership think-tank focused on providing innovative intellectual and practical programs, for Islamic finance leaders and institutions and leads the practice development in Middle East region and coordinates with Deloitte's member firms globally. Its activities include:

•Develop practice across the MENA region and support Deloitte's Islamic financial service offerings•Provide internal and client's training and Islamic finance education•Conduct leading market and regulatory research and thought leadership•Promote professional excellence and best practices through different awareness programsThe responsibilities of the "Business Analyst" include:
•Co-drive Deloitte IFKC thought leadership function in ME and co-oversee knowledge-building initiatives in close collaboration with the Director of Deloitte IFKC.

[...]

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has been a witness of several stimulating initiatives in 2012 which were designed to to encourage growth in capital market activities and give the market depth. An example: Early in 2013, The NSE Lotus Islamic Index was launched to track Shariah-compliant stocks, listing rules were revised, and recently, the central government stopped value added tax (VAT) and stamp duties charged on market transactions. As a whole, the initiatives aim to transform the Nigerian market to make it more attractive for local and foreign portfolio investments and engender investor confidence.

The headquarters of Bank Nizwa will open today at Al Qurum. At the same time, its branches in Sohar and Nizwa will be opened as well. Gradually, several further branches will be opened. The launch of the bank was announced after the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) released the Islamic Banking Regulatory Framework (IBRF). It is expected that Bank Nizwas launch will push Islamic banking and economy in Oman and attract more deposits from Omanis, who have their deposits outside the country.

The Dubai Government is set to create a comprehensive platform of Islamic economy products and services, thereby strengthening its position as a global centre for Islamic economy. The initiative includes standardization and regulation of Islamic products, services and practices. Thus, Islamic economy will become stronger and independent from conventional and interest-based financial practices. As a regional business and trade centre, the UAE already has world class ‘hard’ infrastructure. According to Chief Economist of National Bank of Abu Dhabi Dr. Giyas Gokkent, now the ‘soft’ infrastructure will be added thanks to the initiative, this way encouraging and attracting Sharia compliant activity in various services and industries.

To provide support to the Real Estate team in the analysis, preparation of marketing and internal approval documents, and ultimate execution of Shariah compliant, leveraged, equity investment, real estate transactions whilst also developing the Origination area through the building of a network of contacts.

[...]

A three-day regional symposium dedicated to the role of corporations in promoting social responsibility towards labor in the countries of the Gulf region was inaugurated on January 8th at the UN House in Misref. The event was organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in partnership with the Ministry of Awqaf and the Embassy of The Netherlands. The symposium was of significant importance for the GCC countries because it will benefit not only the corporations or company’s CSR but in particular the citizens and expatriate laborers.

Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd has appointed a new chief executive officer of the general and family takaful company - Ab Latiff Abu Bakar. The appointment became effective on January 7th 2013. Latiff has a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration from the University of Portland, USA. He has furthermore over 20 years of experience in the field including senior management positions in insurance and takaful companies. Before joining Takaful Ikhlas, he was head of takaful in an international insurance company.

According to an announcement by the Capital Market Authority, the listing and trading of the initial issue of Saudi ORIX Leasing Company’s Sukuk will take place on Sunday, January 13th 2013. Its symbol will be 1031.

The decision of the Islamic Research Academy of al-Azhar to reject the Ministry of Finance's bill on Islamic bonds was supported by the Shura Council (SC) Economic Committee. A member of the SC explains that the reason therefore is the lack of legitimate aspects. Meanwhile, al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayyeb recently referred a new draft law on Islamic Sukuk so that al-Azhar's Senior Scholars Council can express their opinion on it.

DanaInfra Nasional Bhd's RM300 million sukuk aiming to partially fund the Klang Valley’s mass rapid transit (MRT) will make its kick-start retail trading of bonds on Bursa Malaysia. Moreover, it is likely that the sukuk will attract he issuance of private debt securities such as conventional bonds and Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) which will be publicly available. According to Tajuddin Atan - CEO of Bursa Malaysia Bhd - a number of parties have expressed their interest in issuing retail bonds. In addition, there should be ample amount of issuance for the successful trading of these bonds on the local exchange.

The final draft of Egypt's sukuk law has been submitted to the finance ministry. It will now be xamined by parliament according to the head of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) Ashraf ElSharkawy. According to ElSharkawy, the goal of the government was social dialogue with political parties and economic associations rather than the EFSA. He further made clear that the sovereign sukuk law released by the government is designed to organise the financing of the government, state budget, national projects and public institutions.

In the process of Arcapita Bank's asset liquidation aiming to raise money for its creditors, the bank has sold its interests in five retirement homes outside London. According to a statement, Arcapita and its investors have sold their ownership of 80% in the property to Health Care REIT. The investment in the US-based publicly traded property investment trust was carried out in 2003 through a joint venture with Sunrise Senior Living. At the time Arcaoita sought Chapter 11 protection on March 19, 2011, the bank had assets of US$3.06 billion (Dh11.24bn) and liabilities of $2.5bn.

The first exchange traded bonds and Sukuk (ETBS) has been launched on Tuesday. The sukuk was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who explained that the retail offering would make it possible for citizens to have a stake in the country's success. Danainfra Nasional Bhd is allocating as much as RM300mil under this issuance. The initial tranche will be used to fund the first phase of the MRT Kajang to Sungai Buloh line.

The merger between three Islamic banks based in Bahrain - Elaf Bank, Capital Management House and Capivest - has been successfully closed by Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain (KFH-Bahrain). The merger will enable a strengthened financial institution with a total equity reaching approximately $340 million. The total assets in excess will be $400m spanning the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), Europe and Asia. KFH-Bahrain played the role of transaction and lead adviser. The discussions and procedures started in late 2011 leading now to the creation of a robust merged entity which is more competitive in the field of global Islamic banking and investment industry.