IslamicFinance.de

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) made an announcement about the sale of 16 real estate assets worth KD84m ($298m). Thus, KFH reorganises its property portfolio. No specific locations of the properties released from its portfolio across North America, south East Asia, and Europe were made public. According to Anwar Al-Ghaith, CEO of KFH, the sale aims to ensure better returns for investors and depositors.

According to Ernst & Young’s World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report 2013 which was released on Monday, global Islamic banking assets of commercial banks will most probably exceed $1.8 trillion next year. Compared to that, in 2011 the assets were worth $1.3 trillion. The robust growth of the Islamic banking industry continues its course on a global scale. The top 20 Islamic banks registered 16% growth in the last three years. Saudi Arabia in particular emerged as the largest market for Islamic assets.

Maximizing the Arab world's gains from energy resources is possible through cross-border collaboration. Since a large number of opportunities are currently available, energy resources can be piped and distributed across the region through a regional energy grid. 60% of the world’s proven oil and 40% of gas reserves are held by the region. The energy demand in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region has grown 500% over the last 30 years, thus representing a highly beneficial target for energy trade.

The project Sarajevo City Center in Bosnia worth €130,000,000 has recently reached 60% completion. The project is conducted in partnership between International Investment Bank (IIB) and Al Shiddi Group. It is a hybrid complex which includes a number of main interconnecting features. A shopping mall is the central building of the complex together with an entertainment complex on 5 levels that cover an area of 49,500 square meters.

On Tuesday afternoon, Caretaker Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, Sheikh Jassim Ben Hamad Al Thani and Board of Directors' President of the Qatar Investment Bank "Qinvest" and Qatar International Islamic Bank had a conference. The meeting enabled examination of the means likely to boost co-operation between the Tunisian government and the Qatari banks in terms of finance and infrastructures. The key role of dollar denominated sukuk issuance was pointed out.

Alinma Bank has been assigned a long-term issuer default rating (IDR) of ‘A-’ with a stable outlook, a short-term IDR of ‘F2’, a viability rating (VR) of ‘bbb-’, a support rating of ‘1’ and a support rating floor of ‘A-’ by Fitch Ratings. The bank's IDRs, support rating and support rating floor reflect the view of the rating agency that if needed, support from the Saudi authorities is extremely probable.

The next area Islamic finance sets as a goal to develop is wealth management. So far, Muslim high net worth individuals have very limited possibilities in terms of availability of suitable products and services. According to consumer banking global head of Standard Chartered Saadiq, Wasim Saifi, the Gulf region in particular has accumulated a lot of wealth in the conventional space. Provided that customers are offered a Sharia-compliant option that can provide them with a diversity of risk and manage it properly, their wealth would be able to move into the Islamic space.

The time necessary to issue an Islamic bond is a crucial issue for the sukuk Islamic bank market. According to Rushdi Siddiqui, Thomson Reuters global head of Islamic finance, the Malaysian sukuk market is developed in such a way that quick issuance is possible. The region needs to follow this example. Siddiqui compared the sukuk market with the state of the eurobank market in the 1960s and 1970s. Consequently, the sukuk market has to move in a forward direction and raise efficiency.

Coordinate and carry out sukuk investment research on assigned countries and industries. Maintain expert knowledge of relative value within and across those sectors. This includes maintaining credit rating, outlook and relative value assessments of all current holdings within assigned coverage.

SJ Seymour Group is the leading independent Fixed Income specialist in Asia.

We are seeking to employ highly experienced, professional sales individuals with a proven record of success and established clientele in the Middle East. In addition to a wide general knowledge of capital markets, successful candidates should be able to demonstrate specialist skills in one or more of the following areas: emerging market debts, structured debt products or Islamic capital market products.

Swisslinx Middle East is URGENTLY seeking an experienced Trust or Fund Administrator to join a new entity of our reputable client, a Regional Bank. In this role, you will be based in the DIFC.

Experienced individual to work closely with the Head of Shariah in providing in-house Shariah advisory and Shariah audit services.

To analyze existing customers to identify areas of opportunities for Spend and engagement building exercises and implement various initiatives both on demand and supply side on proactive spends management, activation and line increase programs.

Reporting to the CEO at it’s headquarters in Bahrain, the person will be responsible initially for managing a small team with a strong focus to develop it’s business in the Asiapac.

Able to identify new markets and establish relationships with FI’s

One of the most respected global Islamic Banks requires a Chief Economist reporting to the Bank’s president to provide intellectual leadership and guidance to the groups development strategy and economic research agenda at Global, Regional and Country Levels.

Reporting to the Head of Risk and Compliance, the successful candidate will identify measure and analyze the various enterprise-wide operations risks that the Bank faces and formulate strategies on how to mitigate and minimize the risk exposures.

Responsibilities:
· Provide the overall direction of the Bank keeping in mind the best interests of shareholders, customers & employees.
· Develop, manage and execute the operational plans based on strategic plans set and agreed with the Board.
· Maximize growth and profitability in a manner consistent with Sharia principles and standards.
· Balance Sheet Management, Capital Adequacy (ALCO) and Risk Management.

The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) has made its collection of best practices for setting-up and servicing Islamic funds public. Thus, a higher level of understanding and consistency of the requirements and expectations to this developing market sector can be ensured. This year several new Shariah-compliant funds were launched, making 2012 a busy year for the Luxembourg Islamic finance community. Luxembourg currently has 41 funds with EUR4bn in assets under management reaching the fifth place worldwide and the first in Europe in terms of number of Shariah-compliant domiciled funds.

Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance in partnership with Infinity Consultants recently released a live talk titled "Achieving Financial Inclusion for Muslims in India - How Can Islamic Finance Help?" It is held by Saif Ahmed, Managing Partner at Infinity Consultants. The webinar introduces a completely new dimension to the topic of financial inclusion in India for Muslims. Saif Ahmed pointed out that the Muslim's requirements for Islamic financial products and services have been absent from discussions and policy initiatives even though the government strongly pushes towards financial inclusion.

Together with some of the leading global managers, SEDCO Capital has worked on the development of sophisticated Shariah-compliant investments. Due to low leverage they often are even more rewarding than conventional investments. Through Islamic finance real value in the economy can be created, enabling the creation of real growth and jobs. Also, the sukuk market continuously grows on a global scale because of ncreasing interest in Islamic financing modes.