IslamicFinance.de

A few days ago, the Board of Directors of Saudi Hollandi Bank has made a decision to issue Sukuk worth SR 1,400 million. The issuance is a private offering aiming to support its capital base by using a Shariah compliant structure. The latter is to be approved by the competent authorities.

After the initial announcement that the Turkish Treasury has mandated Citigroup, HSBC and Liquidity Management House (LMH) to inspect existing opportunities for a Lease Certificate issuance, it turns out that the mandate aim to advise and structure Turkey's proposed debut sovereign Sukuk Al-Ijara. In this context, a number of investor meetings in significant financial centers in the Middle East and Asia are organized and will take place until Thursday.

Saudi management company SEDCO Holding has started its corporate social responsibility program - Riyali. The program adresses the educational needs of the Saudi population in terms of financial literacy and aims to give people the financial skills to achieve a desirable standard of living. In the first phase of this program students will be the subjects.

Looking for expansion opportunities, Noor Islamic Bank focuses on South East Asia as a strong growth market. While the development of global lending markets remains uncertain, Asian countries have growing needs in the areas of infrastructure and development combined with solid economic growth. The goal of Noor Islamic Bank is to cooperate with already establishedd financial institutions in countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. This way the gap in funding, which was caused by the shrinkage of the global liquidity pool, shall be bridged.

Profitability and asset growth in the GCC banking market have grown significantly since last year. This development is due to a favourable regional macroeconomic environment as well as reduced cost of risk. Since the facts correspond with A.T. Kearney's banking outlook from 2011, optimistic attitudes though with some cautiosness return. Markable differences in the growth rate and profitability of the UAE countries over the last year are discussed.

Standard & Poor's assigned 'AAA' rating to Islamic Development Bank (IDB) $3.5 billion trust certificate issuance program. Standard & Poor's said the IDB's ratings are underpinned by strong shareholders' support, very high level of capital and liquidity and a good asset portfolio with historically very low losses and preferred-creditor treatment.

The signing in Alkhobar of a strategic cooperation and alliance agreement between Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Hamad Al-Soaib Law Firm and the Luxembourg-based Lux Global Trust Services and Theisen Advocates recently is set to increase the use of the Duchy as a trust and tax domicile for Saudi investment products; investment vehicles such as special purpose vehicles (SPVs) used in the issuance of sukuk for instance; and the registration of investment funds, especially for UCITs (Undertakings for Collective Investment Trusts) of which Luxembourg is the world leader.

In line with its commitment to achieve higher Emiratization rates, Emirates Islamic BankEmirates Islamic BankLoading... (EIBEIBLoading...), one of the leading Islamic financial institutions in the UAE participated in the 10th annual Careers Show which was held from 28th to 30th March 2010 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Center.

Bank Sarasin-Alpen (ME) Limited, a subsidiary of Bank Sarasin & Co. Ltd, a leading Swiss private bank announced today the publication of its Islamic Wealth Management Report 2010. The report provides investors with an in-depth overview of the various asset classes in Islamic wealth management along with a synopsis of the market scenario during the past 18 months.

Bahrain will establish the world's biggest Islamic bank within the next 6 to 12 months. The creation of a planned Islamic investment megabank is in "fairly advanced stages" and it will likely be launched in the next 6 to 12 months, an executive at a firm advising on the project said this week, Barcelona News wrote.

The opening Keynote Plenary session at The 5th Annual World Takaful Conference (WTC 2010) will feature take-home strategies by leading industry decision makers, testimony of the overall significance of the forum in shaping the future of the global Takaful industry.

The financial manager of Bank Melli Iran (BMI) has refuted the rumors on declaring bankruptcy by the bank, saying BMI is the largest bank in Iran and across the Islamic world, considering its total assets of around $54 billion. A report released in September, 2009 by Asian Banker showed that the world's top 100 Islamic banks increased their assets by 66% last year to more than $580 billion, compared to $350 billion in 2007, while rivals were trying to deal with the global financial downturn. According to the survey, BMI was standing at the top of the world's top 100 Islamic banks list in terms of assets, while Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Bank came in second, Press TV reported.

As part of Taageer's efforts to spread its geographical presence, the company has made its first investments in Sudan along with one of the major founder promoters of Taageer (The Arab Investment Company). The most important aspect of the investment is that Taageer would be adding value to Sudan operations by providing Technical and Management consultancy during the first three years of operations. The Arab Leasing Company Limited, which falls under the supervision of the Central Bank of Sudan, is considered to be a leading institution in the field of finance leasing in Sudan. The company, registered in Sudan, specialises in finance leasing activity with its head office in Khartoum, with a paidup capital of US $30 million.