IslamicFinance.de

Due to a shortage of Islamic sovereign debt, the new dollar-denominated sukuk of Indonesia rallied at the double pace of than non-Islamic securities this week. The sales gathered $5 billion in orders for $1 billion on offer. The bonds, which will reach maturity in 2022, are sold at a coupon of 3.3%. Since November 19th, the yield fell 17 basis points reaching 3.13%. Compared to that, not Shariah-compliant bonds declined only 8 basic points to 2.91%. The current 2.82% are a record low for Shariah-compliant borrowing costs in the international markets. It is possible that next year the shortage will become even more acute because of the government's plans to cut overseas sales in order to reduce its foreign-currency risk.

Saudi Arabia is studying draft regulations which are probable to contribute to the establishment of real a real estate refinancing company similar to U.S. firm Fannie Mae. The government has been making efforts to develop a housing mortgage sector in the kingdom for a long time. Saudi Arabia's conservative character however stick to restrictions of Islamic sharia law which have made it difficult to secure lending against property. Meanwhile, the country suffers from a shortage of housing, especially among lower and middle-income people. As land prices rise quickly, several months ago the government passed laws to regulate mortgage and lease lending.

James Bagshawe, 53, was the Chief Operating Officer of the Gatehouse Bank. He claims that he lost his £185,000-a-year job with the bank because he wasn’t a Muslim. Mr Bagshawe who has 25 years of experience in banking working for JP Morgan and Flemings, is claiming to be whistleblower in regard to an investment and so can be awarded unlimited damages if he wins the case.

Last night a spokesman for the bank said: ‘Mr Bagshawe was made redundant by the CEO a Christian. His appeal was heard by a non-executive director, another Christian. His redundancy was supported by the Board comprised equally of Christians and Muslims. Gatehouse Bank deny the allegations and say Mr Bagshawe’s position remains redundant a year after he left the company and there are no proposals to appoint a successor.

The tribunal continues and is expected to last 12 days.

CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd intends to grow its funds under the government-mooted private retirement scheme (PRS). The target amount is RM2 billion which should be reached during a period of five years. This way, CIMB is working on its higher goal to become the country's top PRS provider. It is expected that pension funds will become a key part of the company's business, accounting for 20% of its revenue in five years. At the moment, CIMB is managing RM36 billion worth of assets.

Until now, rules and procedures Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) in Pakistan have been following were too general and occasionally not sufficiently specific. In fact, they were not much different from the conventional banking in terms of rate of return on deposits. However, on 19th November a landmark was set by the issuance of detailed instructions by the State Bank.

The instructions will serve to improve transparency and disclosures and bring standardisation in the IBIs' profit and loss distribution policies and practices. As the instructions determine, each pool of deposits established by IBIs would play the role of a virtual enterprise. It will have explicitly demarcated sources of funds, ownership of specific assets and income and expenses.

According to a report by Trade Arabia, Türkiye Petrol Rafinerileri has signed a 1-year facility worth USD 200 million with a group of nine banks from the Gulf region. The sole bookrunner and structuring advisor to Tüpra? was QInvest. Lead arrangers of the deal were Ahli United Bank, Al Hilal Bank, Doha Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank. The rest of the banks involved in the facility are Qatar Islamic Bank, Barwa Bank, The Commercial Bank of Qatar and First Gulf Bank.

An improved version of Attijari Al Islami's Ijarah Home products has been introduced to the public. Thus, UAE nationals and residents are enabled to afford their dream home compliant to the principles of Shariah. The improved version contains some new features and aims to address the growing demand for Shariah-compliant financial instruments in the UAE. Transparent and competitive rates are offered in order to be able to guarantee great value to the clients of the Commercial Bank of Dubai.

According to the chairman of Boubyan Bank, the growth rate of Islamic finance in Kuwait is the double of the one of conventional banking. In his opinion, strong demand throughout the Arab region can be expected. The country's Islamic banks reached credit volumes of 11.1 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($39.3 billion) during the first nine months of the year. This is 13.2% more than during the same period last year. Conventional banks on the other hand registered a 5.6% credit growth. Since the demand for sharia-complaint banking is so high in Kuwait, Boubyan has no intention to expand overseas yet. This contrasts with Kuwait Finance House (KFH).

The practitioners report “Believers in the Boardroom. Religious Organisations and their Shareholder Engagement Practices” by 3IG is online. Please access the practitioners report by clicking on the following link :

http://issuu.com/3ignet.org/docs/3ig_rse_practitioners_report_final_2012...

The report also remains available as hard copy: http://www.3ignet.org/documents/OrderRSEresearchnow.pdf

According to Bank of Khartoum's plans, the bank will increase its capital more than three times with the help of an expansion in the resource-rich country enabled by its Gulf investors. The investors are certain that peace with South Sudan will be maintained. Due to wars, poverty and a decade-long conflict with South Sudan, Sudan could not make use of the possible large-scale foreign investments so far. The U.S. sanctions against Sudan in place over its human rights record since 1997 have had an enormous effect. Since the agreement to end hostilities in September, Gulf Arab investors look more positively on Sudan.

The long awaited regulations on real estate financing, leasing and supervision of financial companies are now eventually being issued by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is getting ready to open up its mortgage market. The public now has to review the draft regulations. Comments and observations are to be submitted within 30 days of its publication. The regulations can be found on SAMA's website. The executive vice president of Capitas Group International - Nasser Nubani - explains that the draft mortgage regulations are a clear indication of SAMA's careful approach and striving to defend against problems due to lax regulation standards.

An Islamic financing facility worth $500m was signed between Qatar Telecom (Qtel) and Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB). The bank plays the role of Sole Mandated Lead Arranger and Investment Agent for the deal. The financing is structured as an 18 month Shariah-compliant "Revolving Murabaha". According to Chief Executive Officer of the Qtel Group - Dr Nasser Marafih - the deal will make the relationship between Qtel and QIB stronger. Ahmad Meshari, Acting Chief Executive Officer of QIB, added that the financing facility enables further avenues of collaboration between the two companies.

Al Ramz Securities' leading role in local industry has again been reaffirmed by the introduction of the Islamic Margin Trading service, which is first for the country. The pattern of the service is similar to that of the ‘Murabaha’ type of Shariah-compliant ‘cost-plus’ financing. Using its Islamic Margin Trading scheme, the company purchases Islamic-compliant shares specifically agreed upon with the client and, after that, resells them in accordance with the Murabaha sharing concept. The payment mode is to be chosen in advance.

The Hamas own bank, 'Islamic National Bank', was destroyed on Tuesday in an Israeli strike. Among other targets following was a villa that residents said belonged to Azzam al-Showa, the president of al-Quds Bank, which has no obvious ties to Hamas. No one was home when an Israeli F-16 struck late Tuesday night.

New York, November 16, 2012: International development leaders and experts highlighted the importance of Zakat in advancing global development at a forum titled "Linking Muslim Giving to the MDGs". The forum was co-hosted at the United Nations headquarters by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), The World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists, and the UN Millennium Campaign.

"While some countries have made impressive gains in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), others are falling behind. The Muslim world is no exception. Faith emphasizes building communities, sharing wealth and upholding the rights of the poor and marginalized. Faith-based giving such as Zakat which amounts to billions of dollars needs to be spent in more strategic and effective way to accelerate development in OIC member countries” stated Ambassador Ufuk Gokcen, the permanent observer of OIC at the United Nations, in his address.

For the third time, the Dubai Women Establishment (DWE) will be host of its flagship Arab Women Leadership Forum. The event will take place in Dubai from November 19th to 20th. The main focus of the forum will be issues and opportunities regarding the role of women in the boardroom. The forum is titled "Board Leadership '&' the Case for Diversity." National as well as internationally-recognized speakers, and accomplished women role models will participate. The forum, which is conducted on a yearly basis, plays a key role in DWE's agenda of activities and initiatives with the purpose of promoting the professional development and career advancement of women in the UAE.

Finance House PJSC (IFH) has made an announcement about the grand opening of its new main branch. It is located in the centre of Abu Dhabi. IFH is committed to growing across the UAE and to serving the customers who are seeking Shari'a compliant financial services. It offers a wide and diversified portfolio of Shari'a compliant products including personal and business finance alongside investments. Thus, it aims to enrich the financial experience of its customers using a customer-centric approach.

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has indicated that it might consider introducing Islamic finance to Ghana provided that the prospects are positive. There have been arguments among industry players whether or not Islamic banking is a potential solution to the high interest rates challenges for the private sector. According to Dr. Henry Wampah - Acting Governor of the BoG - the bank intends to consider this matter in the very near future.

The global Islamic capital markets advisory firm Amanie Advisors has launched an Irish operation aiming to boost Ireland's growing Islamic finance sector. It is also expected to facilitate both Irish and European companies to have access to funding means of the Islamic capital markets. Amanie's group chairman Dr Daud Bakar explained the choice of Ireland with the country's increasing reputation as a hub for operations in the branch of Islamic finance.

Last month, two UAE real estate developers - Al Futtaim Group and Emaar Properties - announced a big project in Egypt. Not only was this a boost to the country’s property market but it also acted as a sign of a revival of cross-border investment in the region. According to the two companies, they plan to invest about 5bn Egyptian pounds ($820m) in building the "Cairo Gate" which will be situated off the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway. The complex will be 65 hectare big and will be build around a shopping mall. An office park, a luxury hotel, schools, medical facilities and residential space are included in the plan.