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Kuwait News Agency citing that the Moroccan newspaper "Al-Jareeda Al-Oula" reported that three Gulf investment groups have revealed their intention to invest USD 250 mn this year in Morocco, including the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED and the Kuwait Finance House Group (KFH).
In the same context, the newspaper quoted an official from the "ENOCENOC" group of the United Arab Emirates as saying that the group decided to invest USD 150 million to set up an investment project in the northern city of Tangier.

The Executive Director of the ENOCENOC Group Saeed Khoury said the investment will be to build the first phase of the plant in Tangier which is scheduled to enter service in the first quarter of next year.

Futurebank sees 20.9% increase in net profit in 2008 and net profit rises to BD 10.7 mn.

Dr. Valiollah Seif is Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director.
Dr. Hamid Borhani is the Chairman of Futurebank.

According to Moody' s worldwide fall in oil prices and the global economic crisis has affected the Islamic finance industry, but the institutions' accumulated liquidity and capital will help them withstand these pressures.

According to Moody's, the drop in oil prices poses two key challenges for the Islamic finance industry. "Firstly, there is still a vital link between oil prices and Islamic banks as most of the latter operate in hydrocarbon-exporting economies. As they face increasingly limited funding sources, Islamic banks will find it more difficult to grow going forward. Secondly, oil liquidity has been a major driver of the disintermediation process in the Islamic finance industry. With reduced oil liquidity, not only have sukuk issuances been slowing sharply, thereby depriving Islamic banks of much-needed long-term funding, but pricing on such instruments has been distorted," says Anouar Hassoune, a Moody's Vice-President/Senior Credit Officer and co-author of the report.

The debt level of Emirates NBD is small and manageable according to analysis given by its CFO, Sanjay Uppal.

USD 1.6 bn medium-term debt is maturing, USD 500 mn has been paid in January already, and the total balance sheet is UDD 76 bn. According to Sanjay Uppal there are no plans to raise capital by selling any of its assets or going for restructuring its debt and sees the exposure to real estate at comfortable levels.

Emirates NBD has an Islamic window.

Mushtak Parker writes in Arab News on 23 February that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government is finalizing new tax laws which would facilitate the introduction of Islamic finance on a par with equivalent conventional products, and there is a strong possibility that the Hong Kong Airport Authority (HKAA) will issue the debut quasi-sovereign Sukuk from the island enclave during 2009.

However, Hong Kong is concerned about the effect on Islamic finance of the credit crunch and the global financial crisis, since no economy, including those in the Middle East and GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, have gone untouched. Thus it seems unavoidable that Islamic finance will slow its pace of development in the near term, "alongside growing downside risks in the global financial scene."

Borse Dubai Limited announced today that it has successfully signed a USD 2.5 bn Term Facility to refinance the aggregate USD 3.8 billion Term Credit Facility used to fund investments into NASDAQ OMX. The multicurrency syndicated facility matures in one year and carries a one-year extension option, at the discretion of Borse Dubai. The facility has a conventional and Islamic tranche, and pays 325 basis points p.a over the London interbank offered rate (Libor).

The participating banks include Bank of Baroda, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, Emirates Bank International PJSC, HSBC Bank plc, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited, ING Bank N.V., London Branch, Intesa Sanpaolo - Dubai Branch, National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ), The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. and Union National Bank, majority of whom are existing Borse Dubai financing firms.

Bank of Kuwait and the Middle East (BKME) achieves KD 51.4 mn in profits in 2008 versus KD 48.2 mn in 2007 with a 6.6 % increase as compared to the last year.

The conversion of BKME into Islamic Sharia will be completed within the coming months as per the timeframe approved by Central Bank of Kuwait.

Hamad Abdulmohsin Al-Marzouq is the Chairman and Managing Director of BKME.

Venture Capital Bank Achieves USD 47 mn net profit and recommends 10 % cash dividends and 5 % bonus shares to its shareholders. The bank maintained a capital adequacy rate of 43 %, which is higher than the minimum requirements by the Central Bank of Bahrain's 12%.

UAE Cabinet appoints Steering Committee to Review, Develop Strategies for Amlak, Tamweel. The high-level Committee, headed by H.E. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, brings together experts from across ministries and regulatory bodies. The move highlights the federal government's support to the UAE economy and strengthening of its financial institutions. The Committee will draw up a comprehensive report of Amlak's and Tamweel's performances under the changed economic environment and present its recommendations on the way forward to the government by the end of February.

Ajman Bank is officially launched as the Emirate of Ajman`s first Islamic commercial bank. The bank will serve the community and emphasize social corporate responsibility.

Yousif Khalaf is the CEO of Ajman Bank.

Iran Daily reported on 1 February that the director of Iran Privatization Organization (IPO) has said the organization plans to establish the first-ever cooperative development bank.

Waheed Abbas from Emirates 24/7 reported on 2 February about the regional investment bank and private equity company Millennium Finance Corporation (MFC), which aims to expands its reach to Saudi Arabia, India and Nigeria through joint ventures and acquiring licences. The firm is also considering IPO.

CEO is Keba Keinde, which gave an exclusive interview with Emirates Business. Please click on the source below.

Gatehouse Bank plc has announced the establishment of a USD 1 bn Sukuk programme by Milestone Capital PCC ("Milestone"). Gatehouse Bank is the Arranger and Dealer of the Milestone programme as published in a press release via Zawya on 27 January.

The first Sukuk issue under the Milestone platform was successfully completed recently. The Milestone programme is listed on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange and certificates issued under the programme are entered into the Euroclear and Clearstream clearing systems, with BNP Paribas Securities Services acting as common depositary. Milestone Capital PCC is a Jersey based orphan Protected Cell Company, designed to allow the efficient creation of new, segregated, bankruptcy remote cells. Each cell has the ability to issue a diverse range of Sukuk certificates, which is proving very appealing for issuers and investors alike.

David Testa is the CEO of Gatehouse. Ashurst LLP is the legal advisor to Gatehouse Bank on the transaction.

Bahrain Islamic Bank announced on 21 January that its financial results for the year 2008, decreased to BD 22.3 mn net income from BD 25 mn for the year 2007, after making provisions against contingences that may arise in case the current international financial and economic crisis continues further.

The board of Directors has decided to propose to the Bank's AGM the distribution of 20% of dividends of paid up capital as of 31st December 2008 as 10% cash and another 10% bonus shares.

Mirna Sleiman, Dow Jones Newswires reported on 19 January that Mashreq Capital will launch a USD 50 mn Sukuk fund in Q.
Abdul Kadir Hussain, CEO, sees a target return of between 12% and 20% over the next 12 months.

Iran Daily reported on 15 January that an insurance bank in Iran is proposed by Iran Insurance Company. Mohammad Javad Sahamian Moqaddam told Fars News Agency that the proposed bank will be set up after implementation the insurance laws.

Al-Khabeer Merchant Finance Corporation announced on 12 January 2009 to create a SAR 400 mn real estate fund for the benefit of Jazan Economic City projects.

Karen Remo-Listama reported in Emirates Business 24/7 on 13 January that Carbon trading can fetch Gulf USD 5bn annually citing Armen Vartanian, Director at EcoVentures, the Middle East and North African (Mena) as there is no single project on carbon trading. Announcement of DMCC were out and also Doha Bank plans an exchange for carbon trading and works with the San Francisco, California-based RainTrust Foundation on the Qatar exchange project and has then secured expressions of interest from Citigroup and Credit Suisse Group. Chief Executive Officer Raghavan Seetharaman said the bank would invest USD 27 mn in its electronic Qatari exchange, and has so far spent USD 7 mn on a plot of land in the USD 2.6 bn Energy City business park that Qatar is building. The start depends on the overall market conditions. Masdar launched already in February 2008 a project to develop a national CO2 capture network capable of creating a significant reduction in Abu Dhabi's carbon footprint.

Mohammed Rasooldeen reported in Arab News on 12 January that Saudi-based Alinma Bank will launch operations at the end of the 2nd quarter of 2009. The bank had a declared net income of SAR 390 mn for the interim period, including SAR 274 mn pre-operating income. Total assets stood at SAR 15.56 bn with total investments of SAR 14.97 bn, and shareholders' equity SAR15.39 bn.

Abdulmohsen Al-Fares is the chief executive officer of Alinma.

The Shariah guidance committee members are Abdulrahman Ibn Saleh Al-Atram, president, Abdullah Ibn Wakeel Al-Shaikh and Suliman Ibn Turki Al-Turki, members of the board.

Zawya reported that Dr. Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah the Chairman of Minhaj announced the launch of its operations in DIFC, which will provide advisory and training services. Sheikh Amin Fateh is the resident Sharia Advisor. The other Sharia scholars involved are: Dr. Mohammad Sultan Al Olama, Dr. Muhammad Amin Qattan, Dr. Yousef Abdullah Al-Shubaily, SH. Abdul Sattar Kattan and Dr. Ibrahim Ali Alshal.

About Minhaj
MINHAJ is a DIFC based company specializing in providing Shari'ah financial advisory services, supervision, Shari'ah auditing, revision and training for Islamic and traditional financial institutions. It is the outcome of a partnership between Tharaa Holding and a number of most prominent scholars and specialists in the Islamic financial services industry world wide.