IslamicFinance.de

For the first time, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan has launched an Islamic bond. This issue may result in setting a benchmark for Kazakh sukuk and lay the path for future placement of corporate Islamic bonds. The paper is worth MYR240m ($76.6m) and has benn placed for five years with a yield of 5.5% a year. 38% of the bond are placed in Kazakhstan while the remaining 62% belong to Malaysian investors.

Because of sweeping government reforms in their pension system, Malasians are most likely to allocate part of their retirement contributions to Islamic investments. Since the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has limits in investing syariah-compliant areas, the new, voluntary Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) is meant to supplement it. Thus, contributors will be able to allocate money to a wide range of products offered by private-sector fund management firms including syariah-compliant investment. The result is a potential rise in the amount of money going into Islamic instruments.

The holy month of Ramadan will be marked by the Dubai Islamic Humanitarian Foundation's donation of Dh135 million to a number of charity organisations in six UAE emirates. Dubai Islamic Bank's problems should not affect the charitable act which will include Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah as receiving emirates. More than 3,250 poor families will be given magnetic smart cards. The campaigne takes place for the fifth year in a row.

Standard Chartered Saadiq is offering Takaful products to Prudential BSN: three new Takaful investment-linked plans at eight of its branches. In addition, these Takaful products will soon be available at the 32 conventional Standard Chartered branches in the country. Customers can count flexibility to secure protection and investment plans which correspond to their lifestyle and financial needs.

Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance (ADNIF) has recently donated Dh 1 million as part of its Zakat funds to UAE charitable foundation Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP). The donated money is to support cancer patients. Ameera Bin Karam, Founding Member and President of FoCP, expressed his hope that this gesture will give a good example to other public and private institutions and individuals.

With the scheduled launch of the company’s Shariah compliant Independent Finance Unit branded “CDB Meezan”, Citizens Development Business Finance PLC (CDB) endeavours an expansion in the domestic market of Islamic Finance. As part of CDB, “CDB Meezan” will act under its supervision and will offer a range of deposit and financing products and services to its entire clientele. “CDB Meezan” was made possible thanks to the expert guidance and supervision of SEC registered Investment Manager, Adl Capital Limited.

Australian fund manager Crescent Wealth intends the launch of the country’s first Islamic pension fund by December. According to its managing director, between 15 to 30 percent of it shall be allocated in property. The goal is to build the fund to between A$4 billion ($4.03 billion) and A$6 billion in five years. This accomplishment should be possible due to lack of available Shariah-compliant financial products in Australia.

The Gatehouse Bank plc, a London-based Kuwaiti-owned wholesale Shariah compliant bank, has acquired an industrial US-based real estate portfolio at the cost of USD 155 Million. This portfolio includes 20 industrial properties from the West, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest regions of the U.S. which are leased to 12 tenants with an average remaining lease term of 14 years. The acquisition has been completed in joint venture partnership with the Brennan Investment Group. It is expected that the portfolio will bolster the stability of returns generated by the properties due to its unique diversity of industry, geography, and tenancy.

Capital Intelligence (CI), the international credit rating agency, announced that it has affirmed the ratings of Bank AlJazira (BAJ), based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Bank's successful development of itsnew markets in terms of loans and deposits, its continually improving asset quality and its improved capital profile supports the Financial Strength Rating of 'BBB'. Moreover, the factors mentioned above affirm the Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating at 'BBB+' and the Short-Term Foreign Currency Rating at 'A2'.

According to Norton Rose, its Middle East team is a ‘regional’ one in which no lawyers have formal bases. This was the answer given to the resignation of two of its lawyers in Bahrain.
The only two lawyers that stayed are construction partner Joanne Emerson-Taqi and project finance senior associate Angela Croker.
By comparison, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer lists three Bahrain-based lawyers (a partner, an associate and a principal consultant) on its website, while Trowers & Hamlins’ lists 15 lawyers and Baker & McKenzie’s lists 12.

Tamweel took the decision to delay the sale of a $235 million Shariah-compliant asset-backed securitisation after receiving feedback from the market. It seems that the deal structure was too complex by regional standards, which has only ever seen one previous Islamic asset-backed transaction.
Lead managers on the deal were: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, UBS and Emirates NBD.

Arab policy makers, who long regarded microfinance as charity for the poor, are becoming awarw of the fact that a financial system that supplies only 20 percent of the population is a key ingredient in the recipe for political instability. Positive aggregate growth figures were covering the causes of the unrest: unemployment, high inflation, authoritarian rule and a lack of economic opportunities for the majority of the population, especially younger generations.
It is certain that economic and financial inclusion in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region lags behind other parts of the world.

According to Dahlan Siamat, Indonesia will sell dollar-denominated sukuk toward the year-end. Dahlan didn't want to talk about the size of the offer.
This would be the third Islamic dollar-denominated sale made by Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
The selling of conventional and Islamic bonds in the past year was an attempt to plug Indonesias budget deficit.

The management and senior officials of Tunis Financial Harbour (TFH), the flag ship project of the Bahrain based Islamic investment bank, Gulf Finance House (GFH), conducted by Mr. Lutfi Alzaar met with the President of Turkey, Dr. Abdullah Gül, during his official visit to Tunisia.
The Turkish President was given an update on the progress of the megaproject, the role of the recently appointed DEMTAS Group, and the general impact the project will have on the local and regional economies.

United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, visited the Islamic Development Bank Group where he denoted pleasure over his first ever visit to the Islamic Development Bank Group. Moreover, he underlined the active and close cooperation between the Bank and the United Nations Organization.
A detailed overview of the IDB Group’s activities and its role in supporting economic and social development in its Member Countries as well as Muslim communities worldwide was displayed to him.

Jebel Ali Free Zone FZE wants to raise a mix $1.85 billion from a bank facility and the sale of Islamic bonds to help refinance its 7.5 billion-dirham ($2 billion) debt maturing in November.
It appears that the company authorized Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC, Citigroup Inc., Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, Emirates NBD PJSC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC and Standard Chartered Plc to prepare investor meetings in Asia, Europe and the Middle East from June 5 ahead of a possible sukuk sale.

The third annual Invesco Middle East Asset Management Study shows that strong corporate returns are constraining the flow of year-on-year capital within family offices in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) from ­personal assets to corporate (family business) assets.
Two-fifths (40%) of family offices interviewed noted a strong shift from personal to corporate assets. Moreover, high net-worth assets in the Middle East account for nearly 4% of the global high-net-worth asset pool.

Syed Alwi bin Mohamed Sultan, the Kuala Lumpur-based head of Islamic banking for Asia Pacific at BNP Paribas Malaysia Bhd., talked about the trends in Islamic finance at the World Islamic Banking Conference in Singapore.
He noted that there is more diversification of the investor base. Potential issuance this year are from countries like South Africa, Kenya, and Senegal.

Islamic banks are preparing themselves to catch a larger share of the global trade and project financing market, while European banks pull back funds to improve balance sheets back home.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon underlined the fact that trade and infrastructure development is naturally compatible with Islamic finance, which has the centre of attraction in supporting real productive activities.

Sidra Capital (Sidra) and Gatehouse Bank (Gatehouse) finalized their second real estate acquisition in the United Kingdom Real Estate Fund (SURF) for GBP 22.4million.
The fund will deliver a diverse real estate portfolio in the UK, providing Saudi Arabian investors access to one of the world's most transparent and well-regulated markets.
The SURF fund has the purpose to hand over an average annual distribution yield of 7.00%.