IslamicFinance.de

A two-day Oman Islamic Economic Forum will take place on December 17 at Al Bustan Palace Hotel. Amjad Group of Companies will organize the forum. The forum ha sthe purpose to underline the steps needed by the Sultanate to expand its capabilities in the Islamic finance, Takaful finance and the factors in relation to the social responsibility in the Islamic finance sector.
It would gather experts from the Islamic finance sector, academicians, businessmen, decision makers from inside and outside Oman for discussing significant problems in Islamic finance and other relevant issues in the Islamic broad economic system.

It seems that European Islamic Investment Bank will cut dozens of jobs and will close a representative office in Bahrain as part of a restructuring.
The number of employees will be reduced to 17 from 35.
EIIB Chairman Shabir Randeree stated that the bank would sketch a new corporate strategy by the end of the year, which is likely to focus on asset management and the company's core Gulf region.

Kuveyt Turk has given a price to its $350m five-year sukuk. It seems that the paper priced at par with an expansion of 447.5 basis points over midswaps and had a profit rate of 5.875 percent.

Citigroup Global Markets Limited and UBS AG have been licensed for Sukuk launch in international markets maximum term of 5 years up to USD 300 million. The reason for this decision is that Bank Asya's resources from abroad must be diversified and increased.
Therefor, Bank Asya is begining negotiations with investors.

Rasheed Al-Mi’raj, the Central Bank of Bahrain’s (CBB’s) governor, stated that Islamic financial institutions should learn from the experience of conventional banking institutions from the international financial crunch, increase understanding, monitor and even control, risks of liquidity, and warned them against the repercussions of succumbing to the same conventional financial mismanagement of short-term financial markets instrument.
At the 3rd Islamic Finance and Banking Conference for the Accountancy and Auditing Authority for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) the main subjects were: enforcement of IFRS standards in Islamic banking, the need for continuity of Sharia control boards in the financial institutions, the extent of the success of REIT in Islamic banking, restructuring and performance, and the extent of success of using Islamic banking in financing international business operations (for products and instruments), the challenges and difficulties of enforcing of Basel-3 standards in Islamic financial institutions, and the apportionment of excess to shareholders in Takaful companies.

Key to the growth of the housing sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is the development of mortgage finance. Because of the demography of the region where some 65 per cent of the population is under 30 years old, demand for affordable housing is expected to raise significantly.
As many GCC countries depend mostly on expatriate population that consist of Muslims and non-Muslims their preference toward Islamic finance is mixed for several reasons. Until 2008, in the pre-crisis period, Islamic financial institutions were preferred to focus on real estate as an asset class and this drove to increased number of players that were offering a variety of Islamic mortgage products.

Dozens of Muslim homeowners are criticizing that they have been left in limbo by a disintegrating “sharia-compliant” mortgage arrangement, giving focus on the emergence of parallel banking systems in Canada.
After Toronto’s UM Financial was put into receivership this month by an Ontario Superior Court order, more than 170 Muslim homeowners are having a lot of questions about their properties and their debts.
Michael Creber, a partner at Grant Thorton, stated that the court order will not affect in any way the homeowners.

UM Group has discredited rumors of bankruptcy.
Omar Kalair, UM Group's CEO, stated that the bankruptcy rumors were due to "confusion" around the winding up of one of its affiliated companies, UM Financial Inc. He added that other UM companies "continue with business as usual."

The next big thing in the GCC's Islamic insurance industry appears to be the bancaTakaful model.
After last week Qatar Islamic Bank distributed Damaan Islamic Insurance Company's Takaful products, retail Islamic bank, Bahrain Islamic Bank (BISB) communicated that it had signed an agreement to distribute Bahrain-based Takaful International's products to its customers.

Noor Islamic Bank has been assigned to put in order and lead manage more than US $1.4 billion Islamic finance capital market deals in Turkey in the last 18 months, making it the most active UAE bank in the republic.
The bank revealed details of its financial dealings in Turkey on the eve of the Islamic Investment and Finance Forum, scheduled to take place in the Turkish capital Istanbul, from October 24-27., where it will be the Sukuk partner for the event.
During the four-day Islamic Investment and Finance Forum, leading regional and international Islamic finance experts will talk about a range of key topics for the Islamic finance industry including how to animate the global sukuk markets, following the financial crisis; kick starting sukuk markets in frontier economies; new business opportunities for Islamic syndicated finance and the future of Participation (Islamic) banking in Turkey.

International financial institutions and experts are coming together in Oman to discuss about various issues of Islamic banking, which is adjusted to offer several opportunities in financial services sector as also to the common man. The deliberations will happen at the Oman Islamic Economic Forum (OIEF), that will be held at the Al Bustan Ritz Carlton Muscat Hotel on December 17 and 18.
Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, former prime minister of Malaysia, will speak at the OIEF.

Despite the existence of Shariah advisory councils, Islamic banks and financial institutions in Malaysia may be failing to carry out their duties. An article in this month’s JSSH investigates transactions on purchasing houses specifically on transactions involving houses pending completion using the current practice of ‘sale by deferred payment’ also known as Bay’ Bithaman al-Ajil (BBA).

Islamic banking gained foothold in Malaysia, with the establishment of Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad in 1983 and facilities have since expanded. Products include Wadiah - where the bank acts as the safe-keeper of deposits but may provide returns to the depositors as a gift; Murabahah, or partnership and equity financing; Ijarah – leasing; Musharakah – partnership and Bay’ Bithaman al-Ajil – sale by deferred payment. Nuarrual Hilal Md. Dahlan and Sharifah Zubaidah Syed Abdul Kader Aljunid looked at sale and purchase and loan agreement to see if they comply with the requirements of the Islamic Law in protecting stakeholders and to provide practical suggestions to improve the existing practice.

Klaus Schwab, executive chairman and founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), has the strong oppinion that it is time for the Middle East to grasp a more holistic, inclusive and qualitative approach to economic development. He stated that the events in this region over the past 10 months have no precedent and have developed a new regional order that is still evolving.

He also reminded that the next World Economic Forum on Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, in June 2012.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has created a model product based on "Salam" to meet the production finance (working capital) needs of the country's farming community. The model product will simplify Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) in developing the access of agricultural Islamic financing to the farming community.
The product wrapes the Sharia related aspects as well as business cycle and financing requirements of farm/crop production activities and will offer farmers necessary flexibility to use the funds to meet farming input requirements.

Luc Frieden, Luxembourg's Minister of Finance, has underlined the fact that given that financial institutions under Europe have remained stable against the backdrop of the eurozone debt crisis, it can learn and win from Islamic finance.
He added that Asia and Europe must join forces for the development and prosperity of the global economy.

Randall & Quilter has accepted to buy Principle Insurance for £4.275m cash. Principle Insurance was launched and was given Financial Services Authority approval in 2008 with the purpose of meeting the motor and home insurance needs of the country's Muslim population as the only Shariah-compliant insurance provider in Britain at the time.
It has been in run-off since October 2009. Randall & Quilter has a portfolio of nine insurance companies in run-off, from the UK, US and Europe, with net assets £72.2m beginning with 30 June 2011.

The AAOIFI - World Bank Annual Conference on Islamic Banking and Finance will be co-hosted by AAOIFI and the World Bank. The conference will take place on 23 and 24 October 2011 in Bahrain Conference Centre, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain.
At the conference the main subjects will be: pertinent topics for the international Islamic finance industry including inevitability of existence of Shari'a Supervisory Board in Islamic financial institutions, challenges in applying conventional international accounting standards, challenges in implementing Basel III capital adequacy standard, distribution of Islamic insurance surplus, potential of Islamic finance to promote international trade, and potential of real estate investment trusts in Islamic finance.

Fitch Ratings has given an 'A+/F1+' rating to the trust certificate program conceived by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (Goldman) and placed the rating on Rating Watch Negative. This program was designed for the issuance of murabaha trust certificates.
These ratings are based entirely on the rating of parent guarantor Goldman. GSI is the purchaser of the commodities being sold by GSCL under a deferred payment arrangement.

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (CIMB) launched its Islamic securities services at the sidelines of the IFN 2011 Investors and Issu­ers Asia Forum recently aspiring to strenghten its position as a fully-integrated service provider.
The aim is to to establish itself as the central hub for Islamic business in the region.

It seems that HSBC Amanah anticipates a pipeline of 30 new Islamic funds to raise its assets under management for serviced funds to $10 billion.
Germain Birgen, global head of securities services, stated that the bank currently services 90 Islamic funds worth roughly $5 billion in assets. He added that 30 new funds are forseen to be launched within the next 12 to 18 months.
He underlined the fact that there is also an increasing trend in the industry for Islamic fund managers in traditional Muslim markets to start international domiciled funds in Singapore and Luxembourg, to take advantage of better financial regulations and draw more conventional investors.