IslamicFinance.de

Ahli United Bank Kuwait has obtained approval from Kuwait's central bank to issue capital-boosting sukuk worth up to $200 million. The bank did not give a time frame for the issue but said it could include foreign and domestic currency tranches. The proceeds would be used to enhance the bank's capital base in line with Basel III global banking standards. Last year Kuwait's Capital Markets Authority released rules providing a legal basis for issuance of Islamic bonds, which is helping boost sales of sukuk. Kuwait's Gulf Bank and Boubyan Bank have both completed sukuk issues this year.

#Qatar’s QInvest said that its revenues rose to $65.7 million and net profits increased to 25.3 million (QR92.1 million), compared to $24.4 million (QR88.7 million) in H1 2015. The main drivers behind the results include exits in the firm’s investments, strong performance in its international real estate portfolio and increased fee revenue. CEO of QInvest Tamim Hamad Al-Kawari said the company recorded a satisfactory half-year performance across all business lines in the face of economic uncertainties. QInvest is reviewing and stress-testing its portfolio to match the heightened volatility levels and headwinds of the markets.

This case study reports on three governance challenges overcome by a diversified family enterprise from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One of the early lessons for the family was to separate emotions from business. They did this by appointing independent directors whose role was to set the strategy behind the business. In order to engage everyone, they established a family assembly, where each and every branch would always be fairly represented. The family assembly membership was and still is based on merit, and its chairman is always the eldest member of the family.

The #Bahrain based Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) announced that it achieved an increase in total operating income of 7% and net profits before tax and provisions by 4% during the first half of 2016. Total assets increased by 2%, total finance and investments by 4%, deposits by 1% while total equity increased by 2% as at the end of June 2016. Total operating income reached US$ 538 million in the first half of 2016 compared to US$ 502 million during the same period of 2015. Al Baraka's CEO Adnan Ahmed Yousif said the Group opened 24 new branches in the first half of 2016 to bring total branches to 611. He considers the entry of the Group to Morocco market a very important achievement, because it represents one of the main markets in the Arab Maghreb and Africa. Also, it means a higher diversification in assets and income sources for the Group.

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has introduced online instant purchase for its new Travel Takaful plan. From now on, QIB’s customers can conveniently purchase Travel Takaful plan through the Bank’s website www.qib.com. The comprehensive plans are offered by Damaan Islamic Insurance Company (Beema) and provide a wealth of coverages. Benefits include compensation in case of lost/delayed baggage, delay in departures, or in the event of lost passports, National IDs and driving licences.
A key benefit is the coverage of medical expenses incurred abroad, including hospital and surgical costs, dental emergencies and other needs that can occur when traveling.

QIIB announced the issuance of a QR1bn sukuk within the first tranche of the bank’s capital boost through a local issue. The new sukuk issuance supports the bank's equity and meets Basel 3 requirements and enhances its plans for expansion. With the new issue the bank’s capital adequacy will increase to about 20%, well above the Qatar Central Bank requirements set at 12.5%. Moody’s has affirmed the Bank’s rating this year at A2, Fitch Ratings at A+ and Capital Intelligence at A- with a positive outlook.

QIIB announced the issuance of QR1bn Sukuk. The Sukuk aims at boosting the Bank's Tier 1 Capital to maintain a higher Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) complying with the Basel III norms. Last year QIIB shareholders had approved the Bank's proposal to raise up to QR3bn through Sukuk issuance.
A higher capital adequacy will not only help the Bank's risks absorption capacity but also expected to promote financial stability and efficiency of the Shairah compliant banking services provider.

Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank GFH Financial Group has repaid $45 million worth of debt, bringing its total syndicated liabilities down to $105 million. This is the latest effort by GFH to deleverage, having held liabilities of over $1 billion back in 2008. In June GFH planned to raise $150 million via sukuk to repay outstanding debts and use surplus cash for future investments. Together with Abu Dhabi Financial Group, GFH is working to establish an Islamic financial institution in Abu Dhabi's financial free zone with authorised capital of $100 million.

In #Kuwait the Court of Appeal has set a new date for the case against Islamic finance group The Investment Dar (TID). The case was brought by Noor Investments of Kuwait and aims to have TID declared bankrupt. A date of 26 October has been set for the court’s committee of experts to report back. The Investment Dar said it would continue to defend the company’s assets from attacks. In their opinion, these court cases are brought by a small number of creditors who wish to put themselves in a preferential position.

As Russia's economy continues to stagnate, the country's 83 regions are being forced to compete with one another for outside investment. Four of Russia's Muslim republics, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Chechnya and Dagestan, have set their sights on Muslim states in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Despite their economic differences, Russia's Muslim republics have been uniformly hurt by the collapse in global oil prices. Though Islamic financing has been legally banned in Russia, the Muslim republics have simply ignored it outright, issuing transactions under Islamic banking guidelines or negotiating with foreign financial groups to start implementing them. Tatarstan and Chechnya discussed several construction projects, but the question now is whether Russia will allow Gulf state financing to continue. Most likely it will continue to put national security and Russian unity ahead of the needs of the Muslim population.

Recent regulations on sukuk are helping growth in Oman's Islamic banking sector, with sharia-compliant lenders gaining ground. Growth of Islamic banking is far outstripping that of the conventional banking segment with Islamic banking assets up more than 62% year-on-year (y-o-y) at the end of March. In contrast with the performance of the Islamic segment of the market, assets of conventional commercial banks rose by 9.1% y-o-y to the end of March to OR28.6bn ($74.3bn). The new regulations released by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) in April clarify requirements for issuing sukuk and provide a legal framework. According to Sheikh Abdullah bin Al Salmi, executive president of the CMA, the new regulations are expected to expand the range of investment instruments available in the sector.

In 2008 the #Qatar owned Project Blue entered into an arrangement to acquire the former Chelsea Barracks in West London from the Ministry of Defence for £959 million. Monies were advanced by Masraf al Rayan Bank using an ijara arrangement for the transaction. Now the Court of Appeal has found that the Revenue and Customs authority should have sought Stamp Duty Land Tax from the bank rather than the purchaser, but was apparently out of time to raise such an assessment. Eventually, the machinery in the Finance Act 2003 was not up to the task of ensuring an ijara was treated for tax purposes in the same way as any other transaction. As the adoption of Islamic Finance instruments increases, British tribunals, courts and regulators will need to understand the structures more clearly.

The government of Oman sold a $500 million six-year sukuk in a private placement. The profit rate is set at 3.5%, the amount will have to be repaid in three equal instalments after four, five and six years. Oman's first Ijara format five-year sukuk worth RO 200 million ($520 million) was issued in October last year and received strong orders. The government which is facing a widening fiscal deficit has been adopting several measures tide over the falling revenue from lower oil prices. Recently, the government raised a $2.5 billion two-part bond and a $1 billion loan from banks. This was the first international bond issue in two decades by the Sultanate.

On a pure investment basis, London has a transparent property market. Property tenure is clear cut and underpinned by the legal system. There has long been a trend for overseas buyers to purchase homes or investment properties in central London. Over the past few years, Russian and Asian buyers have become more active, but the interest from the Middle East has never waned. While the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) Wealth Fund has been diversifying its portfolio away from Europe, it still has at least $7 billion directly invested in equities traded on the London Stock Exchange, in which it also holds a 10.3% stake.

Bahrain’s Eskan Bank has enjoyed a very fruitful 2015. The bank recorded positive growth in its mortgage-loan portfolio and also made great strides in several of its social and affordable housing initiatives. Total net income grew by 8% during the year, while the bank’s capital-adequacy ratio continued to improve to 151.72%. Although the Ministry of Housing (MOH) is responsible for the allocation of social-housing financing to Bahraini citizens, Eskan Bank provides pivotal support through the processing of approved social-housing financing applications.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) closed an approximately AED 3.2 bn ($860 mn) rights issue, thereby increasing the bank’s share capital to AED 4.9 bn from AED 3.9 bn as of March 2016. According to Moody's this capital increase is credit positive for DIB because it replenishes reserves and enhances loss-absorption. Moody’s estimates that DIB’s consolidated tangible common equity to risk-weighed-assets ratio will improve to around 12.3% from 9.8% as of March 2016. The new capital will also increase the bank’s reported Tier 1 capital ratio to 18.1% from 15.6%. The additional capital will support the bank’s solvency in the context of continued balance sheet expansion.

Baker & McKenzie advised Mohammed I. Alsubeaei & Sons Investment Company a leading private equity investment company based in Saudi Arabia in a $219 mn dollar Murabaha facility to develop a luxury condominium development. MASIC provided the mezzanine financing for the development project, 45 Park Place, located in New York's TriBeCa neighborhood. The deal highlights the expansion of Islamic financing into the US real estate market.
MASIC partnered with other financial institutions and Soho Properties on the downtown condo project, which is scheduled for completion in 2018. Financiers for the project include Malayan Banking Berhad, London Branch; Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A.; Warba Bank K.S.C.P.; and MASIC.
Baker & McKenzie partner Mona Dajani said, “This successful financing by MASIC is a milestone transaction in the United States using tiered Shari’ah-compliant facilities for commercial transactions. This transaction aptly demonstrates the increased activity in Islamic financings in the United States which has emerged over the past year.”
The Baker & McKenzie team, led by Ms. Dajani, included partner, Pat McDonald and associates Michael Reed, and Maher Haddad.

Qatar Islamic Bank has announced that it will be the preferred financing partner of Jaidah Equipment under the terms of the strategic partnership QIB forged with the Qatar-based equipment dealer.
QIB general manager of Wholesale Banking, Tarek Fawzi, and Jaidah Equipment managing director, Ayman Ahmed, led the official signing before senior executives from both organisations at QIB’s corporate headquarters in Doha.
As part of the agreement, customers of Jaidah Equipment who would like to purchase new equipment are entitled to use the bank’s Fleet and Heavy Equipment Financing scheme, which was introduced last year as part of QIB’s Aamaly programme, a collection of products and services designed specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Through its Aamaly programme, QIB aims to foster the growth of SMEs and help diversify the country’s economy in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.
“We are pleased to be partnering with Jaidah Equipment. This new relationship enhances the value of QIB’s Aamaly programme and makes it easier for SMEs to expand their businesses in the growing Qatar market,” Fawzi said.

Highlights and Performance
Bloomberg Malaysia Sukuk
Bloomberg Malaysia Sukuk Ex-MYR Total Return and Dow Jones Sukuk Total Return indices ended relatively flat at 103.9 (+0.02%) and 159.8 +0.01%) respectively, with yields tightened marginally by 0.6bps to 2.470%. Combined with the Fed‘s dovish meeting (June 15), uncertainty over the Brexit referendum jitters (June 23) and mixed signals from China over slowing economy bring the risk-adverse sentiment. The top performers over the week were INDOIS 3/26 and GS 9/19, which moved -11bps to -13bps; while the underperformers were dominated by banking papers — EIB 1/17, Noor Bank B3T1 and DIB B2T1 which widened 12bps each.
Bank Indonesia
Bank Indonesia cuts key policy rates by 25bps in a surprise move, with the BI rate, deposit facility rate and 7-day reverse repo rate now stand at 6.50%, 4.50% and 5.25% respectively. In addition to the rate cut, BI also raised the minimum threshold on loan-to-funding ratio to 80% from 78%. Indonesia risk premiums widened 1.5bps to 196.0bps.

A Riyal denominated Sukuk has been issued by the Saudi International Petrochemical Company. The company announced the successful completion of the issuance amounting to SAR 1.0 bn on June 16, 2016. The Sukuk was priced at 235 bps over six months SAIBOR for tenor of five years maturing on June 16, 2021. Riyadh Capital and NCB Capital helped to arrange the private issuance.
In the hard currency space, the Commercial Bank of Qatar issued a Eurobond which achieved the tightest spread for a MENA financial institution this year, conventional or Sukuk.
Whilst the issuance was not a Sukuk, demand for bond indicates strong investor appetite, a good sign of market demand which is likely to be tested with several large planned issuances post Ramadan. Most eagerly anticipated is a potential sovereign issuance by Saudi Arabia, as well as by Aramco, the Saudi national oil giant.