IslamicFinance.de

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) stated in a report that sukuk (financl certificates) issuance last July worldwide amounted to aproximate USD five billion, down from the previous month by 37%, where the Saudi riyal formed about 15 percent of those sukuk.
Moreover, the report underlined the fact that sukuk market for companies in the GCC countries are continuosly expanding despite the fact that the issuance of two local versions from Saudi Arabia and an international sukuk from Qatar.

The Islamic banks in Bangladesh are lookinf for a Shariah-compliant money market and separate laws to govern the fast extending Islamic banking in the Muslim-majority country.
Mohammad Abdul Mannan, Managing Director of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL), stated that at this point around 20% business of the banking industry of the country is being handled by shariah-based banks and the scope is widening at a faster pace.

BankMuscat equips to activate Islamic finance products.
K. Gopakumar, General Manager, Wholesale Banking, states that they already have the necessary in-house to revive Shari’ah-compliant products.
The bank recently attended a series of customised Islamic banking courses for some 250 staff, presented by US consultancy Shape Financial Corp.

Moody's Investors Service discovered various characteristics found in strategies adopted by Islamic banks which improve their financial strength ratings in a new report. This strategies contain: franchise value, risk positioning and financial fundamentals.
Christine Kuo, a Moody's viche president/senior analyst and author of the report, states that despite the fact that Islamic banks in different countries operate under different environments, are at different stages of development and therefore require different strategies, they still have some common strategy characteristics.

Capital Market Authority, Sultanate of Oman gave his authorization for Alpen Capital LLC, Oman to rovide advisory services in Islamic structures along with its existing investment banking advisory services.
Alpen Capital offers comprehensive services which include debt advisory, M & A advisory and equity advisory & Capital Markets. It has offices in Bahrain, India, Qatar and UAE.

Path Solutions stated that Jaiz International Bank has chosen iMAL to achieve growth objectives and future plans. Jaiz International Bank is the first licensed Islamic bank in Nigeria. The bank's offer would be corporate banking, housing finance, car finance, retail banking products as well as other services that conform with the tenets of Islam.
The new agreement underlines the leading position of Path Solutions in the nascent West African Islamic banking market.

Al Khaleej Takaful published the first results since the company took the decision to adopt the same accounting framework of Qatar Takaful Company, a subsidiary, which are the Financial Accounting Standards issued by the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).
It seems that earnings per share fell to QAR 4.01 from QAR 4.51.

Inspite of the constant and rapid growth in the Sharia-compliant insurance markets, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services recognizes that operational issues remain usual in the sector. This subject was heavily discussed at the International Takaful Summit, held in London on July 12/13, 2011.
Standard & Poor’s has the strong belief that while the essential Sharia-compliant operational model affords a further level of corporate governance, particularly so in those domiciles where corporate governance is poorly established, often the Sharia interpretation constitutes a more complex, and so wasteful, operational model compared with conventional insurance companies.

Al Baraka is planning an expansion to France next year and the expactations are to launch a bank with a capital of 100 million euros (142 million US dollars) by the first half (H1) of 2012.
The following managers are taking part at the issue: Standard Chartered Bank, Emirates Bank, Noor Islamic Bank, Deutsche Bank, and ABC Standard.

Sarawak's Senari Synergy has launched an RM380m ($126m) 20-year Sukuk on August 2. Danajamin Nasional, a financial guarantee insurer owned by Malaysia's Ministry of Finance, Bank Negara Malaysia, and the country's commercial banks was the one that subscribed and underwrote it.

The awash with Tawarruq deals as Islamic finance institutions, starvation of wealth creating opportunities and liquidity in the local market will allow East Africa to transact with the conventional financial sector.
Kenya's two existing Islamic banks, the Shari'ah compliant windows of conventional banks in East Africa and Takaful firms are constantly exploiting the Tawarruq window.
Abdalla Abulkhalik Sheikh, general manager and acting CEO of Gulf African Bank in Kenya, stated that they are using Tawarruq until the government will allow trading of Sukuk.

Meezan Bank is the first Advisor and Lead Arranger for the first ever short-term Sukuk for Kot Addu Power Company Limited (KAPCO), bringing another "first" to Pakistan’s Islamic Banking Industry.
The introduction of short-term Sukuk by Meezan Bank imprints the opening of another much needed avenue for Islamic Mutual Funds which faces a scarcity of short-term tradable instruments. The Sukuk collected an overwhelming response from investors, mainly consisting of Islamic mutual funds.

Tamweel PJSC aims to tap the debt market this year for the first time since 2008 as demand for Islamic bonds keeps borrowing costs near six-year lows.
Tamweel will launch either a benchmark-sized sukuk or a mortgage-backed security in the fourth quarter to achieve a, "long-term financing pipeline to repay liabilities and grow the business,". The statement came from Varun Sood, chief executive officer.

It seems that Limitless received a fifth extension on a $1.2bn loan as the real-estate developer administrated by state-owned Dubai World works on a restructuring plan.
This extension will allow Limitless to complete a debt restructuring deal with creditor banks.
Limitless is looking to extend the tenor of the loan by four to five years and plans to pay no interest over that period. The statement was given by a banker.

The deputy governor of Bank Negara , Datuk Mohd Razif Abd Kadir, passed away at the age of 58 with his family members and friends by his bedside.
Razif joined Bank Negara in 1976 and had several senior positions in the central bank throughout his career.
Razif was also the first chairman of the technical committee of the Islamic Financial Services Board and on the board of the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance and the board of Bank Negara.

An official stated that the Jakarta Futures Exchange (JFX) will launch sharia-compliant commodity contracts in September.
Bihar Sakti Wibowo, a director at JFX, added that both Indonesia's future trading regulatory body and National Sharia Council at Indonesian Ulema Association (MUI) have approved this new scheme.

Bahrain Islamic Bank and Al Salam Bank are thinking about teaming up to create the Gulf Arab state’s largest Islamic lender. The both are known to be in merger talks to create the third largest bank in Bahrain, with assets of BHD 1.7 billion ($4.5 billion).
The statement added that the two boards of directors stated that consolidation is the way forward for local banks in general and Islamic banks in particular in the aftermath of financial crisis and economic downturn and greater competitive banking environment in the region.

Credit provisions and impairments bounced 75 percent to 235.8 million dirhams from the year-ago period.
Non-performing loans also evolved in the second quarter. The statement came from Raj Madha, MENA banking analyst at Rasmala Investment Bank, who calculated an adjusted NPL figure of 12.5 percent, accounting for 91-plus days of delinquency on a loan.
ADIB took a further 86.9 million dirhams in impairments against its real estate portfolio and added that it expects the real estate portfolio to post further losses in 2011.

The study ‘’ Non-Productivity of Microfinance Loans in Pakistan” by Mazhar M.“analyzes the productivity of microfinance loans in Pakistan. It is based on field work with foundations and bank clients, and data received from MFI and microfinance bank employees. It discusses:
Principles and objectives of microfinance;
• Challenges faced by Pakistan’s microfinance sector;
• Principles and methodologies of microcredit;
• Microfinance programs in Pakistan;
• Comparison of microfinance methodologies in Pakistan;
• Principles of Islamic microfinance;
• Difference between productive and non-productive loans;
• United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Amãna Bank is Sri Lanka's first licensed commercial bank to operate fully under the principles of Islamic banking. The launch was simple, having Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal as the Chief Guest.
Amãna Bank will be offering a range of financial products and services like: Current Accounts, Savings Accounts, Children’s Savings Account, Term Investment Accounts, Home Financing, SME Banking, Corporate Banking, Trade Services and Treasury Services.