IslamicFinance.de

National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA) has signed a Murabaha financing agreement with the Saudi British Bank (SABB) and the National Commercial Bank for SR822.6 million ($219 million). The money will be used to finance 80% of the cost of constructing two general cargo ships and 20% will be financed by the company and optional two ships that were contracted with Hyundai MIPO Shipyard in South Korea earlier this year.
Repayment will start after three months from taking delivery of the ships and will be repaid in equal quarterly installments and a balloon payment at the end of the tenor of about (30 %) of the contract value.

Because of the strict rules of Islamic finance, many countries have avoided the worst of the 2008 economic meltdown. Now officials in the Russian republic of Tatarstan are hoping that Islamic finance can help them attract direct investment from Muslim nations around the world.
Delegates from as far afield as Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates were welcomed last week in a summit on Islamic finance in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan.

Arab Bank issued its first annual Sustainability report on June 27, 2011 as a summary of the Bank's performance in the social, environmental and economic fields during 2010.
The report includes a comprehensive account of our sustainability framework, management approaches and accomplishments in addressing economic, environmental and social issues. It also contains a detailed record of the impact of the Bank's operations in the different fields.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Noor Islamic Bank (NIB) and therefore replaced Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum replaced in exchange Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer as the head of the UAE’s biggest bank by assets Emirates NBD.
The question is what could be the motive behind this. Bankers like Mashreq Capital CEO Kadir Hussein say that “People change senior management and board because they want things to move in another strategic direction.”

After a landmark sharia REIT and local currency sukuk from Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional stirred the city-state's interest in wholesale Islamic banking, more Singapore companies are willing to raise Islamic financing.
Companies are looking for sukuk and Islamic private equity deals as an avenue to reach a broader class of investors, including those who can only put their money in assets that comply with religious principles. OCBC Al-Amin's chief executive, Syed Abdull Aziz Syed Kechik, added that these include Middle Eastern investors and government funds that invest according to Islamic tenets, such as Malaysia's Pilgrims Fund.

Ali Saleh Abadi, the head of Securities and Exchange Organization, noted that Iran's capital market has rised around 34% in recent years. The value showed a 13 billion dollars growth in comparison to the year before.
Tehran Stock Exchange Corporation is Iran's largest stock exchange and is a full member of the World Federation of Exchanges and a founding member of the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) stated that it will launch a new Sharia opportunity fund in the region with exposure to equity markets across the Asia-Pacific region.
Prudential Asset Management Limited is the one offering the fund. It will search to invest in Sharia-compliant companies in the APAC region excluding Japan. It will also try to capitalise on the sustained economic growth and increasing wealth across the APAC region.

Nigeria plans to launch its first sovereign Sukuk within the next 18 months in an attempted move at boosting Islamic banking in West Africa's largest economy. The was no statement about how much sukuk will be issued.

MUSCAT Traditional banks can now adopt Islamic system. Professor Dr Ali Mohiuddin Al Qaradaghi states that the trend has started in many Gulf countries.
Speaking at the concluding session of the two-day orientation programme on Islamic banking and investment, Qaradaghi underlined the fact that there was a simple process of shifting the bank from traditional practices to the compliance of pure Islamic teaching.

Four months after Qatar ordered conventional banks to quit Islamic banking, there has been little to no progress by the conventional banks to dispose of their Islamic assets.
Although Commercial Bank of Qatar has opened talks on selling its Shari'ah compliant book of business, while Qatar Islamic Bank confirmed its interest in potential buyouts, it remains only paper talk.

Mubasher Trade has announced the Egypt opening of Mubasher Islami, a new division that specialises in a full range of Shari’ah-compliant services, including a dedicated trading platform for Shari’ah-compliant securities.
The new trading platform is completely free of additional charges and requires no paperwork. All existing clients can easily activate the service on their account, while new clients need a simply request for the Mubasher Islami service upon opening a new investment portfolio.

KPMG officially names Neil D Miller as global head of Islamic finance. Miller will lead KPMG’s global Islamic finance group from Dubai, where he has been living since 2009. KPMG’s global Islamic finance team provides audit, tax and advisory services to clients throughout the world.

KFH Research Limited (KFHR) is planned to be the world's first Islamic investment research arm to be established by an Islamic bank (Kuwait Finance House).
KFHR's core strength is in its Islamic finance research and advisory works. It works closely with the Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM), IFSB, various Government linked organisations in Malaysia and the GCC; and are also exploring common research with the IMF.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) signed an agreement with Gulf Investment House (GIH) to restructure its debts that reach KD49.5m.
The agreement was supervised by Liquidity Management House (LMH). The collaborators of the agreement were: Boubyan Bank and Burgan Bank.
Mr Emad Al-Thaqeb stated that the agreement comes as part of a program to support local investment companies, which is supported by the Central Bank of Kuwait.

In order to help low-income Muslims who otherwise can't borrow money because of religious reasons, a state Islamic organisation is offering interest-free loans to them. Despite of the fact that charging or paying interest for loans is banned under Islam, many Charging or paying interest for loans is banned under Islam.
Project officer Asma Siddiq stated that there was a growing need for the loans in the Islamic community.

Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Governor Sheikh Salem Abdelaziz Al-Sabah stated that the planned single Arabian Gulf currency is a goal, rather than a hope. He also underlined the fact that key steps would be taken ahead of the issuance of the Gulf currency, chiefly the launching of a uniform Gulf central bank as a congenial legal and institutional ground.
He added that the Gulf Monetary Council is facing diverse challenges, primarily a necessary strong and sound legislative, financial and institutional infrastructure.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has appointed Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum as the chairman of Emirates NBD, and Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as the chairman of Noor Islamic Bank.
Shaikh Ahmed replaced Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer as the head of Emirates NBD.

Compared to the pre-crisis period, when the clients were more heavily focused on chasing returns, now the demand is for advisers to help HNW clients to manage the complex mix of goals, primarily wealth preservation.
The World Wealth Report observed that the world's HNWIs expanded in population and wealth in 2010, surpassing 2007 pre-crisis levels in nearly every region.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) is currently engaged in challenging issues related to the financing of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and projects providing food security and housing among member countries.
There already are some members that have potential for providing food security so that those who do not have such potential could benefit, and that include countries like Kazakhstan, Sudan and Indonesia.

Because of the recent launch by Bank Negara Malaysia of its new Islamic monetary management instrument, the Bank Negara Monetary Notes-Istithmar (BNMN-Istithmar), the attention of the global Islamic capital market is once again on Malaysia.
It seems that at the same time, the Malaysian government has appointed the local Maybank Group, the CIMB Group, Citigroup and HSBC to lead arrange a third global sovereign US dollar sukuk offering.