IslamicFinance.de

Four out of seven tenders submitted to the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) came through stage one of the competition to land a consultancy contract on the provision of Islamic banking and financial services.
Among the finalists are: Ekvita & Islamic Finance Advisory Assurance Services, Ernst & Young with Baker McKenzie, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and consortium consisting of Salans, Pinsent Masons and KPMG.

Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz is the first female central banker in Asia, being a key player in the global development of Islamic finance for more than a decade.
Tan Sri Dato' Sri Doctor Zeti Akhtar Aziz is Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, the Central Bank of Malaysia. She was reappointed Governor for a further five year term beginning with 1 May 2011 by His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Richard Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of Gatehouse Bank, is going to be recruited in the Order of the British Empire, an honour bestowed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. A special ceremony will be held in order to introduce Thomas as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
The OBE will be handed in recognition for civic excellence and the contribution that Thomas has made to the UK Islamic financial services industry.

International Turnkey Solutions (ITS) will be the host of its first Islamic banking conference in Oman at the Shangri-la’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa on June 20. The event will present top Islamic banking experts discussing opportunities for Omani banks interested in taking advantage of this new opportunity.
The seminars will bring together industry experts and speakers from regional Islamic institutions who will debate the challenges involved in migrating to a Sharia-compliant structure. Those challenges include overhauling the IT infrastructure, training staff and integrating with the global banking system, elaborated Tarek Khalifa, SGR Area Manager of ITS.

SEDCO Capital was officially launched in Jeddah as a new wealth management company that centeres on high net worth individuals, institutional investors, and family offices.
SEDCO Holding will be heavily involved in the investment opportunities that SEDCO Capital will be bringing to the market.

Sabic intends to purchase the assets of its first Sukuk amounting to SR3bn which was launched in July 2006. The Capital Market Authority (CMA) announced on June 12, 2011 its approval for Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) to issue its debut Mudaraba Sukuk.

HSBC is searching for mandates for Islamic bond issuance in 2011 that are above pre-crisis levels, with at least one more sukuk expected to come to market before mid-July.
Mohammed Dawood, managing director of global capital financing at HSBC, stated that debt capital markets have experienced a comeback in recent months, as the cost of borrowing came down and liquidity levels for Islamic bonds reached the highest level they have seen been in four or five years.

Fitch Ratings has announced Bank Aljazira's (BAJ) Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A-', Short-term IDR at 'F2', Individual Rating at 'C/D', Support Rating at '1' and Support Rating Floor at 'A-'. The agency has also confirmed Aljazira Capital's (AJC) Long-term IDR at 'A-' with a Stable Outlook, Short-term IDR at 'F2' and Support Rating at'1'.
High loan impairment charges have significantly influenced BAJ's profitability in the past two years. The bank has less loss-absorption capacity than peers inspite of its high cost/income ratio. Although the non-performing loans (NPLs)/gross loans ratio decreased to 6.7 per cent at end-2010, it remains high compared to peers.

The two largest American public pension plans, California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), signed a letter along with the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church and several dozen others. The purpose of the letter is to implement environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns into their business models.
Although ESG investing has originally met with intense skepticism by the bulk of American asset owners, it is now beginning to gain traction.

Canada will host from 12 to 13 June 2011 the third of seven United Nations-convened regional consultations that make up a global process to develop a set of sustainability principles for the insurance industry.
The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative's Principles for Sustainable Insurance (UNEP FI-PSI) will serve as the global framework for insurance companies to try to manage environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities in their core business strategies and operations in a better way. This will include concrete actions to enhance risk management and underwriting practices, stimulate innovative insurance solutions, and catalyse industry action on a range of sustainability issues such as natural catastrophe risks, climate change, ecosystem degradation, ageing populations and emerging health risks.

Kenya Reinsurance Corporation plans to venture into Sharia-compliant business to grow its income and tap into the expanding Islamic finance in Africa and the Middle East where it already exists.
At the Bomas of Kenya Mr Mwarania, Kenya Re's chief executive officer, declared that the company will additionally venture into microinsurance and political risk insurance.

Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC anticipates an increase by 5 percent to 10 percent this year of Islamic financing business. The rise will be driven by an increase in financing to small and medium-sized businesses and to large companies.

UM Financial is planning an extensive launch of its ifreedomplus Mastercard within the next quarter.
CEO Omar Kalair stated that once the product was launched in Canada, UM Financial would expand into the European Union with the same product.

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) closed 0.38% higher at 1,557.60 amid thin trading.
Moreover, Ajman Bank launched Mahra Ladies Banking, which will be headed by Maryam Al Shorafa.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) launched of its Gold Priority Banking service that is designed to meet the needs of affluent customers.
Gold Priority Banking has been designed to deliver an exclusive and rewarding banking experience with a wide range of premium products, services and lifestyle benefits. ADIB Gold Priority Banking is accompanied by a valuable package of benefits developed exclusively for affluent customers.

Family Takaful Summit Malaysia will be held on June 23 and 24 in Malaysia. Over 500 takaful operators and agents would come together to discuss the growth potential for takaful in Malaysia and identify unique opportunities for players in the family takaful market.
Family takaful grew 28% annually over the last five years and now represents more than 80% of Malaysia's total takaful market.

Swiss private bank Julius Baer wants to double the size of its Middle Eastern business over the next five years by recruiting aggressively, as the oil-rich region's growth prospects and high concentration of ultra-wealthy households continues to attract Western banks to its shores.
In order to accomplish its Middle Eastern growth ambitions, Julius Baer aims to double the number of relationship managers to 100 within 5 years.

The Central Bank Governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has the strong oppinion that Nigeria has the potential to become Africa’s Islamic banking hub. According to him, the present economic reforms and favorable ranking by global rating institutions, have improved Nigeria’s profile as a viable investment destination.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Islamic banking is a financial system that is based on adherence to the Shariah or Islamic law.

A seminar was organized by Al-Huda Centre of Islamic Banking & Economics (CIBE) and AKHUWAT in order to come up with a plan of poverty alleviation on national and international scale to lessen poverty, social welfare and to tackle other problems pertaining to it.
Delegates from Malaysia, Yemen, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Mauritius and other countries participated in the event who spoke on various topics of Islamic microfinance i.e. methodology of poverty reduction, Zakat, Shariah implications, Dard-e-Hasna, Waqf models, latest trends of Islamic microfinance, technological application of poverty alleviation and usage of Islamic microfinance in non muslim societies.

Although his attempt of courting Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd failed, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd has still the strong desire to merge with a rival to build a mega Islamic bank.
The bank, however, is not in talks with any party currently.