IslamicFinance.de

Beginning with this month, Iraq will offer Islamic banking services at its two main state-owned banks. The ministry revealed in a website posting that the bank will introduce banking services compliant with Islamic Sharia law at the Rafidain and Rashid banks in the next two weeks.

Al Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines (Amanah Islamic Bank) is the co-financer of an P80-million term loan for the General Santos City Water District.
The project is going to provide potable and affordable water supply in the progressive city. DBP is the majority stakeholder of Amanah Islamic Bank.

Malaysia is going to invest in 5 projects from Kazahstan. This projects include investments in a Kazakh Islamic bank, oil and gas exploration by Petronas, cattle breeding, energy generation and the construction of a hotel.
The projects are expxcted to begin as soon as possible.
Jambul district of Kazakhstan and National Feedlot Corp Sdn Bhd signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cattle rearing, while their produce would be exported to Malaysia and neighbouring countries.

Fraj Zaag was appointed General Manager at Al Baraka Bank Tunis. He was, since 2009, Deputy General Manager at Al Baraka Bank Tunis.

The stockwas of QIB flat at 77 Qatari rials, as the QE Index fell 1.02 per cent to 8,156.60.
If the planned tie-up between Al Khaliji Commercial Bank and International Bank of Qatar, now called off, would have happened, it would have created different prospects for QIB. Also a potential threat from HSBC Amanah is vanishing.

The reason for the fact that rate of return on Islamic Development Bank’s Shariah-compliant bonds sold last month was triple that of Gulf sukuk is that investors looking to own the highest rated debt sold this year.
Islamic Development is rated AAA, the highest investment grade, at Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.

Al khaliji Board of Directors discussed the latest developments with regard to the possible merger with IBQ and other matters. Other agendas like strategic and governance items were also reviewed.
Al Khalij Commercial Bank (al khaliji) QSC was incorporated on January 9, 2007 as a Qatari Shareholding Company under Commercial Registration No. 34548.
It operates from its head office and three branches in Qatar, one branch in France and four branches in the United Arab Emirates.

Seeking to manage its excess liquidity, Islamic certificates of deposit in the UAE stood at Dh12 billion ($3.27 billion) at the end of the first quarter.
Assets and liabilities stood at Dh269 billionand they represented 17 per cent of total UAE assets and deposits.
The UAE central bank plans to introduce a repurchase facility for Islamic lenders in the coming months.
Tirad Mahmood, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Chief Executive, announced that the bank as an ongoing programme to buy the Islamic CDs as part of its liquidity management strategy.

Because of their losses and after political unrest in the Arabian Gulf nation, Moody’s Investors Service cut off Bahrain Islamic Bank's credit ratings.
Moody's statement was that the decision "reflects a material weakening in the institution’s stand-alone financial profile, as shown in the significant losses it posted in the last two years and the erosion of its capital base in the absence of new capital injections".

The real estate bust in 2008 left investors ith half-finished projects sitting in the desert sun and losses that were unlikely to be recovered.
But it appears that the emergence of Islamic real estate investment trusts (REIT) in the Middle East could help these investors. Islamic REITS differ from their conventional counterparts by banning investment in any assets that pay interest or conduct business in any forbidden industry, like gambling, alcohol or adult entertainment.
Beside the fact that it is providing an alternative investment in the Gulf Islamic finance industry it could also inject more transparency and regulation in a property sector plagued by unrealistic expectations of returns and occasionally murky dealings.

There are already 8 Islamic banks in the UAE with 260 branches and assets and liabilities of AED 269 Billion (US$ 73.1 Billion). This represents 17% of total assets and liabilities of the banking system in the UAE.
Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, UAE Central Bank Governor, congratulated the Sultanate of Oman for licensing its first Islamic bank at a seminar on "Islamic Finance in a global perspective" which was held at the Central Bank.

In order to increase the Shariah-compliant banking assets by 35 percent this year, Indonesia's Foreign Ministry and central bank are seeking investment from the Persian Gulf.
Mulya Siregar, the Jakarta-based director of Islamic services at Bank Indonesia, announced that it is possible that the delegation is going to meet officials in the Middle East as soon as this month, with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait the most likely destinations.

In the path of rebuilding its once dominant financial services sector, Ireland aims to become the home of Islamic finance in Europe.
The taoiseach, Enda Kenny, stated that the Irish tax laws and financial regulations are now sharia-compliant. It seems that the government had recently signed double-taxation agreements with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

The Islamic certificates of deposit launched by the UAE Central Bank are now the equivalent of $3.27 billion. This statement was given by Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, Central Bank Governor.
He added that although such figures are impressive, there are some challenges, first one of the kind being the short-term liquidity management at Islamic banks and other Islamic financial institutions. Another challenge for Islamic finance is the distinction between profit to shareholders and profit to investors/depositors, which is still unclear.

After a suspension that lasted almost eight months, trading in shares of Gulf Finance House (GFH) has finally resumed. GFH is traded on the Bahrain Stock Exchange, the Kuwait Stock Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market.
GFH was hit very hard by the financial crisis. It made large profits in previous years by collecting premiums on investments in multibillion-dollar property projects and private-equity deals, but that income disappeared when investors retreated in 2008 and 2009.

A new study reveals that for its population, Saudi Arabia has the highest proportion of "hyper-rich" households in the world. The study also reveals the fact that Dubai's financial services industry is reaping rewards from wealthy investors from Saudi Arabia.
Kuwait and the UAE were among the top 10 countries worldwide on the number of millionaires per capital.

Esso Malaysia Bhd has begun the negotiations to establish a RM300mil seven-year Islamic Commercial Papers Programme (Sukuk Programme).
Issues from the programme would be used to finance Esso’s syariah-compliant business.

Ranhill Power Sdn Bhd has launched a RM800mil nominal value sukuk musharakah, with a tenure of between two and 15 years.
The issue raised will finance in full the redemption of the US$220 million guaranteed notes issued by Ranhill (L) Ltd and to fund the finance service reserve account requirements.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has opened up a three-year Islamic certificate structured to return 90 % of invested capital to customers five business days after the issue date of the certificate.
The main idea is that through this product investors will be able to invest in commodity markets while benefiting from diversification across investment strategies.
The US dollar-denominated certificate, which is distributed by DIB and issued by Al Mi’yar Capital SA, is available from DIB with a minimum investment of $25,000, according to the statement.

Albaraka Banking Group (BARKA)’s unit in Syria is going to open five branches this year even as a popular uprising in the Arab nation enters its 12th week.
The Syrian government is looking to end unrest in some parts of the country after protest broke out in the southern city of Daraa in mid March as people demand greater freedom.
That makes the unit’s Chief Executive Officer Mohammad Halabi statement understandable as he said that they have confidence in the Syrian economy and because they believe that the current unrest is only a temporary situation.