IslamicFinance.de

Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif, Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group, visited together with members of the executive management of the Group the site of the Group Headquarter in Bahrain Bay. A detailed explanation of construction works was given to him.
Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif stated his content for what he has seen. He added his delight of the great efforts that are made for the construction of this distinctive and unique of its kind architectural edifice, which is estimated to cost about U.S. $ 100 million.

Islamic Development Bank has selected the following four nongovernmental organisations to implement the $130 million (more than Tk 900 crore) Fael Khair programme for victims of Cyclone Sidr: Islami Bank Foundation, Muslim Aid, Voluntary Organisation for Social Development (VOSD) and BRAC.
IDB President Ahmad Mohamed Ali stated that the aim is the construction of several hundred school-cum-cyclone shelters in the coastal belt and provision of urgent relief in the form of agro inputs to the victims.

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) conducted a roadshow in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. This is part of a resource mobilization plan.
The roadshow began in the UAE and reached London where the bank has successfully priced, $750 million, 5-year, Trust Certificates (sukuk) issued at par with a 2.35 percent semi-annual profit rate under its $3.5 billion Trust Certificate Issuance Program.

Moody’s Investors Service put the E+ bank financial strength rating (BFSR), mapping to B1 on the long-term rating scale, of Dubai Bank (DB) on review with direction uncertain.
The review comes after the Government of Dubai's announcement on 16 May 2010 that it plans to inject capital into Dubai Bank, protect the interest of all depositors and ensure that Dubai Bank's operations remain uninterrupted.

Alfalah Consulting is the organizer of the KL Conference on Islamic Wealth Management 2011, that is going to take place on July 6, extending over two days.
The conference will expand subjects as key principles and avenues of Islamic wealth management, including Islamic wealth creation, accumulation, protection, distribution and purification in the wealth management cycle

NEST Corporation has choosen HSBC Life Amanah Pension Fund for its Sharia Fund. NEST is a simple and low-cost UK pension scheme designed to give its members an easy way of building up their retirement pot. It also makes it easy for employers to meet their new workplace pension duties that will start to be introduced from 2012.
Stuart White, HSBC Global Asset Management (UK) Institutional Director, pointed out that this pension scheme could transform UK's pension industry.

Doha Bank is not going to fire any employees impacted by the Qatar central bank's ban on conventional banks engaging in Islamic finance.
Raghavan Seetharaman, chief executive , added that excess staff has already been deployed to its conventional operations.

Amana Takaful will launch Sri Lanka’s first Sharia’h compliant unit linked Insurance Plan. . The product is branded “Amana Takaful Prosper” and is the first of its kind. The customer will be able to obtain a Takaful (insurance) cover as well as enjoy a choice of Sharia’h compliant investment options.
Reyaz Jeffrey, General Manager/ Chief Executive Officer, Amana Takaful Life, stated that this option was right for all Sri Lankans because it's a part of the expansion plans of product offerings in the backdrop of a peaceful environment and apt economic conditions.

Barwa Bank and National Petroleum Services Group (NPS) made an agreement to refinance an existing syndication and support its expansion and working capital. All this will be worth QR529m.
NPS group provides drilling and well services to customers in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries in the Middle East, North Africa, Far East, and Europe.
Its state-of-the-art equipment and sectorial services are embracing Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Syria, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Libya, and Iraq.

It appears that Malaysia is going to choose Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd and HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd to advise on a global Islamic sovereign bond to raise more than US$1 billion. An anonimous source told that this could start even next month.
The government seems to be arranging a 10-year dollar-denominated sukuk, in its second sovereign sale of Shariah-compliant debt in a year.

The Governor of Bank of Thailand (BoT), Prasarn Trairatvorakul, suggested to the government to consider categorising credit card debtors for refinancing by state-owned banks with caution to prevent a rise in problem debts.
But the problem is that Thailand's banks must have efficient tools to monitor and categorise credit card debtors. Otherwise, it might lead to an increase in non-performing loans.

It seems that HSBC Middle East is going to meet investors in Asia and Europe for a potential sukuk issue. The meetings will take place in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and London.

Islamic Development Bank, or IDB, gave out a $750 million five-year, benchmark sukuk with a price guidance of 35 basis points over mid-swaps.
One of the banks that is leading the sale told Dow Jones that BNP Paribas SA, Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings PLC and Standard Chartered Bank were joint bookrunners on the transaction.

Economists and Asian leaders pointed out that in order not to shock financially and environmentally Asia’s poorest, basic social protections are needed. They think that the key to helping Asia’s poorest lift themselves out of poverty is increased spending on social programs.
United Nations economists stated that government-funded social protections such as universal education, basic health care and job programs could provide a critical safety net for the millions of impoverished Asians who are most vulnerable to rising food prices and environmental calamities.

Inspite of its Investors now favour syariah-compliant funds and investment products instead of conventional counterparts. ASM Investment Services Bhd (ASM Investment) has the strong oppinion that this became more important because of multiple number of features that separated syariah funds from other conventional investment offerings.
Nik Mohamed Zaki Nik Yusoff, chief executive officer at ASM Investment, underlined the fact that their orporate clients, who consist mostly of GLCs (government-linked companies), prefer to opt for syariah funds.

The general view of the fact that "returns are usually sacrificed in the name of doing good" is in process of being changed by a report titled Impact Investing in Emerging Markets, by the consultancy Responsible Research.
The report enlightened the fact that this return is comparable with, if not better than, expectations on emerging market indexes globally.
WillowTree Impact Investors, a private equity company that recently launched in Dubai, tries to take advantage of the situation by beliving that it is the first private equity company in Dubai that invests in a socially responsible manner.

The Middle East and North Africa region is going through a raough patch because of social unrest and surging commodity prices.
Countries from the region must create more jobs and generate inclusive growth. Their biggest challenge is to maintain social cohesion and macroeconomic stability. Although the governments have understandably increased spending, it is well known that it is not a permanent solution. Each country must develop its own approach for political, social, and economic transformation.

Ken Egbas is the Managing Partner TruContact. TruContact is considered by many one of Nigeria’s leading Public relations agencies. He also developed the Social Enterprise and Reports (SERA awards).
In an interview given to Saturday Vanguard Business, Egbas underlines his belief that private organisations should be deeply involved in corporate social responsibility in any environment they operate.

Lee Khee Joo, the Financial Sector Talent Enrichment Programme (FSTEP)'s head, underlined the fact that human capital was an essential enabler for the financial services sector as the industry required highly-qualified people to continue innovating and raising standards.
FSTEP trains and prepares highly-calibre graduates for employment in the finance sector throughout the entire year.
Lee stated that the industry will be challenged in overcoming the talent shortage, specifically in the Islamic finance sector. He added that Malaysian financial institutions would also benefit from growing business relationships between Malaysia and China as well as India.

Kuwait Finance House Research Limited (KFHR) has written a report on the Islamic Sukuk market and the fact that in month of April it has been the lowest year to date.
The inaugural sukuk was structured as an Ijarah transaction with a maturity of seven years. The sukuk was subscribed for by a number of leading Islamic and commercial banks including Capital Bank, Cairo Amman Bank, Islamic International Arab Bank, Union Bank, Jordan Kuwait Bank, Bank of Jordan, and Arab Islamic Bank.