IslamicFinance.de

Abdulkarim Bucheery, chief executive of Bahrain Islamic Bank has said that international banks may cut financing lines to Bahraini lenders facing debt restructuring, due to the political unrest gripping the kingdom.

Bahrain-based Ithmaar Bank has posted a income of $51.4 million before impairment provisions and taxation for 2010.
The bank was back on track in spite of posting a consolidated loss of $150.1 million attributable to the shareholders of the bank after recognising conservative impairment provisions of $197.4 million.

Total income for 2010 was $12.3 million, down from $96.5 million in 2009. With limited exceptions, the reduction in income was due to a general lowering of deal flows, within a stressed financial and operating environment.
Unicorn saw major deleveraging of the balance sheet in 2010, which saw the timely repayment of over $250 million of short term funds. The bank also recently announced the successful repayment of a $125 million Syndicated Commodity Murabaha Facility upon its due repayment date on 27 January 2011.

Saudi Arabia will soon approve a mortgage law. This statement was given by Shoura Council Chairman Abdullah Al-Asheikh.
A six-member committee is studying the details of the draft law. Its approval is prioritized on the council's agenda in light of the recent recommendation made by King Abdullah on boosting real estate development in the kingdom.

Jim O'Neill, chairman of the massive Goldman Sachs Asset Management arm, said he believed that the Arab world could emerge as the fifth Bric, joining the booming economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Emerging markets fund manager Charlemagne Capital is launching a new fund to exploit opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) as a result of the political tensions across the region.

The Malaysian government’s recent encouragement of Korean financial institutions to issue “sukuk” instead of ringgit-denominated bonds is part of the country’s aim to foster a strong Islamic financial hub.
They want to develop an Islamic financial market, so they give tax exemptions for bond holders and sukuk holders here.

Moody's decision to downgrade Jafz was driven by the high uncertainties over the near- to medium-term evolution of the company's capital structure, which the rating agency assesses as being highly leveraged, with adjusted debt to EBITDA at 8.6 times (as per the 12-month period ending June 2010), and as unsustainable given the company's cash flow profile.
Moreover, Moody's considers it likely that the company's capital structure will remain constrained. These factors have prompted Moody's to reposition Jafz's baseline credit assessment (BCA) to 16 (equivalent to B3 on Moody's global scale) from 14 (B1 equivalent), hence the downgrade.

In line with its five-year strategy to develop products and services that meet the needs of elite clients, Dubai Bank announced the launch of "Royal Banking," a complete wealth management solution for premium customers who seek customised solutions and personalised service across all banking channels.
To qualify as a Royal Banking customer, individuals should maintain an average monthly deposit of AED 500,000 or transfer salaries of AED 50,000 and above to Dubai Bank.

An academy will soon be set up to educate Muslims about investments in various financial sectors, including stock exchange, capital market and banking in accordance to the principals of Sharia.
Pragmatic Wealth Management Pvt. Ltd is coming up with an academy where educated youth will be encouraged to seek employment and do business in the financial sector where participation of Muslims at present is shockingly low.

The board of directors of ICIEC approved a proposal to increase its capital increase, at its 62nd meeting held at the Islamic Development Bank headquarters.
The meeting, held under the chairmanship of Ahmed Mohammed Ali, gave approval to increase the ICIEC capital resources from ID150 million ($240 million) to ID400 million ($640 million).

Yields on Indonesia’s Shariah- compliant dollar-denominated bonds dropped to a six-week low as Southeast Asia’s largest economy moved a step closer toward winning an investment-grade rating.
Optimism for a ratings upgrade and inflows from overseas investors avoiding the Middle East are boosting demand for the nation’s sukuk.

The Islamic bond market is expanding rapidly due to large liquidity inflows and large and growing Muslim populations worldwide.
The issuance of the Islamic bonds by Korean companies has recently been at the center of controversy as some Christian groups are lobbying to block legislation that would promote the practice.
The ruling Grand National Party has delayed consideration of the sukuk law until after the April by-elections.

Prince Sattam was the guest-of-honor at the formal opening ceremony of Alinma Bank in Riyadh on Sunday. The event marked the official launch of the bank’s full operations at its branches across the Kingdom.
Prince Sattam ceremonially announced the commencement of all of Alinma’s banking services. Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency Gov. Muhammad Al-Jasser was also present at the function held at the Al-Anoud Novotel Hotel.

Almost unnoticed, the Turkish National Assembly in Ankara passed the Finance Bill 2011 in February 2011 which includes tax neutrality measures for Sukuk Al-Ijara (leasing certificates) thus paving the way for a spate of corporate Sukuk issuances in the country.
The Istanbul Stock Exchange also launched the first Participation Bank Index paving the way for Islamic equity funds and products to be launched in the Turkish market.

Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Mohsen Khojastehmehr says Tehran will issue Islamic bonds (Sukuk) for procuring financial resources for the country's oil projects.
Sukuk will be issued in the next Iranian calendar year which starts on March 21 as part of the ministry's plans to diversify financial resources for implementing various upstream and downstream projects in the oil industry.

Emaar Properties received Dh214.43 million from its subsidiary, Islamic mortgage provider Amlak Finance in 2010, and believes that the remainder Dh712m that its arm owes it is "fully recoverable". This was a statement given in Dubai bourse.

The consensus at the pioneering inaugural Roundtable on "Islamic Finance in Russia and the CIS: Market and Regulation" which was held last week in Istanbul and organized by Bank Conference and largely sponsored by the Jeddah-based Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector was the following:
The intellectual argument for and the demystification of Islamic finance has gained much ground in Russia and the CIS countries over the last two years, but the political decision makers and bureaucracy, especially the banking regulatory authorities, still need to be convinced about the role an alternative Islamic system of financial management can play, especially in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. As such, Islamic finance in the region is at best a work in progress but the task ahead remains huge.

Islamic bonds, led by securities in the Arabian Gulf, underperformed emerging-market debt in February as spreading unrest across the Middle East caused the biggest monthly rise in yields since May.
Investors are shunning Middle East assets as protests expanded to Oman, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya, holder of the largest proven oil reserves in Africa. Moody’s Investors Service and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank say Islamic bonds aren’t likely to recover unless demonstrations that have toppled Tunisia’s and Egypt’s rulers and killed hundreds end soon.

State-owned Islamic Bank of Thailand expects to finalise details of its long-delayed Islamic bond in the second quarter.
The planned sale of Islamic bonds worth 5 billion baht ($164 million) has been repeatedly delayed, pending regulations governing the issue of sukuk in Thailand.

Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector & AIM have signed an MOU to consider establishing a joint venture company, to be called Al Hayat Capital, to manage renewable energy investments. Al-Hayat is intended to be incorporated offshore and targets to raise $250 000 000 through its first Fund. The Fund will be invested in accordance with the principles of Sharia'a in Green Energy Infrastructure projects located in member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.