IslamicFinance.de

A new Sharia benchmark for the use of gold in financial transactions could be ready as early as the first quarter of 2016. This follows the World Gold Council and Amanie Advisors, a specialist consultancy, opening up submissions from industry participants on what the standard should be. Submissions need to be made by December 31. The ‘Standard will provide guidance from a Sharia perspective on the usage of gold in financial and investment transactions for Islamic financial institutions and participants,’ the WGC states on its website. ‘The Standard also aims to increase transparency and harmonisation regarding the use of gold in various market practices.’

International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Al Baraka Bank are cooperating to expand the availability of trade finance for Egyptian importers to help spur economic growth and create jobs. Under this agreement, Al Baraka Bank becomes the third Egyptian bank, and the first Islamic bank in the country, to join IFC's Global Trade Finance Programme (GTFP). IFC guarantees will help Al Baraka Bank clients import commodities that are critical to the local market, including raw materials, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers and spare parts that will support different manufacturing sectors. In fiscal 2015, IFC's GTFP committed over $1 billion in the Middle East and North Africa region and over $6 billion around the world.

Thomson Reuters and the Toronto Financial Services Alliance (TFSA) have unveiled a major study, the Canada Islamic Finance Outlook 2016, during the World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) held in Bahrain. Canada is looking to position itself as the regional hub for Islamic finance in North America. Its main competitor in the region, the United States, is a much larger market overall, but Canada has a proportionately larger Muslim population. This advantage is coupled with an arguably more favourable federal regulatory regime and an outward looking orientation that is potentially more favourable and conducive to the growth of Islamic finance.

Islamic Crowdfunding has the potential to help us change our world for the better. There is an immense variety and scope of applications for crowdfunding. Crowdfunding continues to evolve and in recent years made strides into the investment world. Real Estate Crowdfunding is one of the fastest-growing segments of this booming industry worldwide. The low-entry capital makes it especially accessible to the middle income and small-medium business owners. Islamic Crowdfunding has the unique ability to empower the masses to create and re-create products, lifestyles and communities independent of capitalist corporations or bureaucratic governments.

Thomson Reuters and Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) have released the key findings of the Islamic Finance Development Indicator (IFDI) Report 2015. The report examines the key statistics and trends across five indicators that are deemed to be significant for measuring the development of the US$1.8 trillion Islamic finance industry. These include Quantitative Development, Knowledge, Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility and Awareness. According to the report, Malaysia leads IFDI again while GCC countries continue to dominate the top of the rankings for a third year in a row.

According to a recent report by the London-listed asset management group European Islamic Investment Bank, as Dubai pushes ahead with plans to expand its offering in Shariah-compliant financial services, it will be tapping into significant pent-up global demand for Islamic asset management, which could reach as high as $185 billion by 2019. The study, issued in mid October, highlighted additional measures that could be considered in order to raise Dubai's profile as a centre for IFS. Industry growth could be accelerated through wider consultation between fund managers and the authorities, with a focus on identifying ways to spur the creation of multi-asset-class, multi-geography funds.

Thomson Reuters, the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) and the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI) have launched a new report analysing the state of Islamic Finance in Kazakhstan titled “a future perspective of Islamic finance”. The report, produced in partnership with the National Bank of Kazakhstan, was launched during a dedicated Roundtable on Islamic finance emerging markets, ahead of the World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) in Manama, Bahrain. The report predicts a positive economic outlook for Kazakhstan, with an estimated GDP growth of 2.4% in 2016.

Standard Chartered Pakistan has established a Shariah board to help guide the bank's transactions in accordance with the principles of Shariah. This board has been formed in compliance with the Shariah Governance Framework and from the directives of State Bank of Pakistan. The members are: Sheikh Nizam Yaquby (Chairman), Mufti Muhammad Abdul Mubeen, Mufti Irshad Ahmad Aijaz and Mufti Muhammad Abdullah. Through liasing with the board of directors and senior management of the bank, the Shariah board shall ensure Shariah compliance as per regulatory requirements. The board would also endeavour to provide guidelines for devising new products and services.

Is it possible for businesses to have a bottom line that is not profit and endless growth, but human dignity, justice, sustainability and democracy? Or an alternative economic model that is untainted by the greed and crises of current financial systems? Christian Felber says it is. Moreover, in Change Everything he shows us how. The Economy for the Common Good is not just an idea, but has already become a broad international movement with thousands of people, hundreds of companies, and dozens of communities and organizations participating, developing and implementing it. Published in English for the first time, this is a remarkable blueprint for change that will profoundly influence debates on reshaping our economy for the future.

Saudi Arabia has approved proposals for a 2.5% ‘white land tax’, which will apply to undeveloped residential and residential/commercial plots within urban boundaries. The law will come into force six months after the Ministry of Housing’s release of detailed regulations, the publication of which will take place within the next six months. Once implemented, proceeds from the tax will be deposited into an account of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, and will be used to fund housing and related infrastructure projects in the Kingdom. The law is intended to stimulate further development to meet the demand for middle-income housing in Saudi Arabia. JLL predicts that some land owners will bring forward plans and begin development in order to avoid the additional tax burden of holding undeveloped land. Others, it suggests, will seek to sell sites to other developers, which should help to reduce land values.

In his keynote address at the IFN forum Saudi Arabia 2015, Khaled Al-Aboodi, CEO of Islamic Cooperation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) said that there is still a need of acquiring more knowledge and experience in Islamic finance. Al-Aboodi, while reviewing the latest global economic situation in the world, said growth remains moderate and uneven. The growth trajectories in emerging and developing markets vary significantly across countries, and in general, the outlook shows more weakening due to low prices of oil and other commodities, as well as the slowdown in China. As far as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is concerned, the economic growth prospects is further hampered by geopolitical tensions and security challenges in some countries, he said.

Après l’Afrique du Sud et le Sénégal, la Côte d’Ivoire lance à son tour une émission de sukuks. Le pays vient de lancer une émission de sukuk, pour 150 milliards de francs CFA, soit 230 millions d’euros. L’opération a commencé le 20 novembre, et les investisseurs peuvent souscrire jusqu’au 21 décembre. Les fonds obtenus seront affectés à des projets de développement. En cas de succès, le gouvernement ivoirien compte bien renouveler l’opération ultérieurement. Il pourrait également faire des émules chez ses homologues, notamment au Niger et au Nigeria. Pour ces pays, l’intérêt de ce type d’emprunt est d’abord de diversifier leurs sources de financement.

Even some prominent scholars are of the view that while charging interest is not permitted in Islam, paying interest on loans is not impermissible. This is a view that demands an analysis from both an intellectual and economic perspective. A scholar argues that those who pay interest do not fall under the category of those who “eat others’ property unjustly” and that they must not also be deemed as “cooperating” in dealing in interest. The Prophetic tradition also prohibits cooperation in matters related to interest-based business. According to the scholar, the payer of interest does not “eat others’ property unjustly.” Hence, he does not commit any sin when he pays interest. This is a flawed argument, as interest-based transactions are by their very nature cooperative in nature.

Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) has published its new five issuances: the Shari'ah standards books (both in Arabic and English), the Accounting, Auditing, and Governance Standards and Codes of Ethics (both in Arabic and English), and the compendium of Shari'ah standards research papers. The new publications will be available for sale across various markets. They will be inaugurated at a special gala dinner to be hosted by AAOIFI on 6 December 2015 in Bahrain. The gala dinner will feature inauguration of the five hard copies editions as well as the digital version and the mobile and tablet applications, in addition to the launch of the projects of translating the Sharia standards to French and Russian languages, and other initiatives.

Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding said its affiliate Jeddah Economic Co (JEC) had arranged financing to complete construction of the world's tallest building. JEC agreed with Alinma Bank to establish an 8.4 billion riyal ($2.2 billion) real estate development fund that will finish work on the $1.2 billion Kingdom Tower in Jeddah. The Islamic fund will also develop the 1.5 sq km (0.6 sq miles) first phase of the Jeddah Economic City project. In addition to Kingdom Tower, the scheme is to include Saudi Arabia's largest shopping mall. Alinma Bank will finance the new fund, which is to be managed by Alinma Investment, Kingdom added without elaborating on how the money would be raised.

A bill eliminating legislative obstacles to the commission of leasing transactions in accordance with Islamic finance was introduced to the State Duma. The changes are to be made to the law «On Financial Rent (Leasing)». The bill allows separating the two transactions lease and sale in time. So in order to do that, it is suggested to amend the current law and add that the transfer of ownership will be covered in the lease agreement, like in the current model, or in the separate purchase and sale agreement, which then will be Shariah compliant. The drafted bill also provides the possibility, by an agreement of the parties, to avoid penalties for past due payments.

Zhang Xiangyin still remembers the day his daughter-in-law left home three years ago, leaving her 33-day-old son. She could no longer bear living entrenched in poverty in their mountain village.
Zhang, a 58-year-old farmer in Bijie City of southwest China's Guizhou Province, knows exactly what poverty means. With two daughters, who got married and moved away and his son in the coastal Shenzhen City as a migrant worker, the baby boy was left to the elderly couple.
But two 11-month-old Simmental cows he bought with a 24,000-yuan (3,762 U.S. dollars) government loan this September are expected to change his fate.
"The cows will give birth soon and are likely to have four calves within three years, which would produce 40,000 yuan in revenue," said Zhang.
After four years, Zhang expects between 20,000 to 30,000 yuan in net profits with newborn calves, which would lift him out of poverty.
In the past, Zhang was too poor to think of raising cows. A cow costs 12,000 yuan in the local market while Zhang's annual income was just a tenth of that, relying on a tiny plot of corn and potato crops.

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) today released an updated list of Shariah-compliant securities approved by its Shariah Advisory Council (SAC). The updated list, which takes effect on 27 November 2015, features a total of 667 Shariah-compliant securities. These securities constitute 74 per cent of the total 901 listed securities on Bursa Malaysia.
The list includes thirty-five (35) newly classified Shariah-compliant securities and excludes thirty-nine (39) from the previous list issued in May 2015.
The full list, which is updated twice a year based on the companies’ latest annual audited financial statements, is now available on the SC website at www.sc.com.my. The next updated list will be made available in May 2016, based on the review of the audited financial statements released up to 31 March 2016.

The main challenge faced by the Islamic banking in the Sultanate today is building up solid knowledge and experience among bankers about Islamic finance while keeping pace with the demand in the market. "Recruiting potential front-runners in this area and providing the right knowledge dosage at the right time is key success element. Retention is always a challenge in the banking sector and it is rather more intense towards persons who already started working within Sharia-compliant products and practiced Islamic banking", said Mohammed al Balushi, Chief Human Resources Officer at alizz Islamic bank.

BLME Holdings has appointed James Harrowsmith as a director to the BLME leasing team. He will report to Fred Yue, head of leasing at BLME and will be responsible for leading the bank’s heavy goods and commercial vehicles funding business.
Harrowsmith has over 20 years of experience in financial services, specialising in asset finance to the commercial vehicles sector. He was most recently at Eddie Stobart where he was responsible for sourcing all of the business funding solutions for its fleet of 2,500 HGVS and 3,000 trailers.
Prior to this, he was at Close Brothers Asset Finance and also HBOS, specialising in the HGV and LCV sector and was part of a team managing a £2 billion portfolio of assets.