IslamicFinance.de

Huge outflow of foreign currency during Hajj and Eid-ul-Azha has created a crisis of cash US dollar in Bangladesh, according to market players and the regulator. The crisis has now forced the central bank to request the National Board of Revenue to withdraw tax on import of US dollar notes by local banks. Hajj and the increase in the quota for cash when travelling outside the country have drained out the cash dollar reserves this year, said Nazneen Sultana, deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank. Generally, the demand for cash dollar rises ahead of Hajj every year. Spending for Puja and rising medical tourism have created further strain on the cash dollar reserves.

R&A Telecommunication Group Bhd's major subsidiary, R&A Telecommunication Sdn Bhd (RASB), has been served a writ and a statement of claim by Maybank Islamic Bhd for defaulting a loan payment of RM30.54 million. R&A said it plans to address the issue via a regularisation plan. The filing of the writ and statement of claim is a result of the outstanding amount for various Islamic financing facilities granted by the plaintiff including murabahah cashlines and Islamic tradeliness facilities, R&A said. The financial of operational impact of the writ and statement of claim on the group will be severe, it said, adding that it will severely impact the group's cash position.

Malaysia's RHB Islamic Bank Bhd is set to launch a window in Singapore by year-end, New Straits Times reported on Monday, citing managing director and chief executive officer Ibrahim Hassan. Right now the bank is keen on Singapore and Indonesia mostly, Ibrahim was quoted as saying. Singapore because it is one of the world's most vibrant financial hubs, thus allowing RHB to tap further into capital markets and eventually Indonesia, which has the biggest Muslim population.

OCBC Al-Amin Bank Bhd has opened its first Islamic Premier Banking Centre at the newly opened branch, the 11th, at Kota Kemuning in Shah Alam. The move will cater to high net worth individuals seeking sophisticated Islamic banking products and services. With the opening of the first Islamic Premier Banking centre here in Kota Kemuning, the bank hopes to raise the bar in Islamic banking products and services for the high net worth segment. The bank's inaugural Premier Banking Centre includes a private customer discussion area, parking, safe deposit boxes and full-time premier banking tellers. Previously, the only available premier banking centres for Islamic banking were those shared with conventional banking entities.

Maisarah Islamic Banking Services signed an agreement with Shaza Oman to fund the construction of its flagship five-star hotel in Muscat. The financing agreement was signed by BankDhofar's acting Chief Executive Officer Abdul Hakeem Al Ojaili; Al Madina Real Estate CEO Abdul Rahman Ba Omar; and GLOREI CEO Mohammad Al Ghassani. Under the agreement, Maisarah will finance the five-star hotel that is under construction by Shaza Oman Company SAOC. The project is in Al Khuwair, adjacent to Muscat Grand Mall, and is slated for a soft launch in December.

The opening of the Islamic financial services (IFS) sector in Ghana is expected to create new financing and lending opportunities in the coming years, with sharia-compliant banking offering particular potential in the retail and small and medium-sized enterprise segments. In Ghana there is currently just one sharia-compliant financial institution – Ghana Islamic Microfinance, which began as an NGO – though there is significant scope for growth. The Bank of Ghana (BoG) may be preparing to issue the country’s first licence for a sharia-compliant bank in late 2015 or early 2016, with an accompanying reform to the regulatory framework also expected to be implemented.

In a statement to the Qatar Exchange, QNB revealed its involvement as a potential bidder for Finansbank, the National Bank of Greece’s Turkish banking subsidiary. Established in 1987, Finansbank operates 654 branches and has more than 12,000 employees. The bank’s total assets in H1 2015 reached TRY 82.45 billion. The bank was acquired by National Bank of Greece in 2006. QNB has also recently investigated the possibility of taking over KFH Malaysia. However, a bourse statement on 22 September said the bank had stopped preliminary talks to acquire Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) without reaching an agreement.

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) has decided to liquidate the Islamic financing department, head of the liquidated department Behnam Gurbanzade said. The bank's portfolio in Islamic financing amounts to nearly $526 million. By the end of the year, the department was planning to introduce new products and services. It was also planned to allocate long-term loans designed for each industry and to pay particular attention to agriculture. In addition, it was planned to introduce certain forms of financing for the construction, light and food industries. However, the decision on liquidation of the department was made last week.

International Investment Bank (IIB) announced the disposal of a Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft, resulting in over 30% IRR for the Bank. The aircraft, which was purchased by IIB in a sale and leaseback transaction earlier this year, is on lease to a leading regional airline on a non-cancellable basis for a period of nine years, and has recently been sold to an international buyer. IIB is currently exploring other attractive deals in the aviation market, IIB Chief Executive Officer, Subhi Benkhadra said.

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), the country's largest and the only state-owned bank, has closed its Islamic banking department. Behnam Gurbanzade, IBA's director of Islamic banking, said the department was closed last week, but did not give the reasons. The department started the service in April 2013. The decision was reportedly linked to structural changes in the bank.The bank's Islamic assets rose to $526 million at the end of 2014 from $160 million a year earlier. "The agreements signed with international financial institutions within the framework of Islamic banking, as well as the bank's liabilities in this area will remain in force.

Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Bank posted its first quarterly rise in net profit in nine quarters, helped by lower expenses. Net profit rose 3.6 percent to 1.72 billion riyals ($458.8 million) for the three months to Sept. 30, in line with an average estimate from analysts of 1.77 billion. The bank had posted declining profits in the preceding eight quarters, which it attributed to higher provisioning and higher operating expenses. Al Rajhi said operating income fell by 4.1 percent to 10.15 billion riyals, while profits from special commissions increased 2.4 percent to 7.47 billion riyals. Loans and advances at the end September stood at 209.91 billion riyals, up 3.1 percent, while deposits rose 6.2 percent to 265.48 billion riyals.

Saudi Arabia’s NCB Capital (NCBC) has launched a new AlAhli Tadawul platform designed to empower clients with more efficient tools and all the support and information they need to stay informed of promising investment opportunities available. The new reports and smart analytical tools include free features that automatically analyze the market and highlight promising opportunities. The availability of various trading channels enables traders to trade and keep track of stocks at any time and from any place. Additionally, the TeleTrading Service enables users to trade anywhere, even without an Internet connection. Live up-to-the-second stock prices are provided to all traders free of charge.

Indonesia's regulators have launched a plan aimed at growing the sector, which currently accounts for less than five percent of banking assets. It is modelled after similar bodies in other countries, such as the International Islamic Financial Centre in Malaysia. In addition to the OJK roadmap, the government has announced plans to merge the Islamic banking subsidiaries of four state-owned banks to create an Islamic mega-bank, which should be able to provide better services than the current Islamic lenders. Authorities believe it is a good moment, with many Indonesians getting wealthier after years of strong economic growth and an increasing trend towards piety across broad sections of society.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has welcomed the progress made by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) with respect to the capitalisation of the banking sector. In the eighth review of Pakistan’s economic performance under a 36-month loan programme of about $6.6 billion, the IMF said the SBP should continue its efforts to bring a number of small banks into compliance with statutory requirements. After the recapitalisation through a rights issue in the only capital adequacy ratio (CAR)-non-compliant bank in July, it noted with satisfaction that all Pakistani banks have now become CAR-compliant. However, five small banks are still operating below the Rs10 billion minimum paid-up capital requirement (MCR).

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank has no current plans to raise more capital after a rights issue last month, its chief executive Tirad al-Mahmoud said, adding that the lender would eschew expansion to focus on existing markets. The largest Islamic lender in the emirate raised Dhs 504m ($137m) in September. Mahmoud said the bank would grow by “mid-single-digits” in 2015 and its capital was sufficient for this level, though he did not say what growth he was referring to. ADIB posted a 10.5 per cent rise in net profit in the second quarter. ADIB had no plans to expand into new markets and would instead focus on where it has existing operations, he added.

Islamic lenders will find it difficult to compete in Lebanon's banking sector without regulatory amendments to support growth of the Islamic banking industry, Mutasim Mahmassani , the general manager of Al Baraka Bank Lebanon said. He said that the market share of Islamic banking assets in the overall banking industry in Lebanon remains below 1%. Al Baraka Bank Lebanon , a subsidiary of Al Baraka Banking Group, expects its profits to grow by 7-8% this year to nearly USD 1 million, he added. The official said that lack of awareness of Islamic banking options in Lebanon was also a major obstacle to growth, adding that murabaha is the most popular tool of Islamic finance in Lebanon.

Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC has reportedly obtained an approval from Indonesia's Financial Services Authority to increase its stake in PT Bank Panin Syariah Tbk to 40 percent from 24.9 percent currently, according to chief executive of Dubai Islamic Bank, Adnan Chilwan.

Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt is offering the country's central bank three proposals to activate the mortgage finance initiative for the low and medium-class incomes. Mahmoud Idris - Faisal Bank's Product Manager for Mortgage Unit - said that one of the three proposals offered by the bank to the CBE is to raise premiums of the housing unit gradually every year. The second suggestion is to elongate the funding period from 20 to 25 years. Idris stated that the third proposal is to launch a national campaign by the CBE in coordination with banks to raise citizens' awareness about the importance of the initiative and the necessary steps to participate in it.

The Iranian Bank Maskan (bank for housing) has undertaken a new method of financing projects to help urban development and land added value growth. Addressing the Iran Transportation and Urban Development Summit, Bank Maskan CEO Mohammad Hashem Botshekan said the bank is working on an asset management method different from the structured financing in which each project has its specific funding prescription.

Muhammad Islam, the managing director of Jaiz Bank Plc, has assured the bank's shareholders that it will declare dividend from the 2017 financial year. He said Jaiz, which started operations in 2012, was able to break even within three years because of its adherence to regulatory requirements. He explained the bank has three major categories of operations. The number one category is trade mode – that is buying and selling. Jaiz buys goods at the request of a customer and sells it to the customer adding our own profit margin. The profit margin is the bank's returns. On the outlook for the Bank, Islam said the bank wants to implement the vision of the directors of the bank not only to go national but internationally. That means in the entire West African region and beyond.