IslamicFinance.de

Islamic bonds of National Central Cooling Co., known as Tabreed, rose on speculation the provider of air conditioning services to the Dubai Metro may follow Aldar Properties PJSC in getting financial support from Abu Dhabi.
Tabreed’s floating-rate $200 million sukuk maturing in July rose 13 cents on the dollar in the past month to 88 cents yesterday.
Tabreed is talking to banks to restructure 5 billion dirhams of debt.

The investment firm Arcapita has said it is conducting a rights issue to raise fresh funds from shareholders, as it prepares to refinance a $1.1bn loan due next year.
The firm also plans to market the rights issue to new institutional investors in the Gulf region, Malaysia and other parts of Asia.

Jamil El-Jaroudi, chief executive of Bahrain-based Elaf Bank, has unveiled plans to arrange Islamic bonds in South East Asia.
The Islamic investment bank won a mandate to act as financial advisor on sukuk issues in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Michelle Solomon has the strong oppinion that the Islamic Financial Services (IFS) sector in Abu Dhabi is showing a positive resilience to the world economic crisis as it increases market share while expanding its reach with new products.
The global publishing, research and consultancy firm’s analysis also indicated that the industry was primed to play a key role in the financing of Abu Dhabi’s large-scale infrastructure projects thanks to its sizeable liquidity.

Pembinaan BLT plans to sell 10 billion ringgit of Islamic bonds to fund upgrades to national police facilities.
The sukuk issuance will be the biggest in the Southeast Asian nation in more than three years.
The sukuk program will have a maturity of up to 25 years, with CIMB Investment Bank acting as principal adviser and lead arranger.

The Government of Abu Dhabi has agreed to purchase several of Aldar’s assets which have broad value for Abu Dhabi’s economy.
Furthermore, in a coordinated action, Mubadala Development Company has agreed to purchase a convertible bond of Aldar.
This purchase is consistent with past practice whereby the government has paid private companies for the construction of projects that are important for the development of ?Abu Dhabi’s economy but does not signal a change of government policy towards Aldar, nor towards any other commercial enterprise.

Banks reduced their exposure to Bahraini investment house Arcapita and Kuwait's Investment Dar by selling syndicated loans at distressed levels this week.
The sales show that banks are becoming more willing to sell impaired Middle Eastern bank loans as they become more familiar with the debt restructuring process.

The Dubai property developer behind the emirate's manmade islands said it will tap government support funds to repay more than $800 million in debt due next month as it pushes ahead with restructuring talks.
Nakheel announced plans to use funds from the Dubai Financial Support Fund to repay the sukuk, a type of Islamic bond, in a regulatory filing to the Nasdaq Dubai stock exchange.

With the launch of its "socially responsible investment" fund, MMA Praxis Mutual Funds is the latest firm seeking to piggyback on the demand for emerging-market securities from investors.
But socially responsible funds tend to have strict criteria that are incompatible with many emerging markets. In addition, just finding out whether companies match social screens is a major challenge, as companies in developing economies typically provide less disclosure about their finances, let lone other practices.

The U.K., Europe’s largest market for Shariah-compliant financial products and services, canceled what would have been the first sale of Islamic bonds by a Western federal government as issues fell 15 percent in 2010.
rowth in Europe’s Islamic financial hub has been hampered by slowing economic expansion and the government’s attempt to plug a budget deficit.

Tabreed is nearing an agreement with creditors on a restructuring plan worth more than Dh5 billion.
Sources say Tabreed is just weeks away from a possible restructuring pact. The company spent billions of dollars building cooling plants, but amid the downturn, revenue from many of its projects did not materialise as expected.

Malaysia adopted on Jan. 1 a new Shariah Governance Framework (SGF) for Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) that supersedes the Guidelines on the Governance of Shariah Committees of IFIs introduced by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
One prominent international Shariah advisory to the Islamic finance industry, Muhammed Elgari of Saudi Arabia, agrees that Malaysia’s Shariah Governance Framework for IFIs could become a blueprint for other countries to follow.

Kazakhstan’s government expects to pass legislation within the next two months. This legislation will enable companies to sell Islamic bonds.
Kazakhstan has reportedly identified two prospective issuers for its flagship corporate sukuk, one a South East Asian company registered in Kazakhstan, and a local company, Yerlan Baidaulet.

The sukuk market may well be set to bounce back after suffering badly in the global financial downturn.
The value of sukuk has jumped 61 per cent in the past year.
Trowers & Hamlins says that the sukuk market was hit much harder by the credit crunch and global financial crisis than the conventional bond market in the Gulf.

Moody's withdrew its ratings on Saudi Arabia's largest property developer Dar al Arkan, having its own reasons.
The agency's withdrawal policy says that under certain circumstances, Moody's will withdraw a rating for an issuer or an obligation for reasons unrelated to the adequacy of information, or bankruptcy or reorganization status of the credit.

Arcapita Bank B.S.C. announced today that it and its affiliates have completed the sale of a portfolio of 29 senior living communities in the United States.
The portfolio is being acquired by a joint venture between Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. and CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc. for a total transaction value of US$630 million. Returns to investors will exceed the projections made at the outset of the investment seven years ago.

Gold is marginally higher in US dollars while silver has risen by nearly 1% in all major currencies this morning. Risk appetite remains high as seen in higher Asian and European bourses today.
The focus of markets is the Portuguese bond auction today and Spain’s bond auction tomorrow.

Qatar Islamic Bank is hunting for acquisition targets in Indonesia to strengthen its presence in Asia and tap demand for Shariah banking products in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
Qatar Islamic is studying several potential candidates in Indonesia that have been identified by Asian Finance Bank, which is 62 percent-owned by the Gulf lender.

Islamic component in project finance will increase if longer tenor instruments become available.
If longer tenor Islamic financing instruments of 15 or 20 years are available, one can bring into the capital market takaful and re-takaful players who are going to take up these long-term papers. Family takaful organisations, which are looking at long-term exposure on their balance sheet and matching it off in terms of cash flow and assets may be interested.

HSBC has the strong oppinion that asset management will be the next big thing for Islamic finance.
Mukhtar Hussain, chief executive officer of HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad and global CEO of HSBC Amanah speaks of HSBC’s strengthening position in the global sukuk market as Islamic finance entrenches itself further into Asia’s mainstream financial markets.