IslamicFinance.de

KFHR Limited prepared a report on the Islamic Sukuk market.
The report notes the following:
- In 2011 the Sukuk market will be driven by the recovery made in the global economic activities, flexible monetary policies, and sovereign fund-raising efforts to support economic growth as well as the revival of private sector projects
- the entry of new players in the emerging markets, as well as new non-Islamic exporters willing to take advantage of Sukuk market with potential debut in Thailand, Japan and Europe, which will boost demand for Islamic Sukuk

France’s model was approved by a top Islamic finance body to issue local sukuk, or Islamic bonds, which would ease their listing on the Paris financial market.
The aim was to marry France’s tax laws with the Islamic financial instrument.

The major milestones are the establishment of the Russian Association of Experts in Islamic Finance; the first Halal Expo Exhibition; publication of an authorized translation of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions’ Standards of Islamic Finance Transactions; and the first Islamic finance deals on the Russian market.

Universities are expanding Islamic finance courses as demand for professionals qualified in Shariah law outstrips supply in the $1 trillion industry.
After enrollment for its general program in finance complying with Muslim tenets tripled in the past year, the International Islamic University of Malaysia plans to start postgraduate courses specializing in Shariah-compliant capital markets, banking and insurance. La Trobe University in Melbourne, which started classes this year, is working with officials in Malaysia to offer industry-recognized qualifications.

Universities are expanding Islamic finance courses as demand for professionals qualified in Shariah law outstrips supply in the $1 trillion industry.
After enrollment for its general program in finance complying with Muslim tenets tripled in the past year, the International Islamic University of Malaysia plans to start postgraduate courses specializing in Shariah-compliant capital markets, banking and insurance. La Trobe University in Melbourne, which started classes this year, is working with officials in Malaysia to offer industry-recognized qualifications.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) reported a net profit of $10m following the liquidation of a real estate fund targeting the Turkish market.
The liquidation process seem to come with a return on investment of 14 percent.

The annual convening of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists, widely recognized as the premier forum on Muslim Philanthropy worldwide, welcomes social investors, grant-makers, government and business leaders, visionaries, and civil society executives to a solicitation-free collaborative environment.

The 4th World Congress will initiate a dialogue around the potential roadmap for Muslim Giving in the next decade. This discussion will be enriched by the collective wisdom and experience of leading philanthropists and intellectuals from around the world. The forum will also examine challenges unique to Muslim societies, and offer options for managing them.

Update 17th Feb 2011:

The organizers of the 4th World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists regret to announce the change of meeting venue due to circumstances beyond their control. This unpredicted situation came about in response to the directives we received today from the Moroccan authorities. While we feel extremely disappointed, we believe it is prudent that we do not compromise on the safety of our guests.

Call For Submission

A new REIT was established Dubai this week, and is likely to list in London within the next 18 months.
The REIT is a collaboration between Dubai Islamic Bank and Eiffel Management.
Before undertaking a dual listing in the next 18 months, Emirates REIT will initially list on the Dubai Nasdaq stock exchange.

The Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) has appointed Investment management platform provider Praemium to launch the UK’s only Sharia compliant retail discretionary portfolio service.
IBB stated Praemium’s discretionary portfolio service would give investors the chance to set up investments through its independent financial advisers.

Companies within the industry are continuing to debate the standards that need to be met to be considered a "Sharia-compliant" hotel.
One such company is Shaza Hotels. The luxury operator, which is a joint venture between Kempinski Hotels and Guidance Hotel Investment Company, based in Paris, is aiming to open hotels that are alcohol-free and "display the values and cultures of the Middle East and North Africa".
Shaza announced plans to manage a luxury hotel in Karbala, Iraq, which is being developed by Range Hospitality, based in Dubai.

The transaction of Coxlease School valued at Pounds 17.5m ($28m). Tadhamon Capital advised on the transaction and acted as an arranger of the financing.

An Islamic trade body has been set up in the UK to promote Islamic finance and to campaign for a sterling-based Sharia bond.
The group consists of bankers, accountants, lawyers, and educational bodies that want to lobby the government to launch a Sukuk (Islamic bond) to enable the UK's five Islamic banks to get funds, based on Sharia principles, that would allow them to widen their pool of lending.

SWIFT said the certification would pave the way towards the automated processing of Murabaha treasury transactions, which reportedly represented 60 per cent of all Islamic financing.

Over 240 Islamic banks representing 84 per cent of global syariah-compliant assets are members of SWIFT.

Technical details:
http://www.swift.com/solutions/by_business_area/islamic_finance/index.page
Contact:
Asim Butt, asim.butt@swift.com

There were more business transactions in the past six months than they where achieved in the previous three years.
Business is booming not only in the UK and Europe but in new markets in Africa and in republics of the former Soviet Union in Eastern Europe.

Islamic bonds slumped last week by the most since May.
Sales of Islamic bonds dropped this year due to debt restructurings and falling property prices in the Middle East.
The difference between the average yield for sukuk and the London interbank offered rate widened eight basis points last week to 341 basis points.

The UK unit of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has discovered a new strategy for small to medium-sized British companies with limited access to conventional sources of credit.
QIB (UK) has formed a partnership with alternative asset manager Eden Rock Capital Management to lend to UK companies in the Eden Rock Direct Lending Fund.

This up to date research summary by Funds@Work provides snapshots of their 2nd network analysis in the Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) space which took 10 months to complete. All institutional investors/asset owners are kept anonymous, the results of this short summary however are eye-opening for all market participants who want to get an idea of the state of socially responsible investments in countries like Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. The Austrian institutional investors who are part of this research and were identified as socially responsible investors (partially or fully managing their money in a sustainable manner) have 11,01 billion EUR AUM, the German investors altogether 510,13 billion EUR AUM, and the Swiss ones 214,56 billion EUR in AUM, amounting to 735 bn. EUR AUM altogether of which roughly 360bn. EUR are reported to be managed using sustainable criteria and using appropriate concepts.

In order to strengthen its relations with the Middle East and India, Jersey Finance wants to open a new overseas office.
The plan is to succeed this in the first quarter of 2011.
The organisation has two other overseas offices, in London and Hong Kong.
HSBC Middle East is regulated on Jersey, while Emirates NBD, the National Bank of Kuwait and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi all run elements of business on the island

Kuwait Finance House is looking for real estate investments in southern China and Europe.
Its real estate arm has investments primarily in key US cities, Malaysia, Shenzhen in China, and the Middle East.
Al-Ghannam said the company would prefer to invest in existing projects with local partners, rather than going into residential construction.

National Employment Savings Trust (Nest), UK considers to create a fund based sharia compliant solution, according to the CIO of the firm, Mark Fawcett along with different other mandates, such as: high risk/return, low risk/return and socially/ethically responsible.