IslamicFinance.de

In order to rescue Gulf Finance House from the brink of bankruptcy and finance the shareholders have approved a plan to raise up to $500 million.
They also agreed to an asset swap between GFH and its chairman, Esam Janahi, under which Mr Janahi is to transfer his entire 10 per cent stake in Khaleeji Commercial Bank to GFH in return for 100 per cent of Al Areen Leisure and Tourism plus $3m in cash or GFH shares.
The transfer would raise GFH's stake in Khaleeji to 47 per cent, or nearly a controlling interest.

The restoration of a traditional Bahraini house, a contract with Ewan Al Bahrain for the construction and renovation of the Al Nuzul project was signed by KUWAIT Finance House (KFH).
The two persons who signed the agreement were Culture Minister and chairperson of the board of trustees of the Shaikh Ebrahim Centre for Culture and Research Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa and KFH managing director and chief executive officer Abdulhakeem Al Khayyat.

The last few issuances had been oversubscribed and a similar trend was expected next year.
Amanie president and chief executive officer Dr Mohd Daud Bakar said elements of structured products were now being incorporated into sukuk as it helped render capital projection and certainty of return to investors.
Organised by Amanie, the Securities Commission and Bursa Malaysia, the International Syariah Investment Convention will be held from Nov 30 to Dec 1 in Kuala Lumpur.

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.

Eid Mubarak wa kul aam wa antum bikhair

The country's shariah-compliant certificates of deposit (CDs) was successful amid the Islamic banks participation in issuing the newly launched Islamic finance product.
The initiative is seen as an important move towards bolstering Islamic finance and banking movement in the UAE.

Bank Negara has approved the joint application by Public Bank Bhd (PBB), Public Islamic Bank Bhd (PIBB) and ING Management Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd for a family takaful licence.
ING and the PBB group began their 10-year strategic bancassurance alliance in 2008.

The dual agency concept, where conventional and takaful policies are sold by the same agents, is gaining popularity, especially among bigger insurance players.
Great Eastern Takaful Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Mohamad Salihuddin Ahmad said the company would adopt the dual agency or a single structure concept akin to a one-stop agency system that distribute both conventional and takaful products.
Meanwhile, MAA Takaful Bhd CEO Salim Majid Zain said the company would maintain a separate structure as conventional insurance companies and takaful ones were regulated differently.

The Bank of Khyber (BoK) was established in 1991 through an Act passed by the Provincial Legislative Assembly of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was awarded status of a scheduled bank in September 1994.
The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa constituted a Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB). This is presently made of the following scholars:
1. Syed Muhammad Abbas
2. Mufti Muhammad Zahid
3. Dr Dost Muhammad
4. Shahzad Iqbal Sham
5. Muhammad Ayub

At the Islamic finance forum held at George Washington University Law School in Washington recently were discussed various aspects of contemporary Islamic finance.
The forum was organised by the US-Qatar Business Council and the Arab Bankers Association of North America, in collaboration with the National Council for US Arab Relations.
The discussions were moderated by Jean-Francois Seznec, visiting associate professor at Georgetown University’s Centre for Contemporary Arab Studies.

WITH the Saudi mortgage law expected to be passed imminently, several banks and companies have been adopting strategies to leverage the huge opportunities in the Saudi real estate development, financing and affordable housing sectors.
The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector funding arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, for instance has devised a unique three-pronged strategy which involves the establishment of a Shariah-compliant real estate development company, a real estate development finance company and a mortgage finance company.

THE annual pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia takes place this week when up to three million Muslims from all over the world converge on the holy places in Makkah and Madinah and its satellite towns to perform Haj, which is one of the five pillars of Islam.
Tabung Haji is not merely a pilgrims’ travel and Haj service. It is in fact a non-banking Islamic savings institution set up under a Special Act of Parliament and comes under the direct control of the Prime Minister’s Office in Malaysia. Its board and senior management are all appointed by the Prime Minister’s Office and they are accountable to the Malaysian government.
Today Tabung Haji’s total funds under management are a staggering 23 billion Malaysian ringgit making it the largest non-banking Islamic savings institution in the world. Its members comprise over five million, thus its added value is that of a savings mobilization entity. The fund has experienced the occasional management upheaval and even the odd fraud.

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announces that the monthly issue of the short-term Islamic leasing bonds, Sukuk Al-Ijara, has been oversubscribed by 215%.
The Sukuk Al-Ijara are issued by the CBB on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Managers of Islamic endowments with $105 billion in assets want to provide Shariah-compliant funds with the chance to capture new business by seeking to diversify out of bank deposits
Ernst&Young state that assets held by Islamic funds have stagnated at around $52 billion since 2008.
Nida Raza has the strong oppionion that islamic endowment institutions should diversify their real- estate holdings into government sukuk and other products.

Managers of Islamic endowments with $105 billion in assets are seeking to diversify out of bank deposits, providing Shariah-compliant funds with the chance to capture new business.
Assets held by Islamic funds have stagnated at around $52 billion since 2008.
Islamic endowment institutions should diversify their real- estate holdings into government sukuk and other products.

The new chairman of Tamweel is Dubai Islamic Bank Chief Executive Abdulla Ahali Al Hamli. The reason is that last week the board of directors was disolved.
The company said Hamli replaces Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehyan as chairman while Mohamed Abdulla Al Nahdi was elected vice-chairman.

The UAE Central Bank started issuing the country's first Islamic certificates of deposits (ICDs) as part of a plan to create a new investment tool for Shariah-compliant banks in the country.
The new ICDs would be issued in dirham, US dollar and euro and their maturity date would range between one week and five years.

There will be launched two Islamic funds from Public Mutual Bhd, Public Islamic Alpha-40 Growth Fund (PIA40GF) and Public Islamic Infrastructure Bond Fund (PIINFBF).
The equity exposure of PIA40GF will range between 75 per cent and 98 per cent of its net asset value (NAV).
The initial issue price of PIA40GF and PIINFBF is RM0.2500 per unit and RM1.00 per unit, respectively, during the 21-day initial offer period from Nov 16 to Dec 6 2010.
The minimum initial investment for both funds is RM1,000 and the minimum additional investment is RM100.

"Stand & Default: An exclusive detailed insight to sukuk restructuring after defaults. The author brings for the first time the three approved structuring approaches: 1) Debt/Equity SWAP 2) Extending Maturity, 3) Haircut "

"The Private Equity Calamity

This paper dissects the balance sheet and business model of Gulf Finance, and scrutinizes the existence of a "pre-exit premium" in their activities - on top of the usual exit fees and/or performance fees. The study suggests that this practice (uncommon even for conventional Private Equity businesses - much less for an Islamic Private Equity house) was pioneered by GFH and it is this same practice that brought them down to their knees. "