IslamicFinance.de

"The claims that the Islamic gold dinar will avoid inflation and other ills of current economic crises are examined by studying how coinage systems actually functioned in history.The article shows that not only these claims are baseless but also that coinage would increase the prevailing interest rate in an economy - hardly an Islamic position. It is argued that a gold or silver based dinar would be harmful for Islamic societies and attempts to introduce them should therefore be prohibited."

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) had a meeting with the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) Shariah Advisory Panel and selected IIFM member banks active in Islamic hedging/risk mitigation segment of the Islamic finance industry.
The purpose of the meeting was to have deliberation between Shariah scholars and market practitioners on Islamic hedging products which are essential for risk mitigation of real assets and real economic activity.
The meeting was attended by honorable scholars including Shaikh Dr. Ali Muhyealdin A. Al Quradaghi, Shaikh Nizam Yaquby, Shaikh Esam Ishaq, Shaikh Dr. Muhamad Akram Laldin, Shaikh Dr. Eltegani Abdelgadir and Shaikh Dr. Mohammed Burhan Arbouna.

Investment Dar Co. proposed terms on a restructuring plan to pay 1.4 billion dinars ($5 billion) to creditors.
It offered to pay 350 million dinars of debt over the first three years with 10 percent profit payments per annum.
The facility will amortize 45 million dinars after the first year, 125 million dinars in the second and full repayment of all outstanding amounts under the facility will be due in the final year.

The five-year loan was used to fund Dubai Group's acquisition of a 49 per cent stake in Bank Islam Malaysia.
Dubai Group has stakes in Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital, Greek group Marfin Investment Group and Australia's Citigold Corp.

Islamic bonds rose this week extending two quarters of underperformance relative to emerging-market securities, on concern slumping sales will reduce trading.
Sales of Islamic bonds dropped this year as defaults, debt restructuring and falling property prices in the Middle East hurt investor confidence. Issuance from Malaysia, the world’s biggest sukuk market, fell 31 percent as companies cut infrastructure spending following last year’s recession.

A rebound in Gulf Islamic bond market depends on the performance of the property prices.
Real estate prices in Dubai have tumbled more than 50 percent since their 2008 peak and 30 percent in neighboring Abu Dhabi as banks tightened mortgage lending and speculators fled the market.
The average yield on Sukuk sold by GCC issuers rose six basis points yesterday to 5.37 percent, paring its decline this quarter to 72 points.
Since Sept. 30 the difference between the average yield for emerging-market Sukuk and the London interbank offered rate widened 0.8 basis point to 336.6 yesterday and has narrowed 36 points.

QInvest, Qatar's leading investment bank, has acquired a 28% stake in Asian Business Exhibition & Conferences Ltd (ABECL), India's leading exhibitions and conferences organizer.
The proceeds from the investment will be used to expand ABECL's operations in India and to establish an international presence.

Al Khaliji, the next generation bank, concluded showcasing the full range of its personal & business banking products and services. The road show proved a great success after 25 days reaching out to visitors at Landmark Mall.
It has 22 ATMs strategically positioned in prime locations across Doha, a 24/7/365 telephone contact centre and an "on the go" service.

Konsortium Lebuhraya Utara-Timur (KL) Sdn Bhd (Kesturi) has completed a restructuring exercise of its RM780 million Sukuk Istisna.
The exercise was expected to improve Kesturi's liquidity and overall financial position.

Aref Investment Group signed an agreement with creditor banks to restructure a one-billion-dollar debt.
The deal allows the group to repay the debt over five years with an 18-month grace period.

ABC Islamic Bank announced a net profit of $1.6 million for the nine months ending 30th September 2010.
Shareholders’ equity at 30 September 2010 stood at $181 million.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan in Ashgabt, to promote mutual cooperation between ICD and the private sector particularly the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The MOU provides a general framework to facilitate cooperation in promoting economic development and emphasize priorities for joint action on accelerating private sector contribution to the country’s GDP especially in the financial, agricultural, logistics, affordable housing, services and manufacturing industries.

The chief executive of Tamweel, Wasim Saifi, has resigned and the Islamic mortgage lender will appoint a new chairman having convened a new board.
Varun Sood, the current chief executive of Tamweel’s home finance division will act as the chief executive.

With trouble at financial institutions in the Middle East concentrated in the Gulf, particularly in the UAE, Kuwait and to some extent Bahrain, the banks know that putting all of their investment eggs in the Gulf's basket makes for inadequate and ultimately dangerous geographical narrowness.
Given the Gulf's unique circumstances, it may make more sense for banks to sell off lines of business where they are weak and acquire parts of other banks where they want to become stronger.

Fitch Ratings has assigned Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank's (ADIB) $750 million 3.745 per cent trust certificates due November 2015 under ADIB's $5 billion trust certificate issuance programme a final rating of 'A+'
The notes have been issued by ADIB Sukuk Company Limited, incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

Moody's Investors Service has today downgraded the Ba2 ratings for Dar Al-Arkan Real Estate Development Company, Saudi Joint Stock Company , Dar Al-Arkan International Sukuk Company II and the US$450 million USD Certificates ("sukuk") to Ba3. The outlook is stable.
The reason is a combination of:
(1) DAAR's weaker than anticipated operating performance continuing in the third quarter of 2010 attributed to lower land sales, resulting in a departure from Moody's original expectations where land sales are an important part of the funding mix;
(2) DAAR's weaker than anticipated financial metrics, such as Moody's adjusted debt to book capitalisation (LTM 35.3% per end of September 2010), or FFO/Debt (LTM 18.4% per end of September 2010) which are not in alignment with Moody's guidelines for the Ba2 rating category;
and (3) the negative free cash flows DAAR has generated over the first nine months of 2010

The programme, fully sponsored by Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain (KFH-Bahrain), is a joint initiative of KFH - Bahrain, Young Arab Leaders Organization (YAL) and InJAz Bahrain.
The main objective of the annual mentorship programme was for Bahraini students to gain in-depth insight into a leading entrepreneurial ecosystem in Sophia Antipolis.

Tamweel reported a 28.6 per cent decline in third-quarter profits as income from its home financing activities dipped.
Dubai Islamic Bank's (DIB) purchase of a controlling 57.3 per cent stake in Tamweel in September, followed by the resumption of mortgage lending this month.
Now DIB plans to transfer most of its mortgage activities to Tamweel.
Tamweel shareholders are set to meet tomorrow to discuss appointing a new board and approving financial statements for 2008 and 2009. Sheikh Khaled, who sits on numerous company boards in the UAE, is planning to leave his position as Tamweel chairman to make room for DIB executives who will integrate its mortgage business with the bank's.

Islamic private equity funds in the Persian Gulf plan to take advantage of lower asset prices after the property market in Dubai tumbled as much as 50 percent from its peak in 2008.
The National and Kipco Asset Management Co., a Kuwaiti investment bank, started a $200 million Shariah-compliant fund this month.

Investors are favoring Malaysia’s Islamic bonds over shorter-term bills as overseas funds increase holdings in the world’s biggest sukuk market,curbing therefore the inflation.
Inflation, cooled in September, enabled Bank Negara to avoid raising borrowing costs in the next few months.