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Turkish Islamic bank Albaraka Turk has secured a $450 million dual-tranche murabaha loan, the proceeds of which will be used to expand its financing activities in the country. The bank closed a $278-million portion and a 154.5 million- euro ($174.7 million) tranche in the 367-days and 733-days tenures paying profit margins of 1.1 and 1.25 percentage points over the London interbank offered rate/Euro interbank offered rate respectively. Sixteen investors participated in providing the murabaha facility from Europe and the Middle East and North Africa region. Due to the oversubscription, Albaraka Turk decided to increase the facility size to $450 million instead of $400 million as originally planned.

In an unexpected move, Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) pulled out of Albaraka Türk's latest $450m murabaha loan because it did not think the loan was Shariah compliant, according to two bankers on the deal. Turkish participation bank Albaraka Türk has signed a $450m-equivalent one year loan, which it increased from the $400m launch size.

Bahrain’s Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) and Venture Capital Bank lead the GCC Islamic Financial Disclosure Index Rankings, it has emerged. The conveners of the 22nd annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) revealed the ranking of the top five GCC Islamic banks rated according to their financial disclosure, subsequent to the announcement of the launch of the WIBC Leaderboard. As per the rankings, the banks, both based in Bahrain are positioned at the top of the Islamic financial institutions in the GCC with a score of 69 and 68 respectively. The index ranges from zero to 100, with higher values indicating more disclosure.

Qatar National Bank is among suitors that submitted final bids for Kuwait Finance House KSC’s Malaysian operations, people with knowledge of the matter said. Kuwait Finance House is evaluating offers from Qatar National Bank and at least one other party, according to the people. It may not proceed with the sale unless it can agree on a high enough price, one of the people said. Kuwait Finance House’s Malaysian unit had a book value of 1.7 billion ringgit ($395 million) and total assets of 10.5 billion ringgit at the end of December, according to its 2014 annual report. Offers for the business were affected by the difficult economic environment in the country, one of the people said.

Qatar National Bank is among suitors that submitted final bids for Kuwait Finance House’s Malaysian operations. KFH is evaluating offers from Qatar National Bank and at least one other party. It may not proceed with the sale unless it can agree on a high enough price. State-controlled Qatar National Bank has been expanding overseas to reduce its reliance on its home market. It has spent US$3 billion on acquisitions since 2012. Kuwait Finance House’s Malaysian unit had a book value of 1.7 billion ringgit (US$395 million) and total assets of 10.5 billion ringgit at the end of December. Offers for the business were affected by the difficult economic environment in the country.

DBS Group Holdings is winding down its Islamic banking unit, The Islamic Bank of Asia (IB Asia), which it said has been unable to achieve economies of scale. The process of winding down the unit will likely take two to three years. IB Asia, which had been named "Best Islamic Bank in Singapore" by Islamic Finance News in January this year, offers wealth management services to high net worth customers. It also provides treasury, corporate advisory and capital market services to businesses. The move to wind down IB Asia is subject to obtaining approval from its shareholders and receiving regulatory approvals, DBS said.

The Islamic Investment Infrastructure Bank, a unit of the Jeddah based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is expected to be founded in 2016 as a new cross-border institution jointly by the IDB, Indonesia and Turkey. The bank will act to raise funds by means of sukuk issuances to fund infrastructure projects. The bank’s founding members will invite other countries to join as shareholders. Indonesia is also among the 57 prospective founding members of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) founded in late 2014. This international financial institution has been regarded as China’s strategy to reduce the influence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank.

Indonesian Islamic banks would survive a rupiah drop to as low as 16,000 against the US dollar, thanks largely to low levels of bad loans, a senior official at Indonesia's Financial Services Authority said. The banking industry's non-performing financing ?? bad loans in sharia banks ?? reached 1.3 percent as of July 2015, still lower than the 5 percent benchmark set by the OJK. In comparison, bad loans among conventional lenders stood at 2.5 percent of total loans at the end of July, according to OJK data. The rupiah has fallen 15.13 percent so far this year, trading at 14,322 against the greenback on Monday, according to the Jakarta Interbank Offered Rate.

The decision to allow new licences came at a meeting of Qatar’s Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment on 9 September. The council reviewed developments in both energy and investment before turning to the proposal by Qatar Central Bank (QCB) to grant licenses to open branches for GCC banks in Qatar. The council approved the proposal, with licenses set to be granted according to QCB requirements. Qatar currently licences 11 domestic banks and seven foreign banks. Among the foreign banks, Mashreq is the only GCC-based institution to have a Qatari banking licence. Bahrain’s Ithmaar Bank has a representative office in Qatar but not a full licence.

Barwa Bank, Qatar’s newest Islamic bank in which government is a majority owner, has found its niche in the country’s growing Islamic banking sector, benefiting from Qatar’s strong economy and favourable operating environment, according to Moody’s. Continued high public spending will continue to create further business opportunities for local banks, particularly those with well-established government links like Barwa, the rating agency said. Furthermore, Barwa will benefit from regulators’ policies, which prohibit conventional financial institutions operating Shariah-compliant banking windows and reduce the competition for a fast-growing customer segment. Nevertheless, the bank’s asset quality will likely remain stable over the next 12 to 18 months.

As the Iranian economy opens up for business, regional Islamic banks are likely to benefit most as the country’s banking system is governed by Sharia, according to Moody’s. According to the Central Bank of Iran, the country’s banks and other financial institutions held 15,901 trillion Iranian Real ($558 billion) in total assets as of May 2015. Given the sheer size of the banking system and the country’s financing needs, Moody's expects a major boost to sukuk volumes, said Khalid Howladar, senior credit officer at Moody’s. However, Sharia harmonisation across jurisdictions would likely remain difficult, he added. Iran's banking sector is the largest contributor to the global total of Islamic banking assets estimated to account for 45 per cent of $1.2 trillion market.

Dagong Global Credit Rating Company Limited (Dagong) and Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) have jointly reaffirmed the international scale credit rating of Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) at 'BBB+/A3' (Triple B Plus / A Three). In addition, IIRA has reaffirmed ABG 's national scale rating at 'A+(bh)/A2(bh)' (Single A Plus / A Two). Outlook on the assigned ratings is 'Stable'. IIRA has also reassessed the group's overall fiduciary score in the range of '76-80', which indicates strong fiduciary standards and a well developed governance structure. Ratings assigned to ABG derive strength from the group's relatively strong wealth creation ability given increasing demand for Islamic banking services and ABG 's prominent position in the global Islamic banking segment.

Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group Adnan Ahmed Yousif has revealed that the bank has completed the procedures for obtaining the necessary licenses to operate in the Moroccan market. It already has operations in Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. He added that the bank has also obtained the necessary approvals for the opening of 20 new branches, and plans to open 25 branches by 2020. Al Baraka is also planning to establish a software company in partnership with European investors and Indians with capital of $15 million under the name Al Baraka Banking Software. The Islamic bank also plans to expand into India and Indonesia. It already has a representative office in Indonesia but sold out of an investment company in India.

Al Rayan Bank has boosted its staff in order to expand its mortgage business through mortgage advisers. It comes as the bank appointed Saalik Haleem as intermediary specialist. Mr Haleem, who is based at the bank’s operational headquarters, has been tasked with boosting the 13 per cent intermediary share of the bank’s mortgage business and creating new relationships with mortgage advisers across the UK. He has worked in Islamic finance for several years, specialising in the areas of advisory and Islamic investments, specifically Sharia-complaint Oeic/unit trusts.

The public and private banks in Syria have worked on developing their products despite of the current crisis as they have continued to fund the imports and the economic processes according to the needs of the national economy during the current stage. Some 20 banks are operating in Syria, six of which are private and 14 are public, while three of those banks are Islamic. Contrary to most of the economic sectors in Syria, the profits of the private banks have witnessed a significant development reaching SYP 45 billion by the end of the first half of the current year with an increase of 80.3 percent in comparison with 2014 while between the years 2013 and 2014 they were increased by 65.5 percent.

Nasarawa State governor,Tanko Al-Makura has appealed to the chairman, JAIZ Bank for the establishment of the bank in the state. The governor made the appeal in Lafia when he received a delegation of the bank led by its chairman, Dr. Umar Abdumutallab at the Government House. Al-Makura explained that the benefits of establishing JAIZ Bank in the state are enormous and capable of turning around the economic fortunes of the citizenry. Earlier, the chairman of the bank, Dr. Abdumutallab assured the governor that the bank would establish branches in Nasarawa State.

Bahrain-based International Investment Bank (IIB) has appointed Subhi F. Benkhadra as its new CEO. Benkhadra, previously the CEO of Abu Dhabi-based Baniyas Investment & Development Company, replaces acting CEO Fareed Bader, who continues in the role of executive committee member at the bank. Benkhadra is described as an experienced financial leader with a wealth of experience in traditional and Islamic investment banking in the UK and the Middle East. Benkhadra graduated from the University of Bath in 1987 with a BSc in environmental engineering and holds a MBA in finance from City University Business School.

Matthew Glover, head of IT and change delivery at Al Rayan Bank, says its use of cloud amounts to a competitive advantage against big banks, and its customer base of 60,000 gives it an edge against challenger banks which are similarly unburdened by legacy. Being an Islamic bank makes Al Rayan’s business different, too. Glover is not himself Muslim, and neither are many of its customers, he says. He heads a team of 14 IT and business professionals. The IT estate is a mix of on-premise and cloud. Apart from the core banking system, which is a Misys platform running on an IBM AS/400, Salesforce is the most important part of the bank’s technology landscape.

Ratings assigned to Jordan Islamic Bank derive strength from the institution’s strong franchise as the largest retail Islamic bank operating in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The bank’s financial risk profile is also healthy, with strong and improving asset quality indicators, sufficient profitability position, and sizable liquid reserves. Leverage indicators of the institution are at a comfortable level. Jordan’s macroeconomic environment, however, remains challenging against the backdrop of regional instability. The bank has been proactive in incorporating changes in the code of corporate governance for Islamic banks issued by the Central Bank of Jordan.

Bahrain based International Investment Bank announces the appointment of Mr. Subhi F. Benkhadra as the new Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Benkhadra, previously the Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi based Baniyas Investment & Development Company, replaces Mr. Fareed Bader, the acting Chief Executive Officer who continues in the role of Executive Committee Member at the bank. Mr. Benkhadra graduated from the University of Bath in 1987 with a BSc in Environmental Engineering and holds a MBA in Finance from City University Business School. He is also a former member of the Board of Directors of the Arab Bankers' Association in London.