Turkish participation bank Albaraka Türk will sign its murabaha loan next week and increase the deal from the $400m launch size, according to bankers on the deal. The deal is comprised of a 367 day tranche with a margin of 110bp and a two year and three day tranche paying 125bp, according to one banker on the deal.
In 2015, the Bank trained and invested in 50 Kuwaiti young people where they received academic and practical training on part-time basis at all branches of the Bank. The graduates were exposed to various banking transactions and business. The Training Program focused on the core banking knowledge and skills of new graduate Kuwaiti people. Warba Bank has hired 25 of the trainees in full-time jobs and assigned them to work across various branches. Their appointment gives an added - value to the recruitment policy adopted by Warba in line with the instructions from the various regulatory authorities for enhancing the banking sector with Kuwaiti national qualified labour.
Gatehouse Bank plc has announced the completion of an £8.6 million senior financing to support Investra's acquisition of a portfolio of five petrol stations in the UK. Based in Dubai and with an office in London, Investra is an investor of UK real estate. This transaction is the second financing which Gatehouse has completed in partnership with an equity sponsor based in the GCC region in the past six months. Investra is looking to increase our holdings of high-quality income generating assets. Henry Thompson, CEO of Gatehouse, said he was looking forward to announcing further transactions in the coming months.
Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlooks on Al Rajhi Bank (ARB), National Commercial Bank (NCB), Riyad Bank (RB) and SAMBA Financial Group (SAMBA) to Negative from Stable. The revision of the banks' Outlooks to Negative reflects that their Long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) are at the Support Rating Floor (SRF) for Saudi domestic systemically important banks (D-SIB) of 'A+'. This would be revised down to 'A' in the event of a one-notch downgrade of the Saudi sovereign. The Saudi banks' Support Ratings (SRs) and SRFs reflect the extremely high probability of support from the Saudi authorities, if required. Upward potential for the ratings is limited in light of a weakening sovereign and operating environment.
Bahrain-based Ibdar Bank has announced the appointment of Mr. Janaka Mendis as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Bank. Mr. Mendis shall provide leadership in attaining the established financial goals of the Bank through managing and operating all financial-related functions. He oversees the Bank's finance, financial strategy, and operational activities, ensuring that Ibdar is well positioned, both financially and strategically, to achieve its transformation agenda. Prior to joining Ibdar, Mr. Mendismost recently spent seven years at Al Salam Bank Bahrain. For four of these years, he served as the institution's Chief Operating Officer after holding other executive roles.
Bahrain’s GFH Financial Group has distributed dividends of $53 million to its funds’ investors, from investments in Bahrain, the UAE, US and India. In line with it's new strategy, GFH has spent the last 18 months investing in projects intended to provide steady cash yields for investors, the company said. For example, Diversified US Residential Portfolio (DURP) – an investment in US residential assets – distributed dividends of $1.3 million to investors. The portfolio comprises two multiple-dwelling residential properties, one in Houston, the other in Atlanta, with 1,300 apartments in total and 95 percent occupancy. Earlier this month, the group reported net profit of $13.6 million in the first six months of 2015.
Banks in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council can thank turbulence in the world’s bond markets for spurring Islamic lending to the highest in three years. Loans that comply with Islam’s ban on interest in the GCC have risen 22 per cent this year to $11.9 billion, the most since 2012. At the same time sales of sukuk dropped 41 per cent to $6.9 billion. The increase in lending will be welcome for banks in the region, where oil’s more than 50 per cent decline in the past 12 months threatens to curtail government spending and clip economic growth. Volatility in US Treasury yields is averaging the highest since 2011 after several global developments, including Greece and China.
Moody's Investors Service has affirmed Masraf Al Rayan's (MAR) A2/Prime-1 issuer ratings and baa3 baseline credit assessment (BCA) and adjusted BCA. At the same time, Moody's changed the outlook on the bank's long term issuer ratings to positive from stable. The change in the outlook to positive from stable reflects the ongoing improvements in MAR's business and geographic diversification, including the growth and transition to profitability of its recently acquired subsidiary Al Rayan Bank PLC based in UK. Further underpinning Moody's view on the outlook is Qatar's considerable economic strength, with robust growth prospects driven by the significant wealth and resources of the country, despite lower oil prices.
Meethaq has upgraded its core banking system, resulting in a host of Islamic banking services covering ATM/CDM, debit card and mobile banking for Meethaq customers. Meethaq now functions with the new iMal core banking system. The implementation of the system is the result from the partnership between the bank and Path Solutions. iMAL is a Shari’ah-compliant core banking system certified by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). It is an integrated, modular Islamic banking suite with full functionality, including retail, corporate, investment, trade finance, and treasury modules.
The Tripoli-based Libyan Audit Bureau has confirmed that Jordan based Al Baraka bank has returned a transfer from Libya for being ‘‘suspicious’’ and for ‘‘funding terrorism’’. The transfer originating from the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) were intended to cover Libyan student scholarships in Jordan. The Audit Bureau revealed that it had, in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education and the CBL, opened an independent bank account for the Cultural Attaché at its Amman embassy specifically for scholarship funds. However, the Audit Bureau admitted that the Libyan embassy broke procedures and regulations and an agreement by using the funds on other spending rather than for student scholarships.
Turkish participation bank Albaraka Türk is set to close books for its $400m-equivalent murabaha loan next week. Albaraka Turk is expected to sign the loan in mid-September, according to a banker on the deal. The $400m-equivalent deal has one year and two year tranches in euros and dollars.
More full-fledged Islamic banks are needed and the Islamic banking services of conventional banks should be converted into full subsidiaries if Oman were to fully embrace the Islamic finance concept in its entirety, says Dr Jamil El Jaroudi, CEO at Bank Nizwa. It would also eliminate potential regulatory arbitrage between conventional banking and Islamic banking that could harm or raise doubt on the Sharia aspects, he added. The Islamic windows' cost of doing business and relying on their parent banks’ infrastructure resulted in a disadvantage for the business of fully-fledged banks. Nonetheless, the windows have yet to reach their critical sizes to be able to justify conversion into standalone banks.
After a Hamas-sponsored cafeteria bombing at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a federal complaint was filed against Iran's central bank in Washington D.C., that ended in a $12.9 million judgment against the republic. Other lawsuits alleging that Iran bankrolled terrorism followed, leading to awards of $20 million for a bombing of a Jerusalem restaurant, $350 million for a 1990 mass shooting, and $590 million for the bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. Bank Melli has set forth numerous creative arguments as to why it shouldn't be liable for Iran's debt. However, the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday that those arguments cannot save it from paying nearly $17.6 million to the victims of terrorist attacks in Israel, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has announced its acceptance of a US$50 million 15 year line of financing, with a 13 year six month repayment period, from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The funds will be used to finance projects located across the numerous African IDB member countries. The projects will be structured in a way that is compliant with Islamic Finance, focusing particularly on infrastructural and agricultural projects that promote the economic and social development of the communities concerned. AFC’s agreement with the IDB also establishes an intercontinental relationship, which may lead to further collaboration between African and Middle Eastern institutions in the future.
Kuwait International Bank K.S.C. has successfully closed a debut syndicated Murabaha financing facility. The Facility was signed on 24 August 2015. Bahrain-based Bank ABC and Bank ABC Islamic acted as the Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers and Coordinating Banks for the Facility. The Facility was initially launched for US$100 million, and following strong interest from the market KIB decided to utilise the significant oversubscription to increase the Facility size to US$320 million. The Facility carries a tenor of 3 years and will be used by KIB for general funding purposes.
Iran has four banks in Britain and will set up two new banks in London in near future, Governor of Central Bank of Iran Valiollah Seif said on Sunday. He made the remarks on the sidelines of a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. Speaking to IRNA, he said the two banks to be set up are the London branch of bank Melli of Iran and Persian International Bank. In the meeting with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and his entourage, the two sides studied grounds for expansion of cooperation and the history of banking cooperation as well as existing grounds for expansion of such cooperation, he said. UK delegation voiced their willingness of the British banks to come back and resume operation in Iran, he said.
The Egypt part of the Bahraini Al Baraka Group plans to pump one billion Egyptian pounds (US$127.8 million) into mega projects in the country. According to Ashraf El Ghamrawy - CEO of Al Baraka Bank Egypt, the bank intends to invest in the Suez Canal Corridor Area as well as East Port Said (Tafreeaa) Port projects. The Suez Canal Corridor Area project's aim is to increase the role of the Suez Canal region in international trading and to develop the three canal cities: Suez, Ismailia, and Port Said. Al Baraka Bank Egypt has allocated around 250 million Egyptian pounds to invest in one of the logistics projects in Suez Canal, however, no details were given until an agreement is reached.
Bahrain's Khaleeji Commercial Bank 's (KHCB) has recently signed an agreement with T'azur Islamic Insurance Company, one of Bahrain's Takaful International Islamic insurance Company providers. The agreement aims to provide Comprehensive and Third Party insurance services for vehicles, property, travel and tourism including other personal insurance products at KHCB 's branch in Budaiya. The signing ceremony was held recently at the Khaleeji Commercial Bank headquarters in the presence of KHCB Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Khalil Al Meer and T'azur Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Yahya Nooruddin, along with management officials and high-level representatives from both parties.
The Kabulbank scam may be the largest theft of depositor money per capita the world has ever experienced. Kabulbank was Afghanistan’s largest bank when the central bank intervened on September 2010. It was put into receivership on April 20, 2011. New Kabul Bank (NKB) was established the same day by transferring old Kabulbank’s remaining deposit liabilities covered by an equivalent amount of claims on the central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB). Kabulbank’s deposits had dropped from $1.3 billion eight months earlier to under $0.6 billion by the time of its good bank/bad bank split.
The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), in cooperation with the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), has announced Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) as the women’s empowerment partner for Islamic Banking for the year-long campaign to celebrate and promote the role of women in the financial and banking sector. The year-long campaign has already featured a series of events, including a number of roundtable and town hall sessions that have brought industry leaders and women of all levels within the sector together to discuss and debate topics of importance. These events culminate with the main Women in the Financial and Banking Sector Conference being held on Nov. 30, at the Four Seasons Hotel, Bahrain Bay.