IslamicFinance.de

Kuwait Finance House will decide the fate of its Malaysian business by the end of this month, a spokesman said on Tuesday, after it had been reported that Qatar National Bank had bid to buy the unit. The sale ist part of of a broader restructuring of its operations. A spokesman for KFH said it was looking at several options whether to restructure, sell or merge its Malaysian business and that the decision will be concluded by the end of this month. A source familiar with the matter had said earlier that QNB had submitted a bid to purchase the Malaysian unit. The source declined to provide further details, and whether there were other bidders involved.

Bangladesh is a rare bird among developing nations: it benefits from a weakening Chinese yuan, is intervening to stop its currency gaining and is about to sell a debut Islamic bond in the quietest year for issuance since 2011. The nation is planning a $1bn note sale that may include a portion of Shariah-compliant notes anytime soon, central bank governor Atiur Rahman said. Only Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia have issued global sukuk in Asia so far in 2015. Bangladesh Bank has sold $3.5bn of taka in the past year, boosting foreign-exchange reserves to a record $27bn, said Rahman.

Financial inclusion in Pakistan has improved slowly but steadily since 2008 according to most sources. This observation is based upon one topline indicator - percentage of the adult population that is financially included - which is calculated by three different institutions in Pakistan. Depending on what data set you look at, the topline financial inclusion figure for Pakistan in 2014-2015 can be 7% (Financial Inclusion Insights 2014), 13% (Global Findex 2014) or 23% (Access to Finance 2015). Different definitions cause the topline number to vary. The inclusion indexes however do not answer why some remain outside the formal financial sector.

The central bank had spent $28bn propping up the currency in less than two years; equivalent to more than a quarter of the combined central bank reserves and national oil fund. The immediate result was a 23 per cent plunge in its value. The move was a boost to Kazakhstan's struggling resources sector. Officials argue that relatively few groups in Kazakhstan will suffer as a result of the currency fall: three-quarters of depositors held savings in dollars, while 70 per cent of company borrowings were in tenge before the move.

In his groundbreaking June encyclical, Pope Francis issued a call for robust individual action and a sweeping transformation of global economic and political systems to deal with the dual threats of climate change and environmental degradation. On Sept. 25, he will bring aspects of that message to the United Nations. Yale Environment 360 asked experts on the environment and religion what they would like the pope to say before the U.N. Some would like Pope Francis to speak out about issues he overlooked or dismissed, including the role of population growth in environmental problems and the vital part that the private sector must play in combating global warming.

Companies in the GCC region will have to formulate effective retirement plans if they are to remain competitive in the market place, so says Mercer. The International human resources consultancy has highlighted the trend for expatriates to extend their stay in GCC countries to call for a greater emphasis to be given to planning for life after work for employees. Mercer says that there are several benefits for employers in the formulation of retirement plans for their workforce, including the positioning of a company as an employer of choice amongst competitors, the attraction of international expertise and the retention of key talent. Mercer also draws attention to enhanced employee engagement as being another key benefit.

The World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) continues to live up to its reputation after officially announcing today that its 22nd annual edition will provide industry leaders with an opportunity to critically assess Islamic finance’s 40-year history. This coming December, regulators, CEOs, scholars and other leaders from the Middle East, East Asia, Africa and Europe will assess and reflect upon the achievements, challenges and opportunities in the rapidly growing Islamic finance industry, currently amounting to $2 trillion. Some of the industry’s preeminent leaders will address the core question of how the current system can converge with its original proposition.

A number of initiatives are demonstrating the rising momentum of Islamic finance in China. Chinese brokerage Southwest Securities forged a partnership with Qatar International Islamic Bank to pave the way for Islamic finance transactions in the country. The Qatari bank confirmed with IFN that it will leverage on this MoU to develop an Islamic finance framework for China. Chinese banking giant, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), through its leasing arm entered into a collaborative agreement with the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), which is targeted to focus on multiple lines to develop Islamic capabilities and opportunities.

The Bahrain Islamic Index, a tool to measure changes in values of Sharia-compliant securities listed on the Bahrain Bourse (BHB), was launched yesterday. In a statement issued after the launch, BHB chief executive Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said the index will be computed from the prices of 17 selected stocks, all of which comply with standards and regulations set by the bourse's Sharia committee. The index will act as a standardised tool, adopted by investors in order to measure the fluctuations of their investment portfolios in the companies computed within the Islamic Index.

Several African sub-regional central banks Monday commenced a two-day seminar in Banjul on building Islamic finance in Gambia. The forum, held at the Ocean Bay Hotel in Bakau, brought together participants from Nigeria, Malaysia, Sierra Leone and Gambia. In his opening statement, Abdoulie Jallow, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, said the forum is the final activity of the project titled “Enhancing financial literacy and capacity building on Islamic instruments”. The project is funded by the Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

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.

Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) and Thomson Reuters, with support from the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) released the 'Digital Islamic Economy Report' for 2015, in collaboration with DinarStandard. The report serves as a precursor to the second edition of the Global Islamic Economy Summit (GIES) that will be held from October 5-6 in Dubai, UAE. Among its key findings, the report estimates that the overall value contributed by Muslim consumers worldwide to the global digital economy in 2014 stood at US$107 billion, representing 5.8% of the total global digital economy. The report focuses on a new and a more specialized area of Digital Islamic Consumer Services.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer global head of Islamic finance Tarek El-Assra has quit the firm to join Morgan, Lewis & Bockius as a partner, as the Morgan Lewis targets the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. El-Assra joins Morgan Lewis’ Dubai office in a bid to build its cross-border Islamic finance and investment offering specifically targeting the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The departure is Freshfields’ second exit in recent weeks after Shearman & Sterling hired its co-head of telecoms, media and technology, Frank Miller, as the latter firm bids to pull in a greater array of M&A in the City.

Network Economics of Abundance is not just a new economic theory, but a new philosophy of economics is required because the entirety of existing economic theory has been constructed around the assumption of scarcity, and reconfiguring our economic thought around abundance instead as a central parameter requires rethinking economics so profoundly as to be a new philosophical position that is outside the field of economics. This economics is based on abundance, access, availability, yes-and collaborative willingness, and power shared with others. Network Economies of Abundance are measured in fulfillment; though actualization, connection, purpose, and meaning.

MSCI Inc., a provider of research-based indexes and analytics, has announced the launch of the Islamic M-Series Indexes, providing an additional Islamic index screening methodology that gives local investors the option to choose between the traditional approach of using total assets or the more widely used market cap-based methodology. The MSCI Islamic Index M-Series includes: MSCI ACWI Islamic M- Series Index, MSCI Europe Islamic M- Series Index, MSCI North America Islamic M- Series Index, MSCI Pacific Islamic M- Series Index, and MSCI EM Islamic M-Series Index. In June 2015, MSCI announced broader coverage of the Middle East equity universe with the launch of the MSCI Saudi Arabia Indexes and the MSCI GCC Countries International Indexes.

Saudi Arabian investment management and advisory firm Jadwa Investment has completed a distribution agreement with European platform Allfunds Bank (AFB) to offer shariah-compliant mutual funds to international investors across AFB’s global platform. Under the terms of the agreement, Jadwa’s portfolio of public equity and fixed income funds will be accessible across AFB’s worldwide network of 33 countries, including commercial banks, private banking institutions, fund managers, insurance and takaful companies and fund supermarkets. Jadwa Investment will be the only investment firm to provide actively managed and passively managed (indexed) shariah-compliant funds.

Islamic banking and financing as it is introduced in the Philippines opened a lot of inquiries and challenges. In the previously held Forum on Islamic Banking and Financing by the Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology, in partnership with Anak Mindanao and National Commission on Muslim Filipinos last September 2 at MSU IIT Campus, Iligan City, participants from different sectors especially the future accountants of the university, both Muslims and non-Muslims, were given the basics of such concepts by the resource persons. This is a system that can be adopted by all.

Yale University President Peter Salovey and Yale Law School Dean Robert C. Post have announced a $10 million gift to create the Abdallah S. Kamel Center for the Study of Islamic Law and Civilization at Yale Law School. This gift is from Abdallah S. Kamel, chief executive of the Dallah Albaraka Group, LLC, a banking and real estate enterprise based in Saudi Arabia. The center will bring prominent scholars of Islam to the Yale campus for public lectures, seminar discussions, visiting fellowships, and visiting professorships, attracting students from the Law School and other schools at the university to its lectures and other opportunities for collaboration.

Middle East Payment Services (MEPS) - a consortium of local and regional banks that serves as a payment services provider in the Middle East - has signed a partnership agreement with Cihan Bank for Islamic Investment and Finance. This step corresponds with the Bank’s goals to expand the range of banking products and services it offers in Iraq by adding new services in the electronic payment field. By virtue of the agreement, MEPS will provide various services comprising call centers and operating MasterCard point-of-sale (POS) devices. In addition, MEPS will issue the Bank’s payment cards at all its branches across Iraq, as Cihan Bank strives to provide all types of MasterCard including debit, credit and prepaid cards.

"Global Finance" has named Kuwait finance House ( KFH ) the safest Islamic Financial institution in Kuwait, and the third in the GCC for the year 2015. The bank is ranked as one of the top two among all Kuwaiti banks, be it Islamic or conventional. Also, Global Finance announced the 50 safest banks in emerging markets 2015 where KFH was ranked in 28th place. Banks were selected through an evaluation of long-term foreign currency ratings, credit ratings, businesses, financial indicators and total assets. Global Finance study encompassed more than 500 largest banks in Asia, the GCC and MENA. KFH Chief Executive Officer Mazin Al-Nahedh said the ranking confirms KFH 's robust financial position, sound pursued procedures in addition to the professional and legislative commitment.