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Bahrain-based Ithmaar Bank and Tamkeen have announced the launch of a joint financing solution designed specifically to support private sector enterprises in the Kingdom. The financing scheme offers private sector enterprises amounts of up to BHD 500,000 at a subsidised reduced profit rate, a repayment tenor option of up to 10 years, and grace periods of between one month and two years. Participating SMEs can also benefit from a variety of unique features, as well as exceptional flexibility in repayment methods, including monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual payments. The announcement follows an agreement earlier this year to add BHD 10 million to the joint Ithmaar-Tamkeen enterprise finance scheme portfolio which aims to help private sector enterprises meet their financing needs and achieve their business objectives.

Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding said its affiliate Jeddah Economic Co (JEC) had arranged financing to complete construction of the world's tallest building. JEC agreed with Alinma Bank to establish an 8.4 billion riyal ($2.2 billion) real estate development fund that will finish work on the $1.2 billion Kingdom Tower in Jeddah. The Islamic fund will also develop the 1.5 sq km (0.6 sq miles) first phase of the Jeddah Economic City project. In addition to Kingdom Tower, the scheme is to include Saudi Arabia's largest shopping mall. Alinma Bank will finance the new fund, which is to be managed by Alinma Investment, Kingdom added without elaborating on how the money would be raised.

Bahrain was for decades regarded as the financial centre of the Middle East, but it was hard hit during the recession and is arguably still picking up the pieces.
The Gulf state expects to run a budget deficit of more than $3.8bn this year and has proposed a string of policy reforms, including axing millions of dollars of food, fuel and other subsidies, to help it rebalance the books.
Despite this, its leaders claim Bahrain has “passed the stress test” of the past years’ fiscal woes and is bouncing back as a financial hub.
The number of finance institutions in Bahrain has grown steadily over the years to around 400 (from 190 in 1991) and work has recommenced on the $1.3bn Bahrain Financial Harbour scheme, which houses the country’s stock exchange and high-profile tenants such as Gulf Finance House and BNP Paribas.

BDI's 2015 Promoting Professional Directorship report reveals that over 40 % of GCC board members surveyed would like to see more audit and risk management expertise at the board level
Risk management, along with succession planning, strategy and the role of the chairman, were the topics covered at BDI's Mastering the Boardroom Workshop held this week In Riyadh in partnership with J.P. Morgan
Following the last financial crisis and with the current economic climate, companies have been paying more attention to risk management. Boards play a crucial role in risk oversight, however, not enough board directors in the Gulf region are aware of and have clear visibility on the top risks facing the company according to the GCC Board Directors Institute (BDI)'s recent survey on board effectiveness.

Qatar’s Barwa Bank has established a $2bn sukuk issuance platform for the purchase of shariah compliant assets, according to Moody’s.
The rating agency has assigned a provisional rating of A2 to the programme, in line with its rating on the state controlled lender’s foreign currency deposits.
Trust certificates sold from the platform will be issued by a newly created Cayman Islands special purpose vehicle called BBG Sukuk Ltd and will

The main challenge faced by the Islamic banking in the Sultanate today is building up solid knowledge and experience among bankers about Islamic finance while keeping pace with the demand in the market. "Recruiting potential front-runners in this area and providing the right knowledge dosage at the right time is key success element. Retention is always a challenge in the banking sector and it is rather more intense towards persons who already started working within Sharia-compliant products and practiced Islamic banking", said Mohammed al Balushi, Chief Human Resources Officer at alizz Islamic bank.

The Bahrain-based International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) launched a standard contract template for sharia compliant cross currency swaps on Thursday, as the industry body seeks to enhance use of hedging tools in the sector. As Islamic finance grows, institutions are increasingly taking larger positions, often in various currencies, prompting the need for widely-accepted mechanisms to manage such risks.
It is the seventh standard issued by the IIFM, a non-profit industry body which develops specifications for Islamic finance contracts. Applications of the standard are mainly for interbank treasury placements, but it can also be used alongside Islamic bonds (sukuk) as well as trade and corporate finance deals, chief executive Ijlal Ahmed Alvi told Reuters.

The Waqf Fund, a Bahrain-based special fund to support Islamic finance training, education and research, hosted its tenth Sharia Scholar session with Dr. Abdulbari Mash'al. Dr. Mashal made a presentation on "What Sharia Reviewers can do to enhance Sharia governance and compliance at Islamic banks". This was followed by an interactive two hour session during which the participants asked questions and gave their comments. Dr. Mash'al explained the general internal Sharia control environment of an Islamic bank and then focused on governance and Sharia compliance. He also explained the interplay between internal Sharia compliance and internal Sharia audit. Dr. Mash'al explained how inherent risks pass through the protection pillar or filter of internal Sharia supervision and the Sharia non-compliance risk is subjected to internal Sharia audit procedures to reduce the likelihood of such risks occurring. If the process is robust it will substantially reduce Sharia non-compliance risk. He emphasized that in order to be effective the internal Sharia auditor has to demonstrate independence and objectivity, technical competence and due care.

Expected to decrease by up to 30 % of land and real estate value. Real estate experts expect property prices in Saudi Arabia to decline gradually over the coming years and return to normal levels.
According to their forecasts, this will only happen with implementing the new regulation of fees on undeveloped plots of land in urban areas (white lands), the decline in real estate mortgage and the drop in oil prices in the Kingdom. Prices are expected to fall by up to 30 % of the land and real estate value, reports investing.com.
On this basis, Ihsan Buhulaiga, a former member of the Shura Council and an economic expert, says: “White lands’ law will ensure that landlords have only two alternatives: the first one is selling the land and the other is to develop an economic project based on market need.”
Eng. Mohammed Babahar says: “These new procedures are considered an excellent step to cure the Saudi real estate market and escape the inflation that has swept the market and pushed the prices up by more than 300 % and doubled the rental rates.”

QInvest and Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a branch of Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, USA, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate and coordinate in the fields of research and education.
The MOU will offer QInvest the opportunity to use CMU-Q’s educational programs, research and strategic studies, as well as those from select schools at Carnegie Mellon’s US campus. QInvest in return will provide CMU-Q’s new graduates and students in their final year the opportunity to spend one month working at QInvest under the bank’s QTALENT initiative.

As the Shariah-compliant Islamic finance sector booms in the GCC region, the President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, asked experts in the field to develop new Islamic microfinance structures. Ali says the industry needs to leverage existing technologies and business approaches, such as mobile banking, to start developing microfinance initiatives that would support small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Ali said those actions would help local economies and cement the Islamic finance industry’s place as a leader in the global economy.
Ali’s remarks came at a conference in Kuwait entitled "Islamic Finance: Meeting Global Aspirations." There, Ali told the assembled financial professionals that Islamic microfinance would facilitate the inclusion of more people from various income brackets into the financial industry and provide greater access to financing, grow small local businesses and contribute to financial stability.

There is, however, some risk with lending money to inexperienced business owners. That means that on top of providing Islamic microfinancing, the banking industry needs to help educate and guide SMEs.

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), in collaboration with Anfaal Capital agreed to establish a Saudi Arabia-focused venture capital fund.
The joint initiative aims to promote and foster the development of the domestic venture capital market in Saudi Arabia. The initiative leverages KAUST’s expertise in new technologies, as well as the ICD SME Program’s experience in the development and management of investment vehicles.
The Fund will provide venture capital (VC) funding for high-tech start-ups located in Saudi Arabia and lead early-stage financing rounds attracting local investors and international venture capitalists. Furthermore, it will invest in sectors that are strategic for the region and nurture entrepreneurship and technological innovation, stimulating the creation of high-value jobs.
The Fund will search for unique and innovative venture capital opportunities and provide the “smart and hands-on capital” needed to start and then sustain these companies.

More than 1200 distinguished guests from more than 45 countries and 300 organizations participating this December, Bahrain

Key players from the global Islamic finance industry will be participating with the 22nd annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) 2015, taking place on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of December at the Gulf Hotel, Bahrain. Focusing on 'New Realities, New Opportunities', WIBC will play host to more than 1200 leaders including Central bank governors, regulators, C-suite bankers & asset managers, policy makers, Fintech entrepreneurs and contemporary thought leaders.
WIBC 2015 will host 5 central bank Governors and deputy governors and feature speeches and discussions by the Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, H.E. Rasheed Al Maraj, the Executive President of the Central Bank of Oman, H.E. Hamood Sangour Al Zadjali, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Riaz Riazuddin and the Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, Nurlan Kussainov.

Banking and financial services sectors in the GCC are actively seeking opportunities beyond their borders triggering a number of cross border mergers and acquisition deals in recent years.
Domestic markets focus of GCC banks has limited the scope for expanding their business. While this has benefited local banks in increasing their banking penetrations in the economies that they are based in significantly, it did take away from the potential to grow outside their boarders and broaden their geographic reach. This is an important point particularly as domestic markets will have limits to their potential. Expanding beyond their borders is one channel for GCC banks to add value to their business models.

Organised by the International Centre of Islamic Economy and the Dubai Airport Freezone Authority, the event is part of efforts to encourage innovation and creativity in the development of new products as key additions to the international Islamic economy. The two-day event will be held in conjunction with UAE Innovation Week which was launched by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in line with of the directives of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, upon declaring 2015 as the ‘Year of Innovation’. The international platform is poised to attract more than 300 participants including top-notch financial and economic experts, decision makers and representatives from official, supervisory, regulatory, legislative and executive entities to share the latest innovative ideas related to Islamic economic sectors.

The value of real estate deals declined since mid of October 2015 until the middle of the current month by 24 per cent to SAR29.6 billon compared with the same period last year, recent data shows.
According to data issued by the Saudi Ministry of Justice, real estate deals divided between residential and commercial, witnessed a fall in residential deals by 36 % to reach SAR18.6bn, while commercial deals rose by 8 % to SAR11bn.
Real estate land deals accounted for 89 % of the total at SAR26.3bn, reports Al Riyadh Newspaper.
Riyadh was the most active city in terms of residential real estate deals with a value of SAR 6.2bn, down by 28 % YoY, followed by Jeddah with SAR3.7bn, down by 13 %. In terms of commercial deals, Riyadh came in first place with SAR4.9bn and a rise of 18 %.

Global real estate consultancy firm CBRE says that both Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have pumped $5.24 billion and $4.54bn respectively as foreign direct investment in global real estate.
CBRE’s latest report shows that the global real estate markets attracted investments worth more than $407bn during the first half of 2015, the highest since 2007. This represents an increase of 14 per cent from the same period of the year’s performance in 2014.
Although the pace of growth has accelerated over the past years, the rate of growth slowed in the first half of 2015 and a great variation can be observed in growth at the regional and international levels, reports Qatar-based Al-Sharq.
Despite the fall in oil prices, the buyers from the Middle East have maintained their high investment activity and, overall, pumped $11.5bn into foreign markets during the first half of 2015.
Nick Maclean, managing director, CBRE Middle East says: “Data from H1 2015 shows a continuing acceleration in the flow of capital out of the Middle East region by private offices and high-net-worth-individuals.”

Banks in the United Arab Emirates are working together to try to stem the number of small business owners fleeing the country with unpaid debt, a trend that has already reached around 5 billion dirhams ($1.4 bln) this year, a senior banking official said. Small and medium-sized enterprises have come under pressure in recent months amid a gradual drying up of liquidity in the banking system due to the weak oil price and slowing economic growth. As a result, some business people have chosen to "skip" the country, leaving behind unpaid debt, a situation that bankers say has grown significantly from last year, although they did not provide precise figures. In a country where under existing legislation, a bounced cheque risks landing the issuer in jail, many of those absconding fear the consequences if they stay. "We want to take coordinated action on risk management," UAE Banks Federation chairman Abdul Aziz al-Ghurair told reporters on the sidelines of a banking conference

Turkish Islamic bank Kuveyt Turk has mandated six institutions for a sukuk with a value of up to $400 million with a maturity of 10 years, it said in a statement to the Istanbul stock exchange late on Thursday.
Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank, which is 62 percent owned by Kuwait Finance House, said it had mandated KFH Capital, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC, Noor Bank, QInvest and Emirates NBD as joint lead managers. Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in September that seven banks had been picked to arrange a potential deal.

Bahrain-based urban development company Diyar Al Muharraq entered into a $32 million corporate agreement with Al Salam Bank-Bahrain Thursday.
The agreement will partially fund the company's Dragon City development and was signed by Diyar Al Muharraq Chairman Abdulhakeem Alkhayyat and Al Salam Bank-Bahrain Director and Group CEO Yousif Abdulla Taqi. The total price tag for the Dragon City development is $100 million.

“It is with great pride that I officiate this momentous occasion as this marks the beginning of a strong partnership that is set to produce rich rewards and collect significant milestones for a long time to come," Alkhayyat said. "With Dragon City set to start operating in full capacity before the end of the year, we are confident that our calculated and well-thought out decision will reap many benefits and look forward to reveling in the age of prosperity that will soon follow.”