IslamicFinance.de

Entrepreneurship platform AstroLabs yesterday inaugurated the Middle East and North Africa’s only Google-partnered tech hub, AstroLabs Dubai, enabling top startups from around the world to set up in Dubai’s DMCC Free Zone while taking advantage of Google for Entrepreneurs’ global network and resources. AstroLabs offers scalable tech startups a custom coworking space, mentorship, and business licenses to start operating in the UAE. AstroLabs members join an exclusive Google for Entrepreneurs Passport Program, allowing them to access over twenty Google-partnered hubs across the globe, from Seoul to San Francisco.

Dubai Islamic Bank will require capital in 2016 to boost its capital adequacy ratios, the bank's chief executive said on Wednesday. DIB's total capital adequacy ratio, a combination of Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital -- regarded as one of the key indicators of a bank's health -- stood at 16.5 percent at the end of the third quarter, up from 14.9 percent at the end of 2014, Adnan Chilwan said in an analysts' conference call.

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) announced that its Extra Ordinary Shareholder Meeting has approved all agenda items, in the meetings which was held yesterday Tuesday 27th October 2015 at 10:00 am at BisB Headquarters – Al Salam Tower – Diplomatic Area. The items included the following the reduction in issued and paid-up capital of BisB aiming to write-off accumulated losses and the issuance of up to 200,000,000 Ordinary Shares with Nominal Value of BD 0.100 each. The EGM has empowered the Board of Directors to decide upon the terms and conditions of the Rights Offer. The EGM then exempted any existing shareholder whose ownership may increase up to 30% or more to make a mandatory offer to all shareholders.

Since regulations were finalised in late 2012, Oman's Islamic banks have been the most dynamic part of the banking sector and are expected to take an ever more significant share of the overall market in the next few years. Mik Kabeya, analyst in the financial institutions group of Moody’s Investors Service estimates that the asset base of Oman’s Islamic banking sector grew by 68 per cent in 2014, compared to growth of 11 per cent in the conventional banking arena. Islamic banks could account for around 10 per cent of the banking sector’s asset base within 2-3 years, compared to around 6 per cent at the moment. Earlier this year the Muscat government also said that it would issue its first sovereign sukuk.

Bahar Alsharif, Deputy Treasurer of International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, today rang the market-opening bell to celebrate the listing of a 100 million US dollar Sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai. More than a third of this total, amounting to 12.75 billion US dollars, has listed on Nasdaq Dubai in 2015. The Sukuk is the second to be listed by IFC on Nasdaq Dubai, following a 100 million US dollar Sukuk that listed in 2009. Through its latest Sukuk, IFC will support developmental financing activities in the Middle East and North Africa and other parts of the world.

Dubai-based retail and leisure developer Majid Al Futtaim has opened books for a benchmark U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk issue, which it expects to price as early as Tuesday. Initial price thoughts for the 10-year sukuk have been set in the area of 270 basis points over midswaps. The firm, which owns and operates the Carrefour franchise in the Middle East, has picked Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC, National Bank Of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered to arrange the sukuk. The sukuk will use the wakala structure, in which one party acts as an agent managing assets for another.

The Gulf’s state-linked firms are being forced to wean themselves off direct government funding, and focus more on capital markets and private investment, to push ahead with their building and infrstructure projects in an era of cheap oil. Thus, the future are projects that connect to private investment. This could be a boon for bankers, who have long wanted to play a bigger role in arranging financing packages for Gulf governments. So far the shift is most evident in the smaller Gulf nations which lack huge cash reserves but have big projects in the pipeline: Oman and Bahrain. But the change is also occurring at some of the region’s largest enterprises.

The WIBC Leaderboard announced today the global rankings of Islamic banks in terms of Cost-to-Income ratio, one of the financial performance sub-indicators of the Leaderboard. No less than three Qatar-based banks have appeared in the top 5 Islamic banks in the GCC based on the Cost-to-Income ratio rankings. As per the rankings, Masraf Al Rayan and Qatar International Islamic Bank, both based in Qatar are positioned at the top of Islamic financial institutions in the GCC with a ratio of 20.6% and 24.4% respectively. The Cost-to-Income ratio is calculated based on non-interest operating cost divided by the sum of net interest income and non-interest operating income.

Oman’s first issue of sovereign Islamic bonds has received strong orders ahead of its final pricing on Tuesday. The 200 million rial (Dh1.9 billion, $520 million), five-year sukuk issue with an ijara format drew 22 orders totalling 336 million rials during the subscription period, which ran from Oct. 8 to 22, Mohammed Hussain Jawad, adviser at the finance ministry and head of the committee handling the issue, said. Results of the sale and allocations will be announced on November 3. Jawad also said the ministry planned a second sukuk issue next year, but he did not elaborate on the size or timing.

Alkhabeer Capital, an asset management and investment firm based in Saudi Arabia, announced the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement with waqf incorporation and regulation law firm Al-Zamil & Al-Kharashi. The agreement provides for synergy between Alkhabeer Capital and Al-Zamil & Al-Kharashi Law Firm in the creation and regulation of waqf solutions. The agreement follows Alkhabeer's unveiling of its proprietary "Waqf" program earlier this year, which provides waqf wealth structuring and management advisory services to educational and charitable institutions, family offices, high net worth individuals and philanthropists who aspire to establish waqf entities.

Capital Intelligence (CI) said that following the recent downgrade in the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Sovereign Ratings in September 2015, it has lowered Bahrain-based Al Baraka Islamic Bank’s (AIB) Long and Short-Term Foreign Currency Ratings to ‘BB’ and ‘B’, respectively (from ‘BB+’/‘A3’/‘Stable’). Accordingly, the Outlook for these ratings is revised to ‘Stable’ from ‘Negative’. The Support Level of ‘2’ is maintained on the grounds of the high likelihood of support from the parent ‘Al Baraka Banking Group’ (ABG), also in Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia is the region's leader in built asset wealth according to the according to the latest Global Built Asset Wealth Index published by Arcadis. The index calculates the value of all the buildings and infrastructure that contribute to economic productivity in 32 countries, which collectively make up 87% of global GDP. On average, countries analyzed have a built asset stock worth 2.9 times GDP. China now has a built asset wealth of US$ 47.6 trillion, overtaking the USA which comes in second place with a wealth of US$ 36.8 trillion. On a regional basis, Saudi Arabia has a built asset wealth of US$ 3.15 trillion, while the UAE and Qatar rank respectively at US$ 1.33 trillion and US$ 0.45 trillion.

The collapse in oil prices, which have more than halved from their previous peaks, has not been painless for Saudi Arabia. However, it’s far too soon to start writing the kingdom’s obituary: Its economy is far better insulated now than it was during the slump of the 1980s and 1990s, when oil reached below $10 a barrel in 1998. Although spending increased in the oil boom years of the 2000s, Saudi Arabia saved quite a bit of money during this time. Cash reserves as a ratio of GDP reached close to 100 percent in 2014. Saudi Arabia will not incur a fiscal or currency crisis of any sorts for the next few years. Its balance sheet has recently made tremendous improvements.

Qatar has become the world's richest country per capita measured by the value of its built environment according to the latest Global Built Asset Wealth Index published by Arcadis. Qatar has become a global leader, toppling Singapore as the most asset rich country per capita, with built assets of US$198,000 for every citizen. The index, which was compiled for Arcadis by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), calculates the value of all the buildings and infrastructure that contribute to economic productivity in 32 countries, which collectively make up 87% of global GDP. Total built asset wealth globally now stands at an estimated US$218 trillion, which is the equivalent to US$30,700 per person alive today.

The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) hosted a Market Consultative Meeting on Islamic Credit Support Arrangement in association with the International Islamic Financial Markets (IIFM) and its Islamic hedging joint-partner International Swaps & Derivatives Association (ISDA) in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Credit Support Arrangement (CSA) is one of the key documentations for risk management where counter-parties transactional risk is managed through collateral and margin maintenance mechanism. The Islamic CSA will be developed under the already published ISDA/IIFM Tahawwut Master Agreement for Islamic hedging transactions.

Saudi Arabia would be open to relaxing its rules on foreigners investing directly in its stock market to help it get included in global indices, the chairman of the Saudi financial-markets regulatory agency, the Capital Market Authority, said. In his first interview with international media since his appointment in January, Mohammed al-Jadaan also defended the limited trading so far by qualified foreign investors (QFIs) and noted the kingdom was already seeing wider benefits from having direct foreign access to its $470 billion stock market. On June 15, the Saudi stock exchange, the Tadawul, became one of the last major emerging markets to let foreigners buy shares directly.

Qatar Islamic Bank has opened order books for a five-year benchmark dollar-denominated sukuk issue, a document from lead arrangers showed on Tuesday. The initial price guidance for the offering has been set in the area of 145 basis points over midswaps, the document showed. The bank has mandated Barwa Bank, Citi, HSBC, Noor Bank, QInvest and Standard Chartered as joint lead managers for the issue. The sukuk issue will be under Qatar Islamic's existing $1.5 billion Trust Certificate Issuance Programme.

UAE's Mashreq Al Islami has successfully closed a 5 year USD 500 million senior secured syndicated facility for Ezdan Holding Group Company Q.S.C., the largest private sector real estate developer in Qatar. Mashreq Al Islami UAE acted as Mandated Lead Arranger, Sole Book Runner and Facility Agent for the facility. Other banks that participated in the financing included Abu Dhabi Islamic bank, Ahli United Bank, Emirates NBD, Gulf International Bank, HSBC Bank Middle East as Mandated Lead Arrangers, Sharjah Islamic bank, Warba Bank as Lead Arrangers and QIIB as asset custodian. The Facility proceeds will be utilized to support the Company's expansion and developmental plans in its core market.

Saudi Arabia-based Arab Petroleum Investments Corp (APICORP) has tightened price guidance for its debut benchmark U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk issue, which could be priced as early as Monday. Guidance was revised to a range of 105 basis points plus/minus 5 bps over midswaps. Pricing was initially set in the area of 110 bps over midswaps earlier in the day. The sukuk will have a five-year tenor and be classified as a quasi-sovereign issue. The order book for the issue currently stands at $650 million. The wakala-structured sukuk is being arranged by Emirates NBD, First Gulf Bank, Goldman Sachs, NCB Capital, Noor Bank and Standard Chartered.

Maisarah Islamic Banking Services signed an agreement with Shaza Oman to fund the construction of its flagship five-star hotel in Muscat. The financing agreement was signed by BankDhofar's acting Chief Executive Officer Abdul Hakeem Al Ojaili; Al Madina Real Estate CEO Abdul Rahman Ba Omar; and GLOREI CEO Mohammad Al Ghassani. Under the agreement, Maisarah will finance the five-star hotel that is under construction by Shaza Oman Company SAOC. The project is in Al Khuwair, adjacent to Muscat Grand Mall, and is slated for a soft launch in December.