IslamicFinance.de

Iran may be about to restore banking links with the rest of the world after years of separation, but the process won't be easy. The Iranian banks' shaky finances and close ties with their government will increase the risks of dealing with them. And during their years of isolation, they have developed a version of Islamic finance that is in some ways markedly different from that practiced in other Muslim-majority states. The differences may make it hard for foreign banks, even ones from other big Islamic banking markets in the Gulf and southeast Asia, to do business in Iran. Major issues are the trading of debt and use of derivatives — these are two very complicated issues in any Islamic financial system, and in Iran we have very different approaches.

Iran may be about to restore banking links with the rest of the world after years of separation, but the process won’t be easy as its Islamic financial system has evolved in ways that will complicate ties with foreign banks. Smothered in bad debt and shut out of the global system by sanctions, Iranian banks badly need to resume business with foreign lenders, for whom this would be a huge opportunity. Iran’s Islamic banking assets totalled 17,344 trillion riyals as of March 2014, or $523 billion at the free market exchange rate. But the Iranian banks’ shaky finances and close ties with their government will increase the risks of dealing with them. And during their years of isolation, they have developed a version of Islamic finance that is in some ways markedly different from that practiced in other Muslim-majority states.

Bahrain's Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB) launched a new corporate financing product, I'teman Financing, at a Press Conference that was held on Tuesday, the 12th of May 2015. I'teman Financing is a new product that is compatible with the provisions of Islamic Sharia and acts as a substitute for overdraft accounts. This product entitles the customers to cover operating expenses or financial overheads. Corporate institutions can apply for the credit line and can benefit from the availability of liquidity to do cash withdrawals, Telex Transfers and Demand Drafts, in addition to other financial transactions. The new banking product is Sharia'a compliant and targets corporate entities both inside the Kingdom of Bahrain and abroad in order to facilitate their flow of liquid funds.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) is restructuring activities ahead of a planned divestment by its largest shareholder, the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA). Last week, KFH said it had hired Credit Suisse to advise on its options, including the potential sale of a Malaysia unit launched in 2005 that serves as a hub for southeast Asia. KFH did not give further details. A shift away from Malaysia, where KFH holds a valuable licence but lacks scale, would help it focus on Kuveyt Turk, the largest Islamic bank in Turkey with over 500 branches. Kuveyt Turk, 62 per cent owned by KFH, is in expansion mode: It plans to launch Germany's first full-fledged Islamic bank in July as a gateway to Europe.

Future Bank, a Bahrain-based Iranian bank, has appealed a recent decision by Bahrain's central bank (CBB) to place it along with another Iranian financial institution into administration under the pretext of protecting the rights of depositors and policyholders. CBB in the case of the Future Bank and the Iran Insurance Company will have the power to continue or to temporary suspend their operations, the power to suspend or limit the discharge of their financial obligations, and the power to conclude deals on behalf of them. The Future Bank was established in 2004 through a joint venture between Bank Saderat Iran, Bank Melli Iran, and Ahli United Bank (AUB) Bahrain.

State Bank of Pakistan informed that the amalgamation of the defunct KASB Bank into Bank Islami Pakistan Ltd has been implemented smoothly. As a result all the depositors which are over 150000 in number and have Rs 57 billion in deposits are free to operate their accounts. Many of them have already started operating their accounts and more than 1200 employees have continued their jobs, a statement of SBP said. An important issue is the notional value at which the defunct bank has been handed over to BankIslami. Following international practices, a notional value of Rs 1000 was set for the defunct bank. BankIslami has planned to gradually transfer the defunct bank's conventional banking operations into Shariah based operations.

The volume of Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt’s (FAIT) business increased to LE52.8 bln at the end of April 2015, compared to LE47.9 bln in the same period last year, the bank announced. The increase marks a rise of 10.3% in comparison to last year. Additionally, the total assets of the bank increased by 9.8%, from LE47.4 bln in March 2014 to LE52 bln in April 2015. Meanwhile the bank’s net profits reached LE196.97 m in the first quarter of 2015, compared to EGP 172.3m during the same period in 2014. The bank’s capital is worth LE66.8bln, divided into 13.36 m shares at LE5 per share.

Ithmaar Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank, has reported a net profit of $7.62 million for the first quarter of 2015, a 261 per cent increase over the $2.11m net profit reported for the same period last year. Net profit attributable to equity holders of the bank for the first quarter of 2015 was $2.64m, a 426pc increase over the $0.5m profit reported for the same period last year. The bank's operating income has increased by almost 46pc to $83.34m for the first quarter of 2015, from $57.13m for the same period last year. This increase is mainly due to overall revenue growth, with net income, before provisions for impairment and overseas taxation, for the period increasing 292pc to $34.4m.

Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s second largest bank by assets, is to replace its chief executive, with the new head’s priority likely to be reversing its fortunes after seven straight quarterly profit drops. Suleiman bin Abdul Aziz al-Zabin resigned as chief executive for personal reasons, effective May 17, it said on Sunday in a statement. His replacement would be Steve Bertamini, who had been appointed chief executive, effective from May 18, it said. The bank’s consumer business has been hit by new rules and tougher competition from other lenders in the kingdom. It has one of the highest exposures in the financial sector to the retail segment.

Moody's Investors Service has today upgraded Qatar International Islamic Bank's (QIIB) long term and short term issuer rating to A2/Prime-1 from A3/Prime-2, and changed baseline credit assessment (BCA) and adj. BCA to baa3 from ba1. Moody's also changed the outlook on the bank's long term ratings to stable. At the same time, Moody's assigned a new Counterparty Risk Assessment of A1 to QIIB. Moody's rating action reflects QIIB's improved and consistently strong asset quality performance and its solid capitalisation, liquidity and funding profile. These strengths are moderated by high borrower and sector concentrations, risk management challenges stemming from rapid financing growth and margin pressures driving a modest decline in profitability.

The theory of Islamic banking as a new phenomenon started to appear during 1940s through 1960s, in Urdu, Arabic and English. Among the earliest proposal for Islamic banking, one was made by Qureshi (1946) in his book Islam and Theory of Interest. He suggests that both Islamic bank and entrepreneur can create partnership. Later contributions such as Uzair's (1955), Irshad (1964) and Al - Arabi (1966) also suggested that mudarabah should be the main principle for Islamic banking. While the first theoretical works began in 1940s, the experimental works in this regard did not start until 1960s. In 1975 the first private commercial Islamic Bank 'Dubai Islamic Bank' was established by a group of Muslim businessmen from several countries.

The Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has asked the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to review the deal to merge KASB Bank and BankIslami, which cost millions of rupees to the equity investors. Sources said that SECP Chairman Zafar Hijazi wrote a letter to SBP Governor Ashraf Mehmood Wathra, urging him give compensation to equity traders who faced losses as a result of the amalgamation of BankIslami with KASB Bank. The value of KASB Bank’s shares became zero after the amalgamation process – as the shares now stand cancelled and retired – and there was no protection to investors’ money, mainly that of shareholders.

Abdul Halim bin Ismail, the recipient of the Royal Award for Islamic Finance 2014, is proposing a new way for the Islamic finance sector to do more for society. His idea calls on central banks, most notably in Muslim-majority nations, to issue licenses to Islamic banks that would allow them to establish subsidiaries — or Sadaqah houses — catering to the social welfare sector. These charity houses would collect donations from the private sector and utilize the funds to make sound investments, with profits supporting programs that improve livelihood, health and education services for disadvantaged populations.

The federal government has approved the merger of KASB Bank Ltd with BankIslami Pakistan Ltd (BIPL). KASB Bank had been in trouble since 2009 as it failed to meet the Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR) and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR). The case became complicated when a Chinese company showed interest in buying the bank but the request was turned down by the SBP. However, the SBP clarified that the Chinese company neither had required capital nor was willing to show its credential as required by the SBP’s fit and proper condition needed to run a bank. All branches and customers of the former KASB Bank will be considered as BankIslami’s from Friday.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the Gulf nations' biggest Islamic lender, may sell some of its investments including KFH Malaysia and has picked Credit Suisse to advise it on the matter, KFH said on Wednesday. It did not provide any details such as a timeline or a potential sale price of the unit.

Al Rayan Bank, formerly known as Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB), yesterday announced its strongest financial performance to date, resulting in the Bank more than doubling its operating income and posting its first profit since its inception in 2004. The bank’s operating income increased 168 percent to £11.8m in 2014 from£4.4m in 2013. The bank saw 86 percent increase in total customer financing, to £450.3m. Retail deposits increased 59 percent to £509.8m and while wholesale deposits increased 53 percent to £31.7m. Increasing consumer confidence, the continued strength of the housing market and opportunities to provide property finance to the commercial sector as well as to investors in the Gulf has enabled Al Rayan Bank to post its best results to date.

Thanks to its economic diversity and proximity to Europe, Morocco is well-placed to offer a platform for Islamic banks, Lahcen Daoudi, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research said. Speaking at a conference organized by the national school of commerce and management (ENCG) in Tangier under the theme: “the foundations of Islamic banks” the Minister said that Islamic banks are considered as a source of wealth for Morocco that will contribute by 0.5% to 1% in PIB per year. As for human resources, the minister affirmed that the staff working in other banks will not find difficulties in joining Islamic banks.

Emirates Islamic Bank prévoit de s’implanter au Maroc et en Egypte au cours des deux prochaines années pour saisir les énormes opportunités qui se présentent sur ces deux marchés dans le segment de la finance halal. Le groupe bancaire compte se positionner dans les marchés marocain et égyptien en acquérant des banques existantes ou en demandant de nouvelles licences. A noter qu’une loi sur les banques islamiques a été adoptée en novembre 2014 par le parlement marocain. La Banque centrale marocaine a annoncé récemment avoir déjà reçu 15 demandes de licences émanant d’autant de banques islamiques étrangères.

Gatehouse Bank plc has announced the completion of terms to provide £17.92 million of senior financing following the recent acquisition of a UK industrial estate by Saudi Arabia's SEDCO Capital. Palmer Capital is acting as the Investment Manager to SEDCO Capital which through this venture intends to deploy £100 million into UK real estate over the next 12 months through this venture. This transaction is the first such transaction for this programme, which will target the recovering office and industrial real estate market in the UK. The funding supports the acquisition of Blakelands Industrial Estate, an industrial estate in Milton Keynes.

The State Bank of Pakistan feels that under the current circumstances, merger of KASB Bank with Bank Islami is a viable option wherein the bank’s depositors’ interest would be safeguarded and its problem would be resolved on a sustainable basis. Although there is a possibility of foreign investment worth $100 million from a Chinese investor yet the State Bank is concerned of the safety of depositors’ money and prompt payments to them. At the same time SBP does not want to fall in any conflict with the shareholders. Considering the fact that Chinese investor company called Cybernaut was not able to establish its bonafide even after elapse of considerable time their request was declined on 27th April 2015.