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Unless Gulf bond sales pick up in the fourth quarter, the market will shrink this year for the first time in a decade. The prospects aren’t looking good. Issuance from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council dropped 31 per cent to $20.4 billion this year through 30 September, while $23.5 billion of securities are due to mature in 2015. Redemptions haven’t exceeded sales since at least 2005. A contraction would cap a year in which GCC debt investors have been starved of options as borrowers turned to loans and markets whipsawed amid China’s faltering economic performance and speculation the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates.

Indebted Kuwaiti financial firm Investment Dar is seeking court approval to help close a 813 million dinar ($2.7 billion) debt restructuring. The new plan, called Dasman, is designed to overcome minority creditor dissent to earlier proposals by asking Kuwait's Court of Appeal to impose the deal on all creditors. The plan involves transferring Investment Dar's assets, and the management of their disposal, directly to creditors. About 60 percent of creditors have voiced support for the new plan, said Investment Dar. Investment Dar continued to defend legal action from a minority of creditors not supportive of the plan and who were pursuing claims against the company independently.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (Adib) said on Monday it has raised Dh504 million in its rights issue, which was nearly three times oversubscribed, with Dh1.46 billion in subscriptions received. Following the close of the subscription period on September 10, all 168 million shares were fully subscribed, the bank said in a statement. The rights, which were traded on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, offered investors Adib shares at a price of Dh3 per share, and are part of the bank’s plan to raise capital to support growth.

Dubai's DAMAC Properties said on Tuesday that it raised $100 million through private placement of 18-month sukuk certificates. The certificates, rated BB by Standard & Poors, were issued by its unit Damac Real Estate Development Ltd, it said in a bourse statement. Emirates NBD was the sole lead manager for the transaction.

There are some misconceptions about Islamic banking in Oman, which need to be dispelled through raising awareness about this sector, Dr Jamil El Jaroudi, chief executive officer of Bank Nizwa said. El Jaroudi noted that they do not want to simply replicate what is out there in the conventional banking and continuously try to innovate and build an industry based on Sharia objectives, and not necessarily just to be Sharia-compliant. However, during the initial phase, they do have to provide alternatives to the current conventional products to suit the demand of customers, he added. Another misconception is that Islamic banking is similar to a social philanthropic entity. Nevertheless, Islamic banks are commercial and profit oriented businesses.

In an unexpected move, Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) pulled out of Albaraka Türk's latest $450m murabaha loan because it did not think the loan was Shariah compliant, according to two bankers on the deal. Turkish participation bank Albaraka Türk has signed a $450m-equivalent one year loan, which it increased from the $400m launch size.

Bahrain’s Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) and Venture Capital Bank lead the GCC Islamic Financial Disclosure Index Rankings, it has emerged. The conveners of the 22nd annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) revealed the ranking of the top five GCC Islamic banks rated according to their financial disclosure, subsequent to the announcement of the launch of the WIBC Leaderboard. As per the rankings, the banks, both based in Bahrain are positioned at the top of the Islamic financial institutions in the GCC with a score of 69 and 68 respectively. The index ranges from zero to 100, with higher values indicating more disclosure.

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 average length of expatriates stay in GCC countries, counting in all major expatriate groups such as Western, Arab and Indians, exceeds 10 years and this group forms a major target market for asset managers, according to Invesco’s sixth annual Middle East Asset Management Study. The Invesco survey of asset managers showed that contrary to popular belief, the average stay of various expatriate groups in GCC countries are longer, with non-resident Indians (NRIs) exceeding 15 years. In summary, there was a strong consensus that the number of GCC-based retirees would increase from all expatriate segments if GCC governments changed the immigration rules and encouraged retirees.

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.

Bambang Bodjonegoro, the Indonesian Minister of Finance, today rang the market-opening bell to celebrate the listing on Nasdaq Dubai of four Sukuk valued at six billion US dollars (AED 22 billion), issued by the Indonesian government under its Trust Certificate Issuance Programme since 2012. The Islamic bond listings are the largest ever carried out by a sovereign issuer in Dubai. Indonesia’s four Sukuk listings comprise one issuance of two billion USD dollars AED 7.3 billion), two of 1.5 billion US dollars (AED 5.5 billion) each, and one of one billion USD dollars (AED 3.7 billion). All listed on Nasdaq Dubai on May 31, 2015.

A delegation from Azzad Asset Management joined representatives from the Saudi Arabian and U.S. business communities in Washington, D.C., for a conference designed to foster trade ties between the two nations. Azzad has investments in Saudi Arabia through its international fixed-income fund. The U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, organized by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority in conjunction with the Council of Saudi Chambers and the U.S.-Saudi Business Council, served as an opportunity for executives and officials to explore investments in energy, transportation, health, education, and financial services. Signing ceremonies between U.S. and Saudi businesses were a feature of the event.

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.

The decision to allow new licences came at a meeting of Qatar’s Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment on 9 September. The council reviewed developments in both energy and investment before turning to the proposal by Qatar Central Bank (QCB) to grant licenses to open branches for GCC banks in Qatar. The council approved the proposal, with licenses set to be granted according to QCB requirements. Qatar currently licences 11 domestic banks and seven foreign banks. Among the foreign banks, Mashreq is the only GCC-based institution to have a Qatari banking licence. Bahrain’s Ithmaar Bank has a representative office in Qatar but not a full licence.

Barwa Bank, Qatar’s newest Islamic bank in which government is a majority owner, has found its niche in the country’s growing Islamic banking sector, benefiting from Qatar’s strong economy and favourable operating environment, according to Moody’s. Continued high public spending will continue to create further business opportunities for local banks, particularly those with well-established government links like Barwa, the rating agency said. Furthermore, Barwa will benefit from regulators’ policies, which prohibit conventional financial institutions operating Shariah-compliant banking windows and reduce the competition for a fast-growing customer segment. Nevertheless, the bank’s asset quality will likely remain stable over the next 12 to 18 months.

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.

Dagong Global Credit Rating Company Limited (Dagong) and Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) have jointly reaffirmed the international scale credit rating of Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) at 'BBB+/A3' (Triple B Plus / A Three). In addition, IIRA has reaffirmed ABG 's national scale rating at 'A+(bh)/A2(bh)' (Single A Plus / A Two). Outlook on the assigned ratings is 'Stable'. IIRA has also reassessed the group's overall fiduciary score in the range of '76-80', which indicates strong fiduciary standards and a well developed governance structure. Ratings assigned to ABG derive strength from the group's relatively strong wealth creation ability given increasing demand for Islamic banking services and ABG 's prominent position in the global Islamic banking segment.

Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group Adnan Ahmed Yousif has revealed that the bank has completed the procedures for obtaining the necessary licenses to operate in the Moroccan market. It already has operations in Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. He added that the bank has also obtained the necessary approvals for the opening of 20 new branches, and plans to open 25 branches by 2020. Al Baraka is also planning to establish a software company in partnership with European investors and Indians with capital of $15 million under the name Al Baraka Banking Software. The Islamic bank also plans to expand into India and Indonesia. It already has a representative office in Indonesia but sold out of an investment company in India.

"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.

State-owned Investment Corp. of Dubai is reportedly raising a $500 million loan. The facility will be provided by Emirates NBD and Dubai Islamic Bank. The money will fund the expansion of its Atlantis, The Palm resort in Dubai. ICD and Kerzner International Holdings, a developer and operator of destination resorts and luxury hotels, plan to spend $1.4 billion to build The Royal Atlantis Resort and Residences. The development on Dubai’s man-made island will add nearly 800 guest rooms and 250 luxury residences. ICD acquired Atlantis, The Palm from Dubai World in December 2013.