IslamicFinance.de

More savers than ever are turning to Islamic accounts in Great Britain. Tim Sinclair is head of marketing and retail sales at Al Rayan Bank, formerly known as the Islamic Bank of Britain. He says that business has taken off in the past 18 months. A large part of this growth was driven by non-Muslims. Mohammad Khan, head of Islamic finance at PwC, thinks that ethical concerns are one driver of interest in sharia-compliant products, but not the main reason. The competitiveness of the Shariah products is also an important incentive. For example, six of Al Rayan’s savings products are currently listed in the Moneyfacts “best buy” tables.

Sara Jawadi, a Muslim woman who unsuccessfully lobbied New Zealand's big banks for interest-free mortgages, is turning her attention to other financial institutions. Jawadi said she had approached Kiwibank, ANZ, BNZ and Westpac but she was either met with no response or was told to send an email. The next step was to approach private investors and finance companies in the hope of a better response, she said. Jawadi and other Kiwi Muslims in similar situations could be in luck as New Zealand's first Islam-friendly KiwiSaver provider plans to offer interest-free mortgages to Muslims. Amanah Ethical launched the country's first Sharia-compliant KiwiSaver earlier this year.

Bahrain’s central bank said on Thursday it had placed two Iran-linked companies, Future Bank and Iran Insurance Co, into administration to protect the rights of depositors and policyholders. In a brief statement, the central bank did not elaborate on why it took the action or give any information about the two companies. Future Bank, based in Manama, is a commercial bank which was founded in 2004 as a joint venture between two Iranian banks - Bank Saderat and Bank Melli - and Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank. Iran Insurance Co is the Bahrain branch of an Iranian government-owned insurer. It was not immediately known whether the action against the two companies in Bahrain was related to international sanctions against Iranian institutions.

Speculation that the Turkish government may be closer to relinquishing control of Bank Asya has stoked its stock to a record gain. Bondholders proved harder to please. Shares of the Istanbul-based lender soared more than 50% after it said most Class-A holders provided documentation to the regulator proving they’re qualified to be founding partners. The bank’s Islamic bond climbed about 3% to 61.474 cents on the dollar in the week of April 12. Government control is considered positive for bondholders. The bank’s Islamic bond due March 2023 jumped 38%, the most on record, when Turkey’s agency responsible for resolving failed banks seized control in February as investors bet authorities wouldn’t let the lender default.

London-based European Islamic Investment Bank said on Tuesday it plans to close a proposed 20 million pound ($30.5 million) tender offer for its own shares in May as it transitions into an asset management business model. In February, the sharia-compliant firm said it had received regulatory approval to relinquish its banking licence and is now an investment firm regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. EIIB plans to invest $1 billion in a mix of property transactions over the next 24 months. It held $1.1 billion in assets under management as of December. The firm posted a pre-tax operating profit of $2.3 million in 2014 compared with $2.23 million profit a year earlier.

European Islamic Investment Bank plc ('EIIB-Rasmala'), the London-listed asset management and financing group focused on the growth markets of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), has announced its full year financial results for the year ended 31 December 2014. The total operating income was US$16.4 million compared to US$15.4 million a year before. Profit before tax from continuing operations was US$2.3 million (2013: US$2.23 million). Total assets under management (AUM) stood at US$1.11 billion. EIIB-Rasmala expects to invest about US$1 billion in broad mix of property transactions and grow the leasing and alternatives business to over US$1.5 billion in the next 24 months.

Banks are tightening lending conditions for small, private companies in the Gulf - a sign that the region's economies are not escaping damage from the plunge of oil prices. Heavy state spending is keeping economies growing strongly. Rather than borrow domestically or run down their deposits at local banks, governments of GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia are covering much of the budget deficits due to cheap oil by bringing home some funds stored abroad. So for many companies in the Gulf, it's still a borrowers' market for loans - credit is easily available at rock-bottom rates. The exception is small firms that do not have the advantage of shareholding links to governments.

The Islamic banking industry in Saudi Arabia is set to achieve $683 billion of Shariah-compliant assets by 2019, according to EY’s World Islamic Banking Competitiveness report. A strong demand from customers, both retail and corporate, has led to significant growth in Islamic banking in Saudi Arabia resulting in 54 percent of all financing being Shariah-compliant in 2013. Overall, the size of Islamic banking assets in Saudi Arabia has nearly doubled from 2009-2013. One in three of the positive sentiments analyzed in the kingdom were about branch experience, indicating that customers were generally satisfied in this area of service. While online and mobile banking services has taken off well in Saudi Arabia, it’s sustainability remains a cause of concern.

Warba Bank has announced the re-launching Qard Hasan (“Free Profit loan”) in Kuwait after increasing its amount to KD 5,000 with flexible repayment period up to 18 months to all Kuwaiti Nationals as per the credit terms and conditions for individuals. Two years ago, Warba was the first bank in Kuwait to launch Qard Hasan initiative, not bearing any profits in line with the rules of Islamic Sharia. This initiative aims at supporting national customers working in the government sector, any of its associated institutions or the private sector. The customer will have the choice of either opening a Warba Bank salary account or investment saving account at no charges.

Sharjah Islamic Bank achieved a net profit of Dh106.9 million for the first quarter 2015 compared to Dh110 million for the same period last year. While total assets reaching Dh27.4 billion, total assets grew by 5.3 per cent to reach Dh27.4 billion at the end of the first quarter 2015 compared to Dh26.0 billion at year end 2014. Liquid assets reached Dh5.7 billion comprising 20.7 per cent of total assets. Net customer receivables amounted to Dh16 billion growing by 10.5 per cent or Dh1.5 billion compared to year end 2014. Investment securities increased by 27.6 per cent to reach Dh2 billion compared to Dh1.6 billion at the end of 2014. Sharjah Islamic Bank was successful in attracting more deposits during the first-quarter of the year.

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and Jaiz Bank on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to empower Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country. The objective of this collaboration is to design a cheap, affordable and sustainable financing product that will empower SMEs to expand their business operations, Alhaji Umar Masari, Director-General, SMEDAN said. According to him, the roles of SMEDAN in the MoU is to sensitise prospective beneficiaries to the benefit of the collaboration. The bank will facilitate MSME access to Federal Government’s MSME Development Funds, among others.

Maybank Islamic Bhd expects the bulk of its mudarabah deposit account holders to reclassify their accounts to mudarabah investment account (IA), in compliance with Bank Negara’s requirement. Chief executive officer Muzaffar Hisham said the 350,000 customers of the bank’s existing mudarabah deposit products had been given until May 31 to consent to either have their accounts reclassified as IA or other syariah-compliant deposit products. Some 70%-80% of the bank’s customers were expected to make the switch as the IA was a compliance requirement arising from the central bank’s Islamic Financial Services Act 2013.

Maybank Investment Bank, Public Islamic Bank and RHB Islamic Bank have entered into an agreement with Impian Bebas Sdn Bhd to provide a 15-year, RM1.08 billion syndicated Islamic term financing. Maybank IB was appointed as the coordinating bank and joint lead arranger (JLA) for the Islamic term financing together with Public Islamic and RHB Islamic. Impian Bebas, a joint venture company between KLCC (Holdings) Sdn Bhd and Sapura Resources Bhd, is developing a commercial land known as Lot 91 at Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) into a mixed commercial development comprising of office tower, convention centre and retail podium.

Three Malaysian banks are to provide property company Impian Bebas Sdn Bhd with a 15-year 1.08 billion ringgit ($298.34 million) syndicated Islamic financing, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, one of the banks involved, said. Impian Bebas was created from a partnership between property and investmemt groups KLCC Holdings Sdn Bhd and Sapura Resources Berhad. It is to develop a plot of land in central Kuala Lumpur, close to the city's Petronas twin towers. Maybank IB was appointed as the joint lead arranger with Public Islamic Bank Bhd and RHB Islamic Bank Bhd , Maybank said in a statement.

Moody's Investors Service has today downgraded to Baa3/Prime-3 from Baa2/Prime-2 the deposit, issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings of three Bahraini Banks: BBK B.S.C., National Bank of Bahrain BSC, and Bahrain Development Bank B.S.C. Concurrently, Moody's downgraded the baseline credit assessments (BCAs) of BBK and National Bank of Bahrain to ba1 from baa3. These actions follow Moody's downgrade of Bahrain's government bond ratings to Baa3 from Baa2 on 16 April 2015 and reflect (1) the government's reduced capacity of support, and (2) the challenges in view of weaker economic growth. The negative outlooks assigned to the Baa3 long-term ratings of the three banks are aligned with the negative outlook on the government's Baa3 bond rating.

Bank Asya climbed to the highest in seven months, extending last week’s record rally, amid optimism the lender may be released from government management. Shares in the company advanced 3.8 percent to 1.09 liras at 3:39 p.m. in Istanbul, the highest level since September. Bank Asya has gained more than 60 percent since April 9, when it said 152 shareholders, representing about 90 percent of Class A shares, delivered documents to the banking regulator proving they’re qualified to be founding partners. Bank Asya has been trading in a markets watchlist since September. Companies on the list trade under conditions of heightened surveillance, and trading is limited to the afternoon only.

The Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group has launched its Islamic banking unit as it seeks to tap into the growing demand for Islamic financial products across the East African region. The launch paves the way for the full roll-out of Shari’ah-compliant products under the proposition dubbed ‘KCB Sahl Banking’, after KCB received all the necessary regulatory approvals. In addition to the Kenyan operation, KCB Bank Tanzania is offering Islamic Banking services supported by the regulatory framework that is in place. For a start, KCB will roll out the Islamic Banking products in six of its branches as ahead of a national roll-out.

The International Monetary Fund, the world’s lender of last resort, has recently released a report on the effect of financial panics on Islamic banks. The working paper, published in February 2015 by Moazzam Farooq and Sajjad Zaheer, is based in Pakistan. In terms of methodology, the IMF paper examines the impact of a financial panic on the deposit and lending behavior of both Islamic and conventional banks in the country. Preliminary results by the report indicate that Islamic banking branches are less likely to experience a run on deposits compared to their conventional counterparts. The explanatory variables that illustrate why this is the case, however, are not so clearly defined.

The Kuala Lumpur-based Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) has released final guidance on liquidity risk management for Islamic banks, which may spur national authorities to issue more sukuk and establish sharia-compliant deposit insurance schemes. The guidance note, known as GN-6, clarifies the tools that Islamic banks can use to meet Basel III regulatory requirements, now being phased in for both conventional and sharia-compliant banks around the world. It defines the types of high-quality liquid assets (HQLA) that Islamic banks can hold and the weights that should be assigned to Islamic deposits.

The value of the shares in Bank Asya have jumped 41.8 percent following a recent announcement by the bank saying documents belonging to 90 percent of privileged shareholders have been sent to the banking watchdog. The bank's shares were priced at TL 0.95 on Turkey's stock exchange, Borsa ?stanbul (B?ST), at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Thursday's reading was 76 percent higher than the historic low of TL 0.54, recorded in September 2014. The interim board established by the TMSF after the takeover announced on April 9 that 152 out of 185 privileged shareholders had submitted their documents to the BDDK. Since that day, Bank Asya shares have risen by 41.8 percent, strengthening shareholders' hand in their bid to take back the management of the bank.