IslamicFinance.de

Indonesian authorities are pushing ahead with a plan to create an $8 billion Islamic megabank, even after a similar proposal fell through in Malaysia. A potential merger of the shariah-compliant units of government-controlled Bank Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Bank Negara Indonesia could happen as soon as this year, Financial Services Authority (OJK) chairman Muliaman Hadad said. Talks are ongoing with the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry, which first proposed the merger in May 2013. The megabank could help drive a quadrupling in Islamic banks’ market share to 20 percent by 2018, compared with 10 percent without it.

Turkey’s banking regulator took control of Bank Asya, stepping up a year-long campaign against the Islamic lender a day after self-exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen criticized the government from his base in the U.S. The Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, or TMSF, the agency responsible for resolving failed banks, appointed a new chief executive officer and board of directors late Tuesday, the bank said in a filing. Its activities will continue without “any disruption” under the new management. The government’s move against Bank Asya has been expected for quite some time now. The timing of the Bank Asya move intends to minimize the damage of the decline in investor confidence.

Maybank Islamic Bhd, the Islamic banking arm of the Maybank Group, has introduced its latest offering – Maybank Islamic Custody Services, both domestic and abroad. Maybank Islamic will be targeting prospective clients such as the Government-linked Companies (GLCs) in Malaysia, fund management companies, institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds, which in total would have an estimated asset under management of about RM1.4 trillion. Maybank Islamic Custody Services also has the capability of monitoring non-syariah compliant securities should clients accidentally purchase them or should the syariah compliant securities subsequently deemed non-syariah compliant.

Une dizaine de demandes d’agrément ont été soumises à Bank Al-Maghrib par des institutions jugées leaders dans l’industrie de la finance islamique. Ces institutions viennent essentiellement d’Asie, plus particulièrement du Moyen-Orient. Une bonne partie de ces institutions ont l’intention de créer des joint-ventures avec des banques marocaines. Certaines se sont déjà engagées avec des accords, d’autres sont toujours en négociation. Le PDG d’Al Baraka Banking Group Adnan Ahmed Yousif avait lui aussi confirmé un projet de banque islamique au Maroc avec un partenaire local. Concernant Attijariwafa bank, le groupe est toujours sollicité par les leaders mondiaux de la finance islamique.

For all the sectarian violence gripping Iraq, Shari’ah-compliant banks operating in the nation see opportunities for growth. Elaf Islamic Bank, the 14-year-old Baghdad-based lender, is targeting 28 per cent increase in profit this year, even as rival Cihan Bank said its income dropped last year as militants seized vast swathes of the country. However, Cihan Bank also said its outlook improved toward the end of last year as the US began airstrikes on Islamic State. Meanwhile, Iraq’s cabinet approved a draft law yesterday regulating the Shari’ah-compliant banking industry, which will now move to the country’s parliament for passage.

Gatehouse Bank has appointed David Swan in a newly-created role as head of real estate investment. Swan will lead the firm’s real estate investment department in the origination, management and realisation of real estate equity investments. Gatehouse currently advises funds with approximately £1bn assets in the UK and US. The business is focused on diversifying its investment capabilities and expanding the geographical footprint of its portfolio. Swan has more than two decades of experience in the real estate investment sector. Prior to Gatehouse, he founded Bridgeport Real Estate in 2012, a real estate company advising investors on a range of large scale off-market transactions.

CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd. plans to start offering microloans in Malaysia as it seeks new growth avenues after delaying plans to create a Shariah-compliant megabank. The Malaysian lender will offer a wide range of products including microsavings, microinsurance and advisory services. While acknowledging the risks, CIMB will put in place a framework to manage defaults. The lender’s microfinance business will develop in stages starting at the higher end. Keeping in mind that prospects for growth are good, the bank is looking to launch something subject to relevant approvals by this year.

Banque Misr has registered total Shariah-compliant funding of two billion Egyptian pounds (US$135 million) by end of 2014. Banque Misr's Shariah-compliant deposits have totalled around 26 billion pounds. During fiscal year 2013/2014, Banque Misr had arranged a number of Islamic funding contracts including a US$110 million contract as pursuant to Mudaraba system. The bank had also implemented the first joint Islamic financing with Istisna'a followed by Ijarah system described in the disclosure to finance a project with a total value of about 1.07 billion pounds, Moreover, the bank had carried out the first Islamic finance in the Egyptian market with Musharakah Mutanaqisah system.

Abu Dhabi's government-owned Al Hilal Bank said on Thursday its chief executive Mohamed Jamil Berro had not resigned, correcting an earlier comment from a spokeswoman who said he was leaving. The CEO still remains in his position and it is business as usual for the bank, according to a statement from the bank. Earlier, the bank's spokeswoman told Reuters that Berro had resigned, with Al Hilal's executive vice president of wholesale banking, Sarie Ahmed Arar, assuming the role of acting CEO. The bank's spokeswoman mistakenly informed Reuters that Berro had resigned, the statement said without elaborating.

Bank Islami Pakistan has received regulatory approval to study the acquisition of KASB Bank Limited. An acquisition could see Karachi-based Bank Islami add 105 branches to its existing network of 213, while the transaction would require the conversion of KASB Bank's conventional financial products into sharia-compliant ones. In November, the central bank placed KASB Bank under a six-month moratorium as it struggled to meet capital adequacy requirements. Last week, Bank Islami's board of directors approved a plan to raise 3.5 billion rupees ($34.8 million) via subordinated Islamic bonds to fund its expansion strategy.

Premier Bank in Somalia has successfully gone live with Path Solutions’ iMAL Islamic Banking & Investment System on the 29th of December 2014. The implementation of the new R14 Branch Automation in the latest Java version serves the bank’s purposes of focusing on its business growth, managing risks and controlling costs. Phase I implementation covers System Admin, Accounting, Customer Service Management (CSM), Report Designer, SWIFT, Alerts (SMS Banking), and Processing modules in iMAL. Phase II implementation is already in progress and includes Facility Management System, Islamic Investment System, Provisioning, Profit Calculation System and Integration Manager modules along with Internet Banking, ATM, and Mobile Banking.

Muhammad Nurul Islam, managing director/chief executive officer of Jaiz Bank, explained that wholesale transparency in the bank’s regular operations at all levels has enabled it to move away from huge losses to break-even point in record time. However, there are also challenges for the bank, such as the need for a liquidity management instrument that is non-interest banking compliant to manage our excess liquidity. Islam also said that by 2016 end, the bank will have improved capital to enable it go outside the shores of Nigeria. So in the next five years, Jaiz Bank will go International and expand its business base.

Al Hilal Bank is reportedly partnering with Hind Al Oud perfume manufacturer that specialises in musky Arab scents to create a themed card targeting women. Al Oud will also provide complimentary perfumes alongside the perfumed MasterCard.

Gatehouse Bank is marketing a new CMBS-style transaction backed by the rental cashflow from a Paris office property. The deal is backed by an acquisition facility of more than EUR100m, where the rental payments will be securitised through two classes of fixed-rate certificates. This new structure, labelled a commercial rental-backed security (CRBS) by Gatehouse, removes the uncertainty because the certificates are backed by the direct legal ownership of the building. The bank will look to attract typical CMBS buyers, which are increasingly seeking to access this asset class.

The planned amalgamation of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd., RHB Capital Bhd. and Malaysia Building Society Bhd. has stalled as tumbling oil prices wreak havoc on the economy. The merger would have been the nation’s largest ever M&A transaction. Central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz first raised the idea of an Islamic finance megabank more than five years ago. A license slated to be awarded in 2011 for a multinational lender to be formed between Asia and the Middle East didn’t materialize, depriving the $1.7 trillion global industry of a growth engine. Nevertheless, RHB said in a statement that the parties were still in discussions.

According to Behnam Gurbanzadeh, IBA Islamic Finance Department Manager, the idea to establish the CIS Islamic Development Bank, proposed by IBA several years ago, has become attractive for their Russian colleagues. The interest of Russian banks for instruments like Islamic financing has suddenly increased. Russian banks have problems with funding and are actively looking for alternative sources of financing, Gurbanzadeh said. Last November he revived the idea of the CIS Islamic Development Bank and Russia together with Kazakhstan. IBA agreed to work on the establishment of a Working Group on Islamic financing under the CIS Financial and Banking Council.

Bank AlJazira reported Q4 net profit of SAR 199 million, up 32.67 per cent compared to one year ago and up 323.4 per cent on the previous quarter. However, the bank’s full year net profit was down 12.14 per cent at SAR 572 million. Total assets rose 10.97 per cent to SAR 66,554 million but investments were down 10.02 per cent at SAR 11,335 million. Loans and advances were up 17.86 per cent at SAR 41,245 million and customer deposits rose 13.49 per cent at SAR 54,569 million. Moreover, Bank Aljazira’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the increase of the bank's capital from SAR 3,000 million to SAR 4,000 million, an increase of 33.33%.

Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) has reaffirmed ratings of Bahrain Islamic Bank (BIsB) at BBB/A2 on the national scale and BBB-/A3 on the international scale. Outlook on the ratings is 'Stable'. IIRA has also reassessed BIsB's fiduciary score at '65-70'. There has been gradual improvement in the bank's funding access, as well as an improved earning capacity. Meanwhile, the bank has maintained strong control on operating expenses, which is beginning to reflect in overall profitability. However, prior year losses have depleted equity levels and recapitalization is required not only to financially reinforce the bank, but also to benefit from a growing market and expand business operations.

While all of Bank Asya's partnership negotiations with foreign and local banks have failed within the past year, it has sold four of its subsidiaries and decided to increase its paid capital by 25 percent. Bank Asya first sold its 21.8 percent stake in Yeni Ma?azac?l?k A.?. (A101) worth TL 350 million ($152.2 million) on April 25, 2014, and then it sold its shares of Tuna GYO (Asya Termal) and Nil Yönetim Hizmetleri A.?. in July. Six months after these sales, Bank Asya is now selling its 40 percent share of Tamweel Africa Holding S.A. to the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). Therefore, the combined revenue earned is now TL 568 million when the last sale is included.

Head of the Egyptian Islamic Finance Association (EIFA), Mohamed El-Beltagy, said that Islamic banking clients in Egypt estimated approximately 2.5 million, constitute about 20% of the Egyptian banks clients. After the 2008 global financial crisis, international interest in the Islamic banking and finance industry increased. With the Muslim Brotherhood coming to power in 2012, Islamic banking’s importance grew once more. The move towards Islamic banking encouraged some conventional global and local commercial banks into setting up branches offering Islamic banking services. El-Beltagy said that the size of Islamic deposits as of 30 June 2014, about EGP 115.8bn, accounting for 8.3% of the Egyptian banking market size.