IslamicFinance.de

The U.S. Treasury Department has placed sanctions on Al Hilal Exchange and Al Fida International General Trading, both based in Dubai. The two institutions were targeted for their role in providing financial services to Bank Mellat, which is itself under U.S. sanctions for being involved in Iran’s nuclear program. Both the exchange house and the trading company helped Iran maintain access to foreign currency Exchange. Moreover, Al Hilal also provided services to Bank Melli, which is also under U.S. sanctions. Representatives from each firm couldn’t be reached.

Goldman Sachs International on Wednesday outbid Fortress Investment Group LLC to provide exit financing to Arcapita Bank BSC worth up to $350 million, money that will allow the Bahraini bank to meet outstanding obligations and work its way out of bankruptcy. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean H. Lane noted that the bank was in the unusual position of having two institutions fighting over which would be able to provide the financing.

Azzad Asset Management recently hosted Dr. Mehmet Yesilyaprak of Turkiye Finans Bank at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Yesilyaprak gave the Azzad staff an update on the banking sector in Turkey and met afterwards with Azzad management to discuss areas of future collaboration. The Azzad Wise Capital Fund invests in deposits and notes from Turkiye Finans Bank, among other Islamic banks. The Fund also invests in sukuk. As of March 31, 2013, deposits from Turkiye Finans Bank represented approximately 13% of the Fund's holdings. Portfolio Manager Jamal Elbarmil recently highlighted the contribution of Turkey's Islamic banking sector to the Azzad Wise Capital Fund's first quarter results, stating that exposure to bank deposits from the four Turkish Participation Banks, including Turkiye Finans Bank, helped the Fund outperform its benchmark for the period.

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and S&P Dow Jones Indices have announced the launch of the S&P BSE 500 Shariah index, the first new index resulting from the strategic partnership formed between the two companies in February of this year. The S&P BSE 500 consists of 500 of the largest, most liquid Indian stocks trading at the BSE. The index represents nearly 93% of the total market capitalization on the BSE and covers all 20 major industries of the economy. S&P Dow Jones Indices has contracted with Ratings Intelligence Partners (RI) to provide the Shariah screens and to filter the stocks. BSE and S&P Dow Jones Indices announced on February 19, 2013, a strategic partnership to calculate, disseminate, and license the widely followed suite of BSE indices.

London-based Gatehouse Bank plc (Gatehouse) has announced that its associate has successfully completed the sale of a real estate investment located in San Francisco's South Financial District in California. The total amount of the sale reached $71m (£46.4m), which yielded a profit on equity of 100% post costs and taxes. This real estate investment consists of two office buildings situated on a 15,306 sq ft parcel of land and is adjacent to the proposed Transbay Redevelopment Project. Gatehouse Bank and its associate were assisted by Arch Street Capital Advisors, L.L.C. and SKS Investments in this transaction.

In response to the exponential growth of Islamic Banking as a field, Woodbridge University has introduced its MBA program in Islamic Banking. The program is designed to equip executives with the specialist knowledge required for professional development in the international finance sector. It follows many of the same core modules as the Banking and Finance MBA, but also includes specialist modules in Islamic Banking and Finance. The MBA Program has attracted over 1,500 new students so far.

Banks in the United Kingdom and the United States are not accepting transactions made through the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited after allegations surfaced about its alleged funding of militant groups across the globe. The matter came to light when a team of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) met the central bank Governor. According to BGMEA, banks in the United Kingdom and the United States are not accepting export bills and documents through the Islami Bank Bangladesh. Apparel sector’s apex body has requested Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman to resolve the issue, saying many of its members were facing troubles. The bank posted a clarification on its website and denied the charges.

Nicholas Kaiser, chairman of Saturna Capital Corp., has been managing the shariah-compliant Amana Funds which target Muslim investors in the U.S. since 1994. Mr. Káiser can't invest in companies that derive a significant part of their business from activities unacceptable to the principles of Shariah law. Another challenge is managing his cash because earning interest is prohibited. He currently holds 4.3% of the fund's assets in cash. The fund has a 10-year average annual return of 12.2%. It now has $2.2 billion in assets, and Mr. Kaiser estimates that only about 10% to 12% of investors in it are Muslim.

Tide Natural Gas Storage I LP, which paid $515 million for natural gas assets from a subsidiary of Bahrain's bankrupt Arcapita Bank BSC, asked a New York bankruptcy court Monday to appoint a trustee of the subsidiary's bankruptcy because of conflicts of interest. Tide asked to convert Arcapita subsidiary Falcon Gas Storage Co. Inc.'s bankruptcy from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 and for the court to appoint a trustee because Arcapita reorganization's plan will give the Bahraini bank and its creditors too much power.

Nearly 300 asset managers, water infrastructure and energy sector executives attended the event ‘Water: Emerging Risks and Opportunities' in New York to learn about opportunities for investing in water and the growing water demands of the United States’ booming unconventional energy sector. The event was sponsored by Goldman Sachs, GE and the World Resources Institute. On the other hand, the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility convened a roundtable on the obligations of companies to respect the human right to water. Seventy religious investors, major water-intensive companies, and grassroots activists came together to tackle the question of what companies can and should do to ensure their operations “do no harm” to water supplies of local communities. Investors at the Goldman event very well may be driving the green technologies that can help the industrial companies at the ICCR session clean up their acts. But the problem for companies is that in most places, water is so cheap that investing in these solutions can sometimes be hard to justify on a traditional ROI basis, if not on a moral one.

The Institute of International Finance (IIF) warns that rich-country central banks may end their stimulus measures for emerging markets and warned investors to be prepared. Although there are few indications that the world's central banks are about to change course soon, the risk for reversal of rates needs to be discussed in order to avoid a “boom-bust cycle”.

Building a Healthy & Sustainable Social Impact Bond (SIB) Market is the name of new report by Godeke Consulting that was supported by the Rockeffeller Foundation. The aim of the report is to explore the landscape of potential SIB investors in order to clarify the ways in which a sustainable market can be built up. Beside that, the report provides a look at social and environmental conditions and current economical issues.

Gatehouse Bank's acquisition of a diverse industrial portfolio of 19 operationally critical properties all over the USA has been competed. The properties are leased to 16 tenants, whereby the remaining lease term is 14 years in average. The portfolio is stabilised at 100% occupancy. The acquisition worth $178 million was carried out in partnership with the Brennan Investment Group (BIG).

Despite the worldwide domination of a few credit rating agencies, two not-for-profit rating providers announced their alliance. The agencies are Wikirating and Public Sector Credit Solutions (PSCS). They both use crowdsourcing techniques, thus aiming to improve credit ratings. Wikirating employs a technology similar to that of Wikipedia in order to gather and aggregate information and views about credit quality for multiple categories of bonds. PSCS has provided an open source software tool which is used to calculates default probabilities for government bonds. It also has fully transparent sample models and data sets.

New York, November 16, 2012: International development leaders and experts highlighted the importance of Zakat in advancing global development at a forum titled "Linking Muslim Giving to the MDGs". The forum was co-hosted at the United Nations headquarters by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), The World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists, and the UN Millennium Campaign.

"While some countries have made impressive gains in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), others are falling behind. The Muslim world is no exception. Faith emphasizes building communities, sharing wealth and upholding the rights of the poor and marginalized. Faith-based giving such as Zakat which amounts to billions of dollars needs to be spent in more strategic and effective way to accelerate development in OIC member countries” stated Ambassador Ufuk Gokcen, the permanent observer of OIC at the United Nations, in his address.

Islamic Finance Project
Islamic Legal Studies Program
Harvard Law School

Shari'a-Compliant Home Financing in the United States

A panel discussion featuring

Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo
Shari'a Consultant, Malfa Inc. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Panelists:
Shahab Ahmed (Moderator)
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Visiting Associate Professor of Islamic Legal Studies, Harvard Law School

Thomas Gainor
Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Guidance Residential, LLC, Reston, Virginia

David Loundy
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Devon Bank, Chicago, Illinois

Intisar A. Raab
Visiting Associate Professor of Islamic Legal Studies, Harvard Law School

Monday, October 29, 2012, 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Austin Hall North, Harvard Law School

For more information, contact Islamic Finance Project at
617-496-2296 or 617-496-2297 or ifp@law.harvard.edu

S. Nazim Ali, Ph.D.
Director, Islamic Finance Project &

In conjunction with 67th Session of UN General Assembly

Linking Muslim Giving to MDGs

November 2, 2012 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. UN Headquarters, NY

A convening of leading Muslim grantmakers and nonprofit organizations to critically examine the status of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Muslim countries as well as to discuss the potentials for developing strategic approaches in faith based giving to meet the financial resource gaps required to meet the MDGs in these countries. The event will also serve as a forum for initial dialogue among participants on how Muslim philanthropic organizations can engage in the formulation of the post 2015 framework; contributing both to the formulation process as well as in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

Participation by invitation only - Contact: info@thewcmp.org

The key outcomes of the event will be to provide increased focus to the importance of faith-based giving, which is crucial to accelerate the MDGs in OIC member countries.

The activity is expected to:

After a seven-year string of losses, the US-based Shariah Capital will delist from London's Alternative Investment Market (Aim). According to the hedge fund manager, a cancellation of the shares will be sought. The company expressed its opinion that cost of maintaining the listing, which is US$300,000 per year, is better spent elsewhere.

According to a report from Philanthropy Management magazine, small and mid-sized philanthropies increasingly decide on a single outscourced chief investment officer (CIO). However, it os often discussed on an industry level what influence and liability such a CIO should have. There are differences between industry investors which is why some industry aggreement is sought in regard of the best way to apply this kind of strategy and regarding discretion over investment decisions.

SmartyPig, a conventional concept to promote savings, which was founded in 2008, has used a combination of social networking and banking to reach its mission: The company encourages people to save for specific goals and, so far, it has helped people reach almost $3 billion in savings goals. In an online account a goal for a specific purchase is set. The money transfer to this account can be completed automatically. After that, through social media such as Facebook and Twitter, friends and family members have the opportunity to make their contribution to the goal. After reaching the amount dedicated retailers offering discounts for those doing savings.