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Pakistan's banking sector enters 2015 promising more deal-making activities. State-run National Bank of Pakistan has expressed interest in potentially acquiring Burj Bank Ltd. NBP recently said it will conduct due diligence on Burj, and hoped to complete the exercise in a ‘short timeframe’. The Burj deal is being closely watched by the market, as it has so far failed to meet the central bank’s minimum capital requirement (MCR) of Rs10bn. In case the deal goes through, it remains to be seen if Burj would exist as a standalone Islamic bank, or if its operations will be merged with NBP’s Islamic banking section.

Turkey's Bank Asya said it was selling its 40 percent stake in Senegal-based Tamweel Africa Holding for 31.8 million euros ($37.7 million). Asya is selling the stake in Tamweel, which promotes Islamic finance in sub-Saharan Africa, to the Saudi-based Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). The bank obtains 41.3 million lira profit through this sale and expects an positive impact on first quarter profitability, Cengiz Onder, Bank Asya's head of investor relations said. Besides, Bank Asya has laid off 1,708 staff and closed 80 branches, out of the 5,074 staff and 281 branches it had at the end of 2013.

TL 92 million ($396.46 million) has been collected from the financiers of the Gülen Movement for Bank Asya this week in order to fulfil the capital increase of Bank Asya. While some of the businessmen have previously refused any connection with the Gülen Movement, it became clear who their supporters were when the amount required for the capital increase of Bank Asya was collected without waiting for the approval of the Capital Market Board. Authorities from the Capital Market Board revealed that the bank's application for capital increase has not been confirmed yet. The board said the financial conditions of companies that will participate in the capital increase will also be investigated.

Pakistan's Minister for Finance, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Friday reiterated the government's resolve to switch over from conventional banking to Islamic banking and finance to enhance shariah compliant assets. Dar said that Pakistan has taken several steps to promote Islamic banking and finance in the country, such as issuing sukuk bonds in international markets as well as forming a steering committee which was actively working on the development of reliable database and human resource needed by the Islamic banking. The industry now constitutes over 10 percent of the country's financial system but needs trained human resource in order to realize the true market potential, he added.

Turkey's Bank Asya has signed a deal to sell its 40 percent stake in Tamweel Africa Holding to the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) for 31.8 million euro ($37.7 million). Bank Asya suffered a run on deposits last year as it became embroiled in a power struggle between now President Tayyip Erdogan and his former ally-turned-foe Fethullah Gulen, the Islamic cleric whose sympathisers founded the bank.

The launch of the first online bank in Saudi Arabia will be announced on Friday evening. Manama-based Gulf International Bank will be launching the new bank, which will reportedly be an “online-only” service, with customers making deposits and transfers online and checks to be deposited via self-service machines at branches to be opened across the Kingdom. Customers will meet with an employee from the bank only once, when they register for a new account. The service will be open to individuals only. Despite having relatively low penetration rates for Internet banking, the Gulf region has great potential to assimilate new online banking services due to the high Internet penetration rates.

Bank Asya is planning on closing its debts by the revenues it will gain from the scheduled paid capital increase. The bank plans to increase its capital by 25 percent, from TL 900 million to TL 1.1 billion through rights issues. Out of the TL 225 million to be gained from the paid capital increases, TL 200 million will be used for the repayment of its loans to foreign financial institutions. The remaining TL 25 million will be used to cover the demands for the funding of its corporate, commercial, SME and personal customers.

The Representative of the Jaiz Bank in Nigeria, Dr. Mizanur Rahman, has disclosed the plan of the bank to extend its services to Kwara and Lagos states. He lamented that due to limited scope within the country, the bank lost about N1 billion but reiterated its hope that it would do well in 2015. Rahman made the statement at the jointly organised thematic workshop on Development of Islamic Banking in Africa at the Alhikmah University in Ilorin. The workshop was jointly organised by the Research and Training Institute (IRTI) in Saudi Arabia, the University of Ilorin and Al-Hikmah University.

A plan to merge state-owned sharia banks into one large lender is one of the Financial Services Authority’s main projects this year, as part of a broader commitment to consolidate the Indonesian overall banking industry. Chairman Muliaman Hadad said he had held talks with the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry regarding the consolidation and that they were currently developing a “mechanism” to integrate the three lenders and one business unit. The current three state-run sharia banks are Bank Mandiri’s Syariah Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia’s BRISyariah and Bank Negara Indonesia’s BNI Syariah and a sharia business unit under Bank Tabungan Negara.

The Islamic Research and Training Institute of the Islamic Development Bank Group and the African Development Bank are to jointly organize a workshop on the development of Islamic Banking in Africa to be held in Nigeria on January 6 - 8 2015. It is organized with the Al-Hikmah University as well as the Department of Islamic Law, University of Ilorin. The workshop will expect Experts in Islamic banking, regulation, and financial economics and take stock of current academic research, policies, practice and development of Islamic banking in Africa as well as current issues in Islamic banking and financial products, academics, regulators and practitioners of Islamic banking and finance from different African countries and from those who show considerable familiarity with the development of Islamic banking in Africa.

Islamic Economic Journal of King Abdulaziz Journal online: http://iei.kau.edu.sa/Pages-CVOL28.aspx

JKAU: Islamic Econ., Vol. 28 No. 1, 230 Pages (2015 A.D./1436 A.H.)
DOI: 10.4197/Islec. 28-1

Contents
Glossary

Articles
- Islam?c Wealth Management in History and at Present
Murat Çizakça ............................................................................................. 3
- Loan Loss Provisioning in OIC Countries: Evidence from Conventional vs. Islamic Banks
Ali Ashraf, M. Kabir Hassan, and Syed Abul Basher .......................... ..... 23
Discussion Paper
Factors Influencing the Behavioral Intentions of Muslim Employees to Contribute to
Cash-Waqf Through Salary Deductions
Anwar Allah Pitchay, Ahamed Kameel Mydin Meera and
Muhammad Yusuf Saleem …………………… ……….................. 63
Discussion Forum
- Severe Financial Crises and Fundamental Reforms: The Benefits of Risk-Sharing
Hossein Askari ....................................................................................... 101
- Why Economists (and Economies) Should Love Islamic Finance

According to a report from the Oxford Business Group Brunei's financial system is in transition to one in which Islamic banking and takaful are the dominant forms of banking and insurance. The publication of the Report says that in 2014, Brunei two Islamic banks, Perbadanan Tabung Amanah Islam Brunei and Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam had a total combined assets of $7.9 billion at the end of 2013. Takaful is also dominant in the general insurance sector with a 68 per cent share of the general insurance and takaful assets. Insurance Islam TAIB and Takaful Brunei compete in Brunei’s insurance market.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait has cut its stake in Boubyan Bank down by 2,2 %.
The data showed that the stake dropped to 17.7 %.
Trade in Boubyan shares has lately been extremely heavy, with more than 94 million shares, changing hands and the stock price was up 1.25 % at 0.405 dinar. The identity of the buyer of CBK's holding in Boubyan was not clear.

Djibouti has hosted the last three summits of the African Conference of Islamic finance, mainly in order to attract foreign direct investment, including Muslim countries. The country’s economic expansion depends entirely on the service sector. Islamic banks have helped strengthen Djibouti’s financial ambitions. The four Islamic banks that have settled down the last eight years in the country are now holding 15 to 20% market share. Thesê banks could make Djibouti a sub-regional financial center.

The deal for Kuwait Turkish Participation Bank (KTPB) was arranged and syndicated in record time and twice oversubscribed. 12 regional and global banks participated. This affirmed the KFH Group the Turkish Economy a strong global position.

Under sharia compliance principals penalizing is different to that in conventional finance. Also the Islamic financial market is quite young and many cases have no precedent. Malasian sukuks have though developed a framework for banks to handle default in a similar manner as conventional bonds.

CEO of the Franco-American Alliance for Islamic Finance (FAAIF), Camille Paldi, explained that, while South Korea moved forward to entering the global Islamic finance market but its tax code still has to be amended to facilitate sukuk issuance. South Korea is one of the major exporters to Islamic nations and wants to become the hub of Islamic finance in East Asia.

The General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI) held an In-focus session on Basel III and Islamic banks during the 21st World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) in Bahrain. The three prominent Islamic banks, Islamic International Arab Bank, Al Baraka Banking Group, and Bank of Khartoum, showed that they currently have sufficient levels of capital, far beyond what is required under Basel III. Al Baraka Banking Group's recent issuance of Tier-1 Basel III-compliant Sukuk in Pakistan reflects the Group's desire to adapt positively to the dynamic nature of regulatory regimes in the years ahead rather than any shortage of capital.

Shareholders of the Birmingham-based Islamic Bank of Britain have given their approval to change its name to Al Rayan Bank. As a result of the rebranding, the bank has introduced a new Al Rayan Bank logo and brand identity, which are being implemented across its website, literature and branches. Al Rayan Bank’s activities will continue to be monitored by an independent Sharia supervisory committee and a dedicated compliance officer. It will continue to operate as a UK regulated bank and customers’ deposits will remain protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Oman's Bank Nizwa recently held its 11th Sharia Supervisory Board meeting to discuss proposals for additional Sharia compliant financing solutions to meet the growing needs of the Bank’s individual and corporate customers. Dr. Jamil El Jaroudi, CEO of Bank Nizwa said the regular meetings allow the Bank to assess the performance of current products and services while also identifying the best approach for launching new propositions. The Board’s decisions are guided by the Islamic Banking Regulatory framework issued by the Central Bank of Oman, as well as the Sharia standards issued by the Auditing and Accounting Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions in Oman.