IslamicFinance.de

Two Qatari banks and Chinese brokerage Southwest Securities signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a company handling Islamic finance deals in China, Qatar's central bank governor Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani said on Tuesday. The banks are Qatar National Bank and Qatar International Islamic Bank. No further details of the venture were immediately available.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange is currently intensifying its efforts for promoting new initiatives and plans in this direction in order to help our country overcome the present difficult and challenging economic situation,thus contributing to the rebuilding of Cyprus’ economy. Very recently, within this general direction, the Cyprus Stock Exchange has started examining, along with other interested authorities and market participants, the possible development of the Islamic Financial Instruments. Last but not least, it should be underlined and stressed that the CSE is ready to discuss listings of Islamic financial investment with interested parties.

Kenya Commercials 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. KCB Group Chairman Ngeny Biwott said the move is aimed at tapping investments in the Islamic financial sector to help spur capital flows. Biwott said the launch is part of the Bank’s long term vision to diversify its product offering while riding on technology as it reaches out to more citizens across the East African region and beyond who feel left out by the conventional banking system. In addition to the Kenyan operation, KCB Bank Tanzania is offering Islamic Banking services which is well supported with the regulatory framework that is in place.

La Banque Zitouna a créé un “Prix de la Finance Islamique” qui couronne la meilleure publication doctorale dédiée au sujet durant les trois dernières années. Le prix est attribué annuellement à l’occasion des Journées Banque Zitouna de la Finance Islamique. La compétition est réservée aux publications soutenues avec succès au niveau des universités et instituts supérieurs maghrébins, sur un sujet en relation avec l’économie et la finance islamique, notamment la banque islamique, l’assurance Takaful, les Sukuk, les fonds d’investissement islamiques, la Zakat, le Waqf, la jurisprudence islamique moderne des transactions (fiqh al mouâamalat) et la microfinance islamique.

The president of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group has urged the government of Ghana to join the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries for the country to benefit from a number of development assistance being offered by the Group. Ghana and Liberia are the only two countries in West Africa who are still not members of the OIC. By becoming a member country, Ghana will benefit immensely from development assistance especially in the areas of infrastructure development. Although not a member country, the IDB has supported Ghana with more than US$5.5 million in grants for the completion of more than 16 different projects across the country.

Bahrain's Gulf Finance House will study the continuation of its equity listings in London and Kuwait. The investment firm is listed in four places, a potentially costly arrangement: Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are often the market's most heavily traded, Bahrain, Kuwait, and London in the form of global depository receipts. Moreover, shareholders approved reducing the firm's capital to $598 million from $1.49 billion to eliminate accumulated losses, and the company will change its name to GFH Financial Group. GFH did not give details of what its review would involve or say when it might be completed.

The World Social Forum continues to be the pivotal global venue for left and progressive forces to advance struggles and create internationalist alliances to make another world possible. Tunisia, which provided the spark for the Arab Spring, hosted its second WSF from 24-28 March in its capital Tunis. Tunisia has unfortunately seen an increment in terrorist attacks and, according to estimates, is the largest source of recruits to the Islamic State (IS). Tunisia’s rate of unemployment is at its highest since the 2011 revolution with a huge percentage being educated youth.

The number of people living in extreme poverty has been cut by more than half in less than three decades, President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim has said. He gave a speech on ‘Ending Extreme Poverty by 2030: The Final Push’ at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C., United States. Despite the massive global migration to urban areas, 70 percent of the world’s extreme poor still live in rural villages, he added. They are mostly farmers or work in informal jobs – providing services to rural populations. The WB's experience in China shows that, in poorer economies, growth in agriculture is four times more powerful in lifting people out of poverty than growth in manufacturing and services.

An interview on Islamic Finance by Algeria International Radio took place on Monday 6 April and is now available on Youtube. The interview provides a short introduction to Islamic finance for those who have not come across it before. Mohammed Amin was asked several questions about Islamic finance, including: What definition would you give to Islamic Finance? What are the benefits of Islamic finance? Which countries apply this financial system? Has there been a historical evolution of Islamic Finance? How do you describe today’s Islamic Finance? What would be the challenges for Islamic finance?

Former central bank governor Durmu? Y?lmaz, who is running for Parliament in the June 7 general election on the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) ticket, has criticized the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government over its efforts to sink Bank Asya, claiming that the bank is strong and that it will be the nation that suffers most if the bank is destroyed. Y?lmaz said the public authority would have the duty of taking necessary action if Bank Asya had been involved in any wrongdoing; however, he said no clear or concrete mistakes, allegedly committed by the bank, have been revealed so far.

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) successfully organised a 'Seminar on Enhancing Financial Inclusion through Islamic Finance' on 31 March 2015 in Jakarta, Indonesia. This Seminar is organised in conjunction with the IFSB Annual Meetings and Side Events 2015. The one-day Seminar aimed to explore the role of Islamic finance in supporting financial inclusion, the building blocks necessary for the development and promotion of access to finance to the uncovered population and key success factors and challenges in promoting financial inclusion for greater shared prosperity, financial stability and economic growth. The Seminar was followed by the IFSB's 8th Public Lecture on Financial Policy and Stability on 1 April 2015.

Kazakhstan's parliament approved new Islamic finance laws yesterday, moving a step closer to launching the oil-producing nation's first sovereign Islamic bond - possibly early next year. The lower house of the legislature passed a bill introducing new definitions, such as Islamic insurance, Islamic leasing and "murabaha", an acceptable form of credit sale under Sharia. The Finance Ministry is expected to propose a new draft law on sukuk very soon. Kazakhstan's first Islamic bond was a 240 million Malaysian ringgit ($73m), five-year sukuk issued by state-owned Development Bank of Kazakhstan in 2012.

American banker Glenn Stewart was running a financial firm for the Gosaibi family, but in 2009, after the fall of the Lehman Brothers, creditors demanded the firm repay its loans. What followed was the biggest corporate default on record in the Middle East, lawsuits against Stewart in 10 different countries, and Stewart's eventual escape from Bahrain with the help of an ex-CIA operative. Stewart and his Gosabi family partner, billionaire Maan al-Sanea, are accused of stealing up to $10 billion and driving the bank they established to collapse. Stewart, who says he was essentially "the chief house slave" in the Gosaibi family, claims he was "tricked, big time".

Kuwait investment firm Aayan Leasing and Investment has asked creditors to reschedule its remaining debts worth 176 million dinars ($587 million), chairman Fahd Ali al-Ghanim said. As part of the restructuring plan, Aayan planned to liquidate some of its portfolio of listed Kuwaiti companies, Ghanim said. However, many of the shares are still trading below the value at which they were bought, Ghanim said, adding this helped to explain why Aayan was seeking a further debt rescheduling. Despite rebounding slightly in 2013 and 2014, Kuwait's stock market is still trading 60 percent lower than its June 2008 peak.

Russia is trying to increase its cooperation with the UAE, especially in Islamic finance, as the country is seeking to strengthen its trade ties with the UAE and other Gulf countries, according to Igor Egorov, the Chairman of the Russian Business Council. Egorov said the country has brought in new regulations to attract Islamic financial institutions from the Middle East and Asia as demand for financing grows in Russia. He added that the trade figures between Russia and the UAE stand at $2 billion and are set to grow in the coming days. Moreover, the Eurasian Economic Union provides opportunity for UAE companies to invest.

The International Monetary Fund has endorsed the principles of Islamic finance, saying it could prove safer than conventional finance, but the multilateral lender warned Islamic bankers that they must tighten rules and follow them more consistently. A report released by the IMF this week noted that because Islamic banking forbids pure monetary speculation and stresses that deals should be based on real economic activity, it could pose less risk than conventional banking to the stability of financial systems. However, the industry could fail to achieve its promise – and even have a destabilising effect – if it does not design its rules more carefully and implement them more consistently, the report added.

Financial institutions and banks are hiring at the fastest pace in the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries as the regional economies show sign of improvement, according to the data released by recruiters Monster Worldwide. Demand for banking and finance professionals jumped in March, with a 65 per cent increase in job postings from a year earlier while job listings for the same sector climbed 38 per cent in the UAE, the Monster Employment Index Middle East revealed. Online hiring in Saudi Arabia and Egypt is soaring, with an increase of 30 per cent and 28 per cent respectively, in job listings. The UAE registered a modest growth of 17 per cent.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with President of the Islamic Development Bank Group Ahmad Mohamed Ali in Jeddah. They expressed their satisfaction with the cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Islamic Development Bank. It was noted that the ongoing development processes in Azerbaijan gave a push to the expansion of the bilateral relations. Azerbaijan and the IDB cooperate in the fields of oil and gas, power industry, water supply, road construction, implementation of infrastructure projects, agriculture and industry, and investment making. The parties exchanged views over the issue of involving other partners in the bilateral cooperation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has envisaged a roadmap for restructuring and reorganising the Islamic capital market. The initiative aims at the promotion of Shariah compliance in the capital market of Pakistan. The roadmap entails centralisation of the Shariah-related capital market activities, introduction of uniform Shariah Regulation for the takaful, modarabas, Islamic mutual funds, Islamic pension funds, Islamic REITs, other Islamic financial institutions (other than banking), Shariah compliant (Non-financial) Companies, Islamic products and instruments.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has assigned its preliminary 'A-' issue rating to the proposed US dollar-denominated Sukuk trust certificates to be issued by Malaysia Sovereign Sukuk Bhd. The ratings agency said Malaysia Sovereign Sukuk Bhd. is a special-purpose company incorporated in Malaysia for issuing sukuk trust certificates. Under this arrangement, the issuer will enter into an asset sale and purchase agreement for not less than 26% of the issued amount, a grant of rights to services agreement for no more than 26% of the issued amount, and Murabaha agreement agreement for not more than 48% of the issued amount with Malaysia.