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Qatar's Barwa Bank has hired Cenk Karacaoglu as head of syndications in the debt business, reporting to the bank's head of capital financing Arsalaan Ahmed. Before joining Barwa, Karacaoglu was briefly Al Rajhi Bank's head of trade finance, a post he held for around four months. Prior to that he was a vice president in the fixed income business of Turkey's Bank Asya for just over 11 years. Before he became a banker, Karacaoglu worked in Singapore Airline's finance department for five years. His hire is "part of the ongoing investment into the debt capital markets platform," a spokesperson for Barwa Bank said.

Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) held its Ordinary General Assembly Meetings on 15 March. Among the agenda items approved, approval was given to the Board recommendation to issue Additional Tier 1 Sukuk non-convertible into ordinary shares up to QAR 3.0 billion. The Board was delegated powers to decide the size of each issuance, terms and conditions, issuance currency after getting all necessary approvals from supervisory authorities. The meetings also approved the proposal to pay 40 per cent of the bank capital as cash dividends, equivalent to QAR 4.0 per share.

Qatar’s Masraf Al Rayan is eyeing a debut in the debt capital markets this year after inviting bankers to pitch for arranger roles on a potential U.S. dollar-denominated benchmark sukuk issue, sources said on Monday. The sharia-compliant institution is expected to raise funds before end-April. Masraf Al Rayan is “very close” to mandating arrangers for the upcoming sukuk issue, two sources said. Masraf Al Rayan joins a growing pipeline of potential Gulf issuance as borrowers want to obtain funds from the dollar debt markets before a possible increase in interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve later this year.

The President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Dr Ahmad Ali, will host an online press conference on Thursday, March 19th, 2015 at 09:30 GMT. Journalists interested in attending this online press conference will be able to ask questions live via the internet. The conference will be held in English, Arabic and French. This service is free and only requires a computer connected to the internet. Register on the following website: http://www.apo-opa.com/application.php?L=E&vc=ISB

Dentons advised the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) on the update of the IsDB Trust Services Limited $10 billion Trust Certificate Issuance Programme completed on 24 February 2015. Dentons also advised the IsDB on the issue of $1 billion Trust Certificates due 2020 under the Programme, completed on 12 March 2015. The Programme was listed on the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ Dubai. The Programme was arranged by HSBC and CIMB, HSBC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Dealers. The Dentons team was led by Alex Roussos and included senior associate Beene Ndulo and associate Katie Phillips.

Mubadala GE Capital is considering a return to the bond market as early as April as it seeks cash to fuel its lending business. The joint venture between the Abu Dhabi state-owned fund and General Electric provides commercial lending, equipment leasing, distribution and vendor finance solutions among other services. Rated Baa2/A by Moody's and Fitch respectively, Mubadala GE Capital has yet to appoint banks to arrange the bond, which will be of benchmark size. It is likely to pick arrangers from the group of banks which lent $750 million to the company in December 2013. The sukuk will probably be part of a regular programme.

Despite the green bond issuance market increasing more than threefold to US$36bn last year on 2013, according to the Climate Bond Initiative (CBI), the UAE is still uncharted territory. However, the race is on to release the world’s first green sukuk, and this country is looking like a strong contender for the first issuer of a green sukuk. Instead of hitting the conventional bond buyers, a green sukuk can attract conventional bond investors to those diversifying their portfolios. All it would take is one issuer to come out in the region to show the demand.

The UAE is expected to issue the world’s first Sharia-compliant bond aimed at financing green energy projects this year, possibly as early as next month. Green bond issuance reached US$36.6 billion globally last year, more than triple the previous year’s total. $100bn of green bond issuance is expected this year. The London-based Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) has helped to create international standards for this type of ethically responsible financial security, from which capital raised is used for projects such as solar and wind schemes as well as developing energy efficiency initiatives such as LED lighting.

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Korea's Woori Bank, aimed at further strengthening co-operation and sharing business opportunities. The signing ceremony held in Doha was signed by QIB's group CEO Bassel Gamal and Lee Dong-Gun, deputy CEO of Woori Bank, and attended by senior executives from both the banks. The partnership is aimed at servicing both Qatari and South Korean entities that are currently engaged in business activities in Qatar and/or South Korea; and companies that are intending in the future to set up such type of business arrangements.

Emirates Islamic marked International Women’s Day by celebrating female achievement across the organisation. Jamal Bin Ghalaita, Chief Executive Officer, Emirates Islamic and other senior management of the bank honoured 32 women employees at Emirates Islamic, who are seen as an inspiration to the rest of the organization. The women were presented a trophy and certificate of recognition at a special ceremony held at Emirates Islamic’s Healthcare City headquarters. The ceremony was part of Emirates Islamic’s initiative to commemorate International Women’s Day.

Ownership restrictions, corporate governance limitations and a lack of geographical or cash flow diversification are the key credit risk challenges faced by GCC’s family owned businesses from a rating perspective, said Martin Kohlhase vice president and senior credit officer of Moody’s. Despite such restrictions some of the long-established merchant families enjoy access to attractively priced sources of funding from local banks. Family-owned corporates often benefit from very competitive short-term domestic bank market funding rates suggesting they have a lower risk profile as compared to the ratings Moody’s would assign assuming a medium to long-term funding exposure.

Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) priced a $500 million sukuk of five years duration on Tuesday. The Islamic bond was priced at a spread of 110 basis points over midswaps and carried a profit rate of 2.843 per cent. The final spread was at the tight end of price guidance issued earlier in the day of 115 bps, plus or minus 5 bps, over the benchmark. The order book was worth around $3 billion. SIB’s sukuk was arranged by Noor Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Al Hilal Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD, HSBC, KFH Investment and Standard Chartered and was sold after a series of investor meetings in Asia and Europe.

Qatar’s low insurance penetration is “a revealing factor” of great opportunities, Qatar Central Bank Governor HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani has said. The country’s current level of penetration is around 0.5% of GDP and 1.6% as share of the insurance as part of the global business sector, Sheikh Abdullah said in his keynote address at the ninth MultaQa conference. Asserting that it is the desire of Qatar to reduce reliance on energy, Sheikh Abdullah, who is also the chairman of the Qatar Financial Market Authority and the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority, said the country’s insurance sector has been undergoing significant evolution and is in the process of establishing a committee for supervision of risk management.

Emirates Investment Bank (EIBank) has published its second “GCC Wealth Insight Report”, which outlines the views of high net worth individuals (“HNWIs”) across the Gulf on local and global economies as well as the main elements that define their investment and banking decisions. The Report found that GCC HNWIs are more positive about the economic situation in the Gulf region than globally. The more cautious approach to the global economy taken by regional HNWIs is matched by an increasing preference to keep assets closer to home, which has risen 19 percentage points since last year to 83 per cent. Regional HNWIs are also more likely to have a local rather than international bank to help manage their wealth compared to last year.

International Islamic (QIIB) was honoured for its distinctive role in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at a ceremony held at the Qatar University. QU’s College of Business and Economics partnered with the Qatar CSR Network in organising the event, which also saw the launch of the ‘CSR Report Qatar 2014’. Ali Hamad Al Mesaifri, Chief of Human Resources and General Services at QIIB, received the honorary award from the President of Qatar University, Dr Sheikha Al Misnad. The Bank has cooperated and still is cooperating with major and active institutions engaged in community services at various spheres such as health, education, charitable and social activities, and culture and sports.

The UAE’s insurance market grew 12 per cent in 2014 to Dh33 billion, said Ibrahim Al Zaabi, director- general of the Insurance Authority. The number of companies providing these sharia-compliant services has reached 11. The director-general said that the investments made by 60 insurance companies reached to Dh40 billion in the year. He said that the Insurance Authority has issued new rules and regulations in order to organise Takaful insurance business. The rules organise the financial, technical, investment, and accounting functions of Takaful insurance companies aiming to protect the rights of stakeholders, from future risks, the minister said.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB), rated Aaa/AAA/AAA by Moody's, S&P and Fitch (all stable outlook), has successfully priced $1 billion, 5-year, trust certificates (sukuk) issued at par with a 1.83 percent semi-annual profit rate under its $10 billion trust certificate issuance program. Despite an uncertain market environment, IDB achieved extremely attractive pricing, with the deal pricing approximately 22bps inside the secondary market levels. The trust certificates will be listed on the London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Dubai and Bursa Malaysia under an exempt regime.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) hosted the first UAE-Luxembourg Council for Islamic Finance Cooperation meeting in Dubai yesterday. The meeting was attended by a number of prominent economic and financial institutions from both countries. UAE members of the council include MoF , the Central Bank, UAE University, Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre, World Trade Center Abu Dhabi, Dubai Chamber, Etihad Airways, Al Hilal Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. Luxembourg's representativesinclude the Ministry of Finance, Luxembourg Bankers' Association, Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry and the University of Luxembourg.

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has tightened pricing on a $1 billion five-year sukuk which could price later on Thursday. The lender tightened its pricing on the senior unsecured sukuk to 8 basis points over midswaps. It had opened books on Tuesday after setting initial price thoughts at around 10 bps over midswaps. Investors have committed to orders worth around $1.7 billion for the issue; the book is expected to close at 0900 GMT. IDB has picked CIMB, Dubai Islamic Bank, GIB Capital, HSBC, Natixis, NCB Capital, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, RHB Islamic Bank and Standard Chartered to arrange roadshows in the Middle East and Asia, which would wind up on Thursday.

Moody's Investors Service has assigned a provisional (P)A3 senior unsecured (foreign and local currency) MTN rating to the $3 billion Trust Certificates Issuance Program of SIB Sukuk Company III Limited, a special purpose vehicle incorporated in the Cayman Islands by Sharjah Islamic Bank PJSC (SIB). The outlook on the issuer is stable. The (P) A3 rating assigned to the Sukuk trust certificates is at the same level as the A3 foreign and local currency issuer rating of SIB. The proceeds of each issue of Certificates will be used by the Issuer to acquire an ownership interest in a portfolio of assets. Upon a conclusive review of the transaction and associated documentation, Moody's will endeavour to assign definitive ratings to any issue of Certificates.