IslamicFinance.de

Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin today confirmed his suspension as chief economist of Bank Islam after his prediction of the likely results of Election 2013. The bank, however, moved to distance itself from Azrul Azwar and emphasized that the views expressed by him should not be linked or attributed to Bank Islam. It is unknown how long the suspension will last.

Japanese financial institutions have started offering Islamic financial services in Muslim countries in the region. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking for example arranged a Shariah-compliant deal with a shipping company affiliated with the Brunei government. Meanwhile, other financial institutions are expanding their Islamic banking services. Especially the markets for Islamic financing in Malaysia and Indonesia are expected to grow.

· To lead and manage the implementation of Ijarah financing (Islamic Leasing) activities
· To lead and initiate the overall process of the financing including operations, marketing, collection, documentation, legal requirements and etc
· Sourcing, identifying and evaluating potential opportunities for further expansion of the activity

To provide the Shari'ah Committee (SC) with administrative and secretarial support which includes coordinating meetings, compiling proposal papers, disseminating SC decisions to relevant stakeholders, and engaging with relevant parties.
· To regularly review and assess the activities and operations of the company with the objective of ensuring conformity with the Shari'ah.
· To ensure availability and keeping proper records of relevant documentation for Shari'ah Committee Meetings

The Canadian life insurer InSun Life Financial c. (SLF) has forged an alliance with Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah) to jointly acquire 98% of CIMB Aviva Assurance Berhad, and CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad. The remaining 2%will be retained by CIMB Group. The bancassurance agreement will cover a span of 20 years and will cost C$586 million. Through this transaction, SLF will be able to expand its international operations in Asia.

Bank Islam Malaysia lodged two police reports against its suspended chief economist, Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin for allegedly possessing and leaking confidential documents. Azrul was found in the possession of the minutes of the bank’s board of directors’ meeting which were reportedly sent to a third party last June. The police is investigating the case. Azrul was suspended by the bank last week after airing his comments on political issuses.

- To ensure the day to day processing of Vanilla and Complex Islamic transactions are performed in accordance with written procedures.

- To process Treasury Securities business and to rotate functions on a regular basis in order to ensure continued proficiency in each task.

- Interact with Front, Middle and Back Offices across various Business lines in the Bank to ensure accurate trade capture and settlement.

- Build & maintain Islamic Confirmation Templates from Client & Broker Master Agreements across all Islamic business lines

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Suspended Bank Islam chief economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin is facing disciplinary action after airing his views on political issues. Azrul himself classified the police’s intervention as an intimidation and harassment tactic whereas a member of parliament described it as a manifestation of the standard of governance in the local banking scene.

The central banks of China and the UAE are strengthening bilateral financial cooperation in order to further increase trade and investment activities between China and the Middle East. Greater yuan currency usage in bilateral transactions will provide opportunities for public and private asset managers in Middle East to diversify and enhance their portfolio investments.

· A hands-on and leadership role that manages oversees and ensures smooth running of all facets of Operations and Middle Office functions.
· Shape, build, lead and supervise all back office administration and financial and regulatory reporting of CPIAM.

· As an assistant secretary to the Bank’s Shariah Committee (SC)
· To undertake bi-annual review of the performance of Shariah Committee covering their welfare, remuneration packages and benefits

· Accountable for the entire business portfolio of New Market Business Development function.
· To penetrate into the Non-Muslim market, especially in the higher purchasing power category focusing on Family Business.

Execute and implement the marketing activities by managing the operational and financial aspects and providing support to the Departmental Head of Corporate Direct & Maybank GWB in accordance with the Etiqa Insurance & Takaful business objectives. Execute to achieve underwriting results according to the planned strategy. [...]

DanaInfra Nasional Bhd (DINB) has extended the offer period and upped the indicative profit rate of its Exchange Traded Bonds and Sukuk (ETBS), also known as DanaInfra Retail Sukuk for retail investors. The move is intended to attracting more investors to take up the new asset class. The offer period will now close on January 25th. Meanwhile, the indicative profit rate, previously at a minimum of 3.7% a year, has been altered to 4% a year. The money raised from the DanaInfra Retail Sukuk will be partially used to fund the MRT project which is worth RM15 billion.

Juris Corp is about to open an office in Chennai, the opening is scheduled for next week. Two weeks ago Hufriz Wadia, who is a former Wadia Ghandy associate and the sister of long-time Mumbai partner Hoshedar Wadia, became partner at the company. Her focus of operation will be growing the firm’s banking, corporate, dispute resolution and real estate practice in Chennai. She will particularly concentrate on Islamic finance.

As a global leader in the field of Islamic finance, Malaysia boasts with state-of-the-art infrastructure and unparalleled government support. The development of Commodity Murabaha (CM) transactions on Bursa Malaysia under its Bursa Suq Al Sila’ enabled the country to try to snatch away the business of liquidity management by Islamic banks from the London Metal Exchange (LME). Bursa Malaysia’s Suq Al Sila’ is a representation of trading in commodities with complete irrelevance of commodities to the intended outcome. This exceeds simple exchange of cash between two participating banks.

Islamic finance is growing at a 20% per year rate which contrasts with what conventional banking is currently most famous for - scandals, huge pay offs and bonuses. Even non-Muslims are attracted to Islamic finance which led to the fact that numerous countries have adopted and accepted this financial model. It is obvious that there is a huge economic benefit to be sought from it due to the enormous potential of the branch. Malaysia seems to be the leader in the Islamic finance market, developing by leaps and bounds.

The Islamic Financial Services Board is actively working on organizing an Islamic Financial Services Industry (IFSI) Stability Report. The publication is due in May 2013. The goal of the report is to achieve a number of objectives, among which to stress on the growth trend and challenges faced by the IFSI post-crisis, and to bring the progress on various financial initiatives undertaken to promote global financial stability and the impact on the IFSI up to date. The Roundtable on the Islamic Financial Services Industry Stability Draft Report will take place on 21st of January 2013 at Sasana Kijang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

According to a statement by CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, the sale of its 49% stakes worth RM1.11 billion in CIMB Aviva Assurance Bhd and CIMB Aviva Takaful Bhd to Khazanah Nasional Bhd has been completed. The life insurance and takaful companies stake sales are satisfied by RM1.06 billion in cash combined with RM43.5 million worth of shares in a new insurance holding company called Renggis Ventures Sdn Bhd. The latter s wholly-owned by Khazanah. To sum up, CIMB will maintain an effective 2% interest in CIMB Aviva Assurance and CIMB Aviva Takaful respectively.

The government of Malaysia paid higher yields for its second offering of state-backed sukuk on behalf of the national airline to entice investors. The total issuance of the notes had already reached 4.6 billion ringgit ($1.5 billion). The finance ministry was able to sell 1.2 billion ringgit of the debt on January 17th. The orders amounted to 1.5 billion ringgit. In comparison to that, rail operator Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd sold 3.6 billion ringgit in bids for a 2 billion ringgit sukuk sale on August 28th. The latter Shariah- compliant debt was government guaranteed as well.