IslamicFinance.de

Saudi Arabia’s central bank has published new consumer lending regulations which give it the power to cap retail lending at individual banks and limit the fees that banks can charge. The rules could dent profit growth at banks, especially those that rely heavily on retail activity. The regulations, published on the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency’s (SAMA) website, state that SAMA may, at its discretion, impose a restriction on a creditor under which its consumer financing portfolio may not exceed a specified percentage of its total financing portfolio. They also state that all fees, costs and administrative services charges collected by banks must not exceed either 1 percent of the financing amount or SR5,000 whichever is lower.

Islamic debt could become a source of funding for U.K. infrastructure projects from wind turbines to high-speed trains and airports as Britain cements its position as the first sukuk market in a non-Muslim nation. Investors see scope for the U.K. to issue Shariah-compliant bonds with varying maturities after the Debt Management Office attracted bids for more than 10 times the 200 million pounds ($331 million) of securities offered at its debut sale in June. There is investor appetite for more sales that could help fund almost 400 billion pounds of planned infrastructure projects. The U.K. government envisages 377 billion pounds of infrastructure projects in the coming years, with most of it financed privately or part-privately. Major projects include a high-speed railway link between London and Birmingham and wind turbines.

Having completed the acquisition of Barclays retail banking division in the UAE on September 1st, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank has seen little change in its market growth. The $177 million deal will give ADIB access to Barclays’ 110,000 customers in the Emirates, as well as 145 staff members that will continue to work from existing branches. Having been hit with a $453m fine for its involvement in the Libor interest-rigging scandal back in 2012, Barclays has been stripping assets and jobs in an effort to boost profits. As such, the ADIB deal is, in fact, overshadowed by a far larger sale, as Barclays announced the sale of its Spanish retail, wealth management and corporate banking business for $1.04 billion to CaixaBank.

Zeti envisages the development of Islamic investment intermediation will come once a new generation of risk-sharing contracts can be applied to investment products and this will enable Islamic finance to help ensure more inclusive and more balanced growth.

A delegation of the Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) visited Kenya last week to enhance bilateral business relations between the two countries and open up new areas of investment. The delegation was headed by Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin Abdulla al-Thani, second deputy to QBA chairman and Ezdan Holding chairman. The delegation included Ezdan Holding CEO Ali Mohamed al-Obaidly and Vodafone Qatar CEO Kyle Whitehill among other businessmen and QBA members. The delegation was received by Kenya’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Amina Mohamed, who brought them together with senior officials from the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and members of Kenya’s business community. Sheikh Dr Khalid said Kenya has become a promising and attractive business environment.

The Obama administration unveiled a host of new sanctions Friday against more than 30 companies and individuals doing business in or with Iran, seeking to thwart that nation’s nuclear ambitions, its support for organizations the United States deems as terrorist groups and mute its support for the embattled regime of Syrian leader Bashar Assad. The sanctions come at a period where the United States needs Iran’s help in trying to defeat the Islamic State (ISIS). Friday’s additions to the list include more banks, providers of equipment to Iran’s state oil company, banks that help to funnel U.S. currency to Iran’s central bank and transport-related businesses that have helped the Syrian and Iranian governments.

Takaud, the Bahrain-based specialist savings and pensions provider for the MENA region, has announced the appointment of an experienced sales management team, which will be based in Bahrain. The new appointments include Loay Ragheb as Chief Distribution Officer and Jason Reeves and Nabil Karameh both as Senior Managers responsible for regional distribution. Eric Van Biesen, Acting Chief Executive Officer TAKAUD, said, that the new appointments underpin the company's focus on expanding direct and third party distribution channels (banks, financial intermediaries, professional consultants), in order to support the on-going rollout of innovative savings and pension solutions for both Retail and Corporate clients across the region.

A new guide by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has been launched to help banks in Singapore implement environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice into their frameworks and develop sustainable solutions to risks of climate change and resource scarcity. The ESG Integration for Banks: A Guide to Starting Implementation gives advice to financial advisors and lenders in socially responsible banking. The guide maps out ‘how to’ steps for financial institutions in the earlier stages of their ESG journey. It shows them how to manage their risk exposure to unsustainable business practices and lead the trend toward green business.

Harris Irfan is an insider on two fronts. He is a Muslim and also an expert in finance and commerce. He has worked as an investment banker in Europe and the Middle East and been head of Islamic finance at Barclays; he also founded Cordoba Capital, an Islamic finance advisory firm. Mr Irfan wants to show that Islamic finance might be able to make a real contribution to our economic woes. He asks the reader to consider whether the Islamic world can bring something of benefit to the Western world, and vice versa. While this book isn't full of jargon, it helps to know something about how the investment industry works. The last chapter ponders the future of Islamic banking after some sharia-compliant finances were unfairly equated with funding terrorism, Worth reading.

Construction Week's Leaders in Construction Summit is set to take place on September 3 in Dubai. IHCC, a turnkey solutions provider that specializes in healthcare, education and mixed-use projects, will participate in the Summit by organizing a panel discussion on designing and managing diverse social infrastructure projects including hospitals, schools and universities. IHCC's CEO Sultan Sobhi Batterjee will share insights at a panel discussion that will mull diverse emerging issues in the real estate sector such as the rise in spending on social infrastructure across the GCC, how contractors can win work in this area, what special capabilities are required and best ways to partner with leading international education and healthcare providers.

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. It is believed that the development and promotion of CSE’s initiatives could bring significant benefits to the Cyprus economy, as well as to the Cyprus Stock Exchange. The CSE is ready to discuss listings of Islamic financial investment with interested parties.

Pakistan's health ministry has said that if new funds are not arranged for the delayed anti-polio campaign, it is likely to halt after two months. The Economic Coordination Council (ECC) was supposed to approve funds for the campaign in the second week of August, but it has not been allocated owing to a political crisis. The Islamic Development Bank, Japan and other organisations were to provide a loan of $326 million, with the interest on the amount to be paid by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A total of 115 polio cases has been registered in Pakistan this year. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), only 39 polio cases were registered last year.

A pair of creditors of troubled Indianapolis developer HDG Mansur want a federal bankruptcy court to force the firm into liquidation, claiming it has no hope of reorganizing and is using Chapter 11 as a stall tactic to fend off a $5.8 million judgment. Two affiliates of HDG Mansur, HDG Mansur Investment Services Inc. and HDGM Advisory Services LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May. The creditors, KFH Capital Investment Co. and Kuwait Finance House Real Estate Co., on Aug. 14 asked the bankruptcy court to convert the case from a Chapter 11 reorganization to a Chapter 7 liquidation. KFH's court filing requesting liquidation mentions a criminal probe launched by the U.S. Attorney’s office. A trial has been set for Oct. 6.

Since there are no banks in some parts of Somaliland, the money-transfer industry in the Horn of Africa is important due to its pragmatic versatility. Remittances to the Somali region alone are estimated at $1.3 billion each year. But these transfers now risk becoming impossible: Long-standing Western worries that remittance flows serve as a cover for money laundering and the funding of armed Islamist groups mean the taps could soon be turned off. Somaliland's uneasy transition from informal coping mechanisms to the formal systems of a conventional state remains deeply incomplete. This is one reason for the absence of an internationally recognized banking sector, which makes Somaliland particularly reliant on remittances.

Qatar is exploring investment opportunities in Ethiopia’s banking, insurance, real-estate development, and health and communication sectors. This was announced by a Qatari businessmen delegation, chaired by Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah al-Thani, chairman of Ezdan Holding Group. Dr Mulatto Shuma, president of Ethiopia, highlighted government’s readiness to offer all possible support to encourage foreign investment in Ethiopia by offering facilities and incentives as well as adopting a policy that protects investments in the country. Other members of the delegation included Ali Abdulrahman al-Hashemi, delegated member of Mackeen Holding Company; Ali Ibrahim Abdulghani, CEO of Qatari Islamic Insurance Company; and Kyle White Hill, CEO of Vodafone Qatar.

Collaboration between Islamic finance market players must be strengthened further in the effort to ensure continuous growth of the industry, especially in the international arena, said Kamarul Ariffin Mohd Jamil, Chief Executive Officer of Affin Islamic Bank Bhd. He also highlighted the fact that interest to venture into the Islamic finance industry has been expressed by non-Muslim countries such as Germany, Luxembourg, France, Australia, South Korean and Japan. The establishment of market infrastructure and regulatory frameworks in these countries are currently at various stages of development, he added. Moreover, the industry needs more professionals who are conversant and well trained in Islamic banking and finance.

Capital Intelligence (CI), has raised Gulf Finance House's (GFH) Long-Term Rating to 'BB' from 'BB-' and affirmed the Short-Term Rating at 'B'. The Outlook for GFH's ratings reverts to 'Stable' from 'Positive' following the rating action. The ratings reflect the recent successful refinancing and resultant extended debt repayment period. Also supporting the ratings is the significant reduction in leverage in recent years and the moderately improved liquidity position. The factors constraining GFH's ratings are the forced debt restructuring a few years ago, an encumbered asset base, and the small balance sheet coupled with single name and sector concentrations. Also constraining the ratings is the still challenging investment environment.

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has approved $987 million in funds for supporting economic and social development projects and programmes in its member countries, in addition to grants for Muslim communities in non-member countries. The funds approved by the IDB's Board of Executive Directors at a recent meeting include $176 million for Oman, $100 million for Uzbekistan, $179.3 million for Cameroon, $26.7 million for Lebanon, $20 million for Yemen and $10 million for Uganda. Egypt alone received $198 million for the development of develop Assiut Oil Refinery and $226,8 for the development of Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, from IDB's latest funds.

Bahrain's Gulf Finance House (GFH) said on Wednesday that it had signed to obtain a $105 million, five-year Islamic credit facility from Kuwait Finance House, which would help GFH redeem two syndicated debt facilities and allow the release of some major GFH assets. GFH, which suffered heavily in the wake of the global financial crisis and required multiple debt restructurings, said Kuwait Finance House would have an option to convert its outstanding debt into GFH shares. It did not elaborate on the terms of any equity conversion. The Bahraini firm noted that it had paid down some $30 million of current outstanding debt facilities to date in 2014, representing payment of more than 15 percent of its total liabilities.

Argentina's debt default imposed by US Judge Thomas Griesa and his earlier court rulings will have enormous ramifications for the global debt system. The ruling effectively declares that the rights of few wealthy investors supersede those of a sovereign nation to protect its citizens under international law. However there are two emerging avenues which may end this relationship of dependence and provide new-found economic sovereignty for such countries. The first involves significantly reducing reliance on western lenders by pursuing alternative and ostensibly less-harmful sources of finance. The second option is to press for the establishment of an International Debt Court under United Nations auspices, with a specific brief to regulate against harmful speculative practises.