IslamicFinance.de

The central bank of Pakistan is stepping up its push to develop Islamic banking, encouraging lenders to expand their operations in the world's second most populous Muslim nation. As of September, Islamic banks held 926 billion rupees ($8.8 billion) of assets or 9.5 percent of the total, up from 8.1 percent a year earlier. The central bank aims to double the industry's branch network and reach a 15 percent share of the banking system in the next five years. To achieve that, the central bank named a new deputy governor to focus on Islamic banking and enlisted renowned scholar Muhammad Taqi Usmani to its sharia board. Moreover, the central bank's media campaign is expected to intensify in coming months and such educational efforts could attract previously unbanked clients to the sector.

Turkish Islamic lender Bank Asya said it had weathered mass deposit withdrawals, which the media said were orchestrated by government supporters as part of a backlash against a corruption scandal blamed on an influential cleric. Turkish media say state-owned companies and institutional depositors loyal to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan have withdrawn 4 billion lira ($1.79 billion), some 20 percent of the bank's total deposits, over the last month to try to sink the lender. The bank is reportedly not at risk because new deposits worth more than half that amount were placed in the bank by ordinary citizens. The government has declined to comment.

The Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) has announced the launch of the UK’s first Islamic ISA. The account offers UK consumers an alternative and tax-free way to save. ISAs allow consumers to hold cash, shares and unit trusts free of tax on dividends, interest and capital gains. The UK Islamic finance sector is expected to see rapid growth this year and be worth $2 trillion (£1.2 trillion) by the end of 2014. The popularity of Islamic investment is growing outside of the Muslim community. The IBB estimates that over the last year, around 87% of applications for fixed term deposit accounts were from non-Muslim customers.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia expects financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to contribute between 15% and 20% of its total financial portfolio for 2014. CEO Mohd Redza Shah Abdul Wahid said this will represent up to RM1.2 billion of its loans. He said the bank’s loan growth for the consumer segment was 18%, however, it was reduced to 12% this year. This is due to the bank's consumer segment softening after Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) measures especially on home financing and personal financing. Besides, Bank Muamalat signed a MoU with Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KLSICCI) and Kuala Lumpur Malay Chamber of Commerce (KLMCC). It will help the institution to increase its customer base for SME financing.

For many years we see in the media experts believing in inflation and even hyper inflation. However, in the same time we face proponents warning against deflation. So far we all noticed.

Only a about a week ago I read an article by Myret Zaki clarifying that unfortunately inflation and deflation co-exists.

Myret Zaki's thesis is that we face inflation on financial markets, and deflation in the real economy (in French):

http://www.bilan.ch/myret-zaki/redaction-bilan/inflation-et-deflation-co...

In my view there is a general major shift in the price matrix and I still try to figure the magnitude and implications thereof. It is a bit irritating as at University we learned about neutrality of money:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrality_of_money

This means any extra supply will increase prices equally, 5 % more money, all prices going up 5 %. Pretty plausible at first hand. However, it seems it does not work in reality any more (or never did).

PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia, the second-largest sharia lender in the country, secured a loan commitment of $90 million from a commercial bank in Malaysia and an international financial institution based in Washington, reported Bisnis Indonesia. The loan has a tenure of 5-7 years and will be used for new financing in 2014 that is expected to reach 41.7 trillion rupiah ($3.43 billion), said Finance Director Hendiarto.

Iran's Bank Mellat seeks to file a claim of at least 500 million pounds (USD 820 million) in compensation against the British government for loss of business caused by illegal sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear energy program. It is the first time that an Iranian lawsuit over sanctions has reached the stage of claiming compensation. On June 19, 2013, Britain’s Supreme Court overturned a ruling against Bank Mellat over its alleged links to Tehran's nuclear energy program. The European Union General Court decided in January to quash sanctions imposed against Bank Mellat in July 2010.

A recent Gallup survey reported that Islamic banking remains unpopular in Egypt, with only 3% of adults using Islamic banking services and only 49% who have heard of Islamic banking in the country. The poll also found that 45% of all respondents preferred a more expensive loan from an Islamic bank to a cheaper loan from a conventional bank. Identifying the reasons for this lack of demand will require extensive research. However, there is no reason why Islamic banking could not increase in the future if its demand increased, given that the only barrier to its use is the lack of its popularity. The survey was conducted in 2012 through face-to-face interviews with 1,000 adults aged above 15 years in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Yemen.

In 2007, Bank Aljazira's conversion into the first fully sharia-compliant institution in Saudi Arabia was complete.This transformation required changes to BAJ's infrastructure, offerings and legal environment, among other aspects. Moreover, investments in product development as well as branch and ATM networks were made. The bank simultaneously increased its paid-up capital to SAR 3bn, which came entirely from the bank’s profits. In order to ensure compliance with all sharia banking and financing principles; this led to the formation of a Sharia Advisory Board, which is composed of a number of scholars specialised in sharia-compliant banking. Besides, BAJ launched a SAR 100m programme named Khair Aljazira Le Ahl Aljazira which aims at providing financial support to various charitable societies.

The Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB), the UK’s only wholly Sharia compliant retail bank, has been acquired by Al Rayan (UK), the UK subsidiary of Masraf Al Rayan (MAR). The acquisition follows a cash offer made on 28 November 2013 for which MAR received over 95 per cent of valid shareholder acceptances, together with approval of the Prudential Regulation Authority for MAR to take control of IBB. MAR considers the acquisition an opportunity to expand its footprint and introduce its range of products to a fertile market with potential for continued growth. It will also enable Masraf Al Rayan to offer its existing Gulf-based customers additional services as they expand their activities into the UK.

DRB–Hicom has yet to finalise the new party for its divestment of a 30 per cent stake in its banking unit, Bank Muamalat Malaysia. The dilution of the stake in the country’s third largest Islamic lender has been a prolonged process as the conglomerate is looking into a strategic partnership or an exercise that could add value and increase the bank’s penetration into the Islamic financial business in Malaysia. It was reported earlier that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) had mandated DRB-Hicom to dilute some of its 70 per cent stake in Bank Muamalat. It was also reported that DRB-Hicom had negotiated with Affin Holdings on a potential acquisition but talks were called off due to pricing issues. The bank remains sidelined as it currently has no new products to introduce or new branches to launch.

Bank Aljazira has faced a lot of challenges linked to its transition from a conventional bank to a fully Shariah-compliant bank, according to Yasser Al-Hedaithy, Group Treasurer of the bank. Today, Bank Aljazira offers every conventional product available in the market, on a Shariah-compliant basis. Moreover, it has a fully independent Shariah board to ensure compliance with Islamic law. As part of its community service, the bank established a fund called Khair Aljazira Le Ahl Aljazira which helps the disabled in terms of rehabilitation, learning and other programmes. The main driver behind that success is customer loyalty. Furthermore, talents are attracted to the bank by offering attractive jobs.

Moody's Investors Service has confirmed Bahrain Islamic Bank's (BIsB) supported issuer ratings at Ba3, with a negative outlook, and affirmed its short term ratings at Not Prime. At the same time, Moody's downgraded BIsB's standalone bank financial strength rating (BFSR) by one notch to E from E+, equivalent to a baseline credit assessment (BCA) of caa1 from b3 previously. Moody's downgrade of the standalone credit profile reflects BIsB's still thin and vulnerable capital base, given the continued lack of clarity surrounding the timing, nature and amount of the anticipated capital injection. These weaknesses are partially moderated by BIsB's solid funding and liquidity position.The negative outlook on the supported issuer rating is aligned with negative outlook on the ratings of the Government of Bahrain, the ultimate provider of systemic support to the bank.

Bahraini First Energy Bank (FEB) has signed a 25-million-euro ($34 million) Murabaha facility with the Netherlands-based Kore Coal Finance, a subsidiary of Sapinda Holding. The financing will assist Sapinda in enhancing its investments in an internationally operating resource company which owns coal mining assets in South Africa. This Islamic facility supplements the recently concluded conventional profit participation note of 55m euros raised by Kore Coal Finance with a similar objective. The Murabaha facility has been structured on the basis of an attractive return and will be repaid by October 2016. FEB is acting as the investment and security agent under this Murabaha financing. The bank has an authorised share capital of $2 billion and a paid-up capital of $1 billion.

Dubai-based Noor Bank will consider a possible initial public offering of its shares in the medium term, although there is no current need for new capital at the bank. Besides, the bank has announced it was dropping the word “Islamic” from its title after a two-year study of its brand status and positioning. The new name is a major strategic move aimed at underlining its local and international growth ambitions, according to Hussain Al Qemzi, the bank’s chief executive. This rebranding is expected to help the IPO. The rebranding will not affect Noor’s status as a Sharia-compliant financial institution. Mr Al Qemzi said that the bank would continue to look at its traditional areas for expansion: Turkey, the GCC region, and South East Asia.

Qatari banks are likely to witness poor earnings growth as their net interest margins continue to be squeezed by the cost of funds, according to SICO Investment Bank’s quarterly results preview of GCC equities. The report said Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ) and Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) were expected to see higher provisioning charges caused by a rise in real-estate impaired loans, while Doha Bank’s higher net interest income year on year was expected to drive earnings. SICO also said it expected banks in Saudi Arabia to continue to report strong double digit growth, while UAE banks should witness modest lending growth as a result of limited corporate borrowing, while provisioning was expected to remain at elevated levels.

A special group of police officers will be assembled and sent to Canada for searching and arresting the former head of Bank Melli Iran, Mahmoud Reza Khavari. Since Canadian officials haven't found Khavari yet, Iranian police are asking for one week in order to search for him in Canada. The fraud case originally started in 2007 and involved the use of fraudulent documents to obtain credit for an investment company. Khavari, as the head of Bank Melli Iran, was reportedly involved in the fraud case. However, Khavari escaped to Canada. Iran requested Interpol to announce an international search for him. In June of 2012, Fars news agency reported that Interpol placed Khavari on its Red Notice Wanted list.

Cash-rich Islamic lenders are looking to partner with Western businesses that comply with Islamic law, according to a report by The New York Times. The report said there aren't enough acceptable places for Islamic banks to pour their money in, leading American investment bankers to put deals together. Real estate is a popular investment under Shariah since an agreement can be made without requiring interest payments. However, as the banks expand, they are looking to make more diversified investments. One of investments being studied by Islamic banks is that of Continental Rail, a business that focuses on running freight trains up and down the East Coast. If the cars are found to be halal, then it will be one of the first in the US to be completed following Islamic law.

In four North African countries -- Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia -- as well as in Yemen, no more than 3 per cent of adults say they currently use a Sharia-compliant banking service. These results come from a Gallup World Poll survey conducted in 2012 on the awareness, use, and preference for Islamic financial products. Across the five countries surveyed, about half (48 per cent) of adults report having heard of Islamic banks in their country. Moroccans are the most likely to choose the Sharia-compliant loan. Within each country, choices vary little among the poor and more affluent respondents. The data suggest that in the Middle East and North Africa, there is likely to be demand for both conventional and Islamic banking services.

Borealis and First Energy Bank of Bahrain have jointly bought 20.3 per cent stake in Bulgarian Neochim AD. For the acquisition, Borealis and First Energy Bank formed a joint venture in Bulgaria called Feboran AD. Neochim is a publicly listed company and operates one ammonia plant, two nitric acid plants and an ammonium nitrate plant in southern Bulgaria. Borealis executive vice-president for base chemical Markku Korvenranta said the company believed fertilisers offer attractive business opportunities with further potential for growth particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. First Energy Bank chief executive Mohamed Ghanem said that the investment extended the bank's investment portfolio both geographically into Europe and into a fast-growing market. Furthermore, it reinforced its strategy of participating in the energy sector.