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Bangladesh's International Finance Investment and Commerce Bank (IFIC Bank) has decided to become a full-fledged Islamic bank. The proposal has already been approved by the bank's board, and the government, being the bank’s majority shareholder, has also given clearance. The conversion is now subject to approval from different regulators. Shah A Sarwar, managing director of the bank, could not give a definite time on how long the conversion process would take. The government holds 32.75 percent of the bank, directors and sponsors 11.31 percent, institutions 33.91 percent, foreign investors 0.28 percent and the rest 21.75 percent is held by the general public.

Jaiz Bank has appointed Muhammad Nurul Islam from the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited as its new managing director/chief executive to steer its affairs and better position the bank. He takes over from Hassan Usman, who had been acting managing director of Jaiz Bank since April. Nurul Islam has vast knowledge of non-interest Islamic banking experience garnered for over three decades. He holds Masters in Business Administration from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka in 1982, with a major in finance and has attended several professional training and seminars. Moreover, he is a member of many professional associations, including Life Member, Association of the Bankers’ Bangladesh.

Ladies and gentlemen,

One of the highlights of this year’s Euro Finance Week is the Frankfurt MENA Finance Conference on November, 21st 2013.

The speakers of the panel ‘What does Germany gain through Islamic Finance?’ are:

Dr. R. Ahmet Albayrak, Executive Vice President, Kuveyt Türk Participation Bank Inc.

Horst Bennin, Founding Managing Partner, Alp View Capital Partners GmbH

Dr. Manfred Dirrheimer, Chairman of the Board, FWU AG

Dr. Johannes Engels, Banking Supervisor for International Cooperation, BaFin

Dr. Ivo Schwartzkopff, Member of the Board, StarCapital AG

The host of this panel will be Zaid el Mogaddedi, Founder and Managing Director, Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IFIBAF).

Dr. R. Ahmet Albayrak will deliver a speech about ‘Opportunities in the European Financial Markets’ beforehand in the conference.

The conference language is English.

The event is without charge.

Location:

Congress Center Messe Frankfurt
Ludwig-Erhard-Anlage 1
60327 Frankfurt am Main

If you are interested to participate, please send an e-mail (company/name/e-mail address) to info@kuveytturk.de

According to Standard & Poor's' article "Turkey's Growing Islamic Banking Sector Needs Fresh Capital For An Added Push," participation banks in Turkey look set to keep increasing their market shares over the medium term. However, S&P believes sluggish domestic savings and intensifying competition from conventional banks will likely limit the sector's progress without fresh capital and funding. The local authorities' more supportive stance toward the sector contributed significantly to the growth of Islamic banks. However, participation banks' rapid growth and high exposure to the construction sector render their asset quality vulnerable to an economic slowdown. The growth momentum existing participation banks have enjoyed can continue only if their capital bases increase and they achieve some competitive advantage.

Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia has appointed Syed Maqbul Quader as Chairman effective Nov 6, 2013. Syed Maqbul, 64, has served as an independent non-executive director of the bank from Aug 1 this year. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Dhaka University and has over 40 years' experience in the banking industry. He was involved in establishing the Corporate Banking Group at Al Rajhi Bank in Saudi Arabia and also the Offshore Banking Unit of Chase Manhattan Bank in Bahrain. According to Al Rajhi Bank Chief Executive Officer Datuk Azrulnizam Abdul Aziz, Syed Maqbul's international exposure in particular will be highly relevant for the bank in its aspiration to be the preferred Islamic financial services bank.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) Group has reported a net profit of Dh1.2 billion for the first nine months of the year, up 33.5 per cent compared with Dh899 million reported in the same period in 2012. The bank attributes a 33.5 per cent increase in net profits to increased core business and lower provision requirements due to improved asset quality and overall improvement in the economic environment in the UAE. Net operating revenue of the bank at the end of the third quarter was Dh3.2 billion, up 5.6 per cent from Dh3 billion in the first nine months of 2012. Operating profit before impairments was up 7 per cent at Dh1.95 billion from Dh1.83 billion in the same period in 2012. The bank made provisions of Dh751 million in the first nine months of the year compared with D922 million in the same period in 2012. DIB continues to manage asset quality and non-performing assets by cautious lending and conservative provisioning approach.

Ajman Bank has appointed Mohammad Amiri as its new chief executive officer (CEO). A UAE national, Amiri served Ajman Bank in various capacities from October 2010 to April 2013, first as deputy CEO before being promoted as acting CEO. In his career in financial services, Amiri has been associated with leading organisations such as Dubai Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and HSBC Bank Middle East Limited in senior management positions.

Gatehouse Bank announced the appointment of Mr Natale Giostra as Executive Vice President and Head of Real Estate Finance, based at its City of London offices. The Real Estate Finance department forms part of Gatehouse's business growth strategy and strives to create a new focus on UK and Continental European jurisdictions. Mr Natale Giostra has joined Gatehouse Bank from CBRE, where he led the UK debt advisory team. With more than 12 years experience working in real estate banking in several countries, Giostra brings with him a solid background in the origination and distribution of senior and mezzanine real estate loans, loan sale, and acquisition of distressed CRE loans.

Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group ( ABG ) has achieved a net income of US$ 197 million in the first nine months of 2013, an increase of 8% on the net income achieved in the first nine months of 2012. Similarly, statement of financial positions witnessed moderate increases. Total assets increased by 4%, investments and financing portfolio by 5% and customer accounts by 2% as at the end of September 2013 as compared with the end of December 2012. The net income amounted to US$ 197 in first nine months of 2013 compared to US$ 183 million in first nine months of 2012, which reflects an increase of 8%. With regard to the Group's plans to expand its branch network, the President & Chief Executive said that the subsidiary units of the Group in Turkey, Egypt, and Sudan continued opening new branches.

Bosna Bank International (BBI) was established in 2000 as the first Islamic bank in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the first bank of this kind in Europe. The bank resulted from a greenfield investment by Islamic Development Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank. BBI had to overcome challenges like compliance with both Islamic banking principles and State Law on Banks, and the lack of awareness among Bosnians. Additional challenges were the education of workforce and how to overcome the market challenge. Today, BBI offers all types of commercial banking products which are all in compliance with Islamic principles and competitive to other banks’ offers. For more information see the attached document.

Maybank Islamic is confident of continuing its growth trajectory this year. Chief executive officer Muzaffar Hisham said the bank is looking at a pre-tax profit and zakat growth of between 10 and 15 per cent, after a 25 per cent growth to RM1.19 billion last year. The bank's growth will be led by an increase in cross-border transactions, which he said are on a steady rise. Indonesia and Singapore are the next key growth areas for Maybank Islamic. Muzaffar said he wants to grow the bank's cross-border investments via its treasury services window at Maybank Hong Kong. The bank has a strong retail banking presence in Singapore and has issued one sukuk in the island state. In Indonesia, its Islamic banking reach is through Maybank Group's subsidiary, Bank Internasional Indonesia. He added that the bank is also targeting to attract corporations from the United Kingdom wanting to expand in Asia.

Police have named two more suspects in an alleged Bank Syariah Mandiri scam implicating three bank officials, bringing the total number of suspects to six. The two latest suspects are Hen Hen Gunawan and doctor Rizky Adiansyah. Gunawan allegedly used the identity cards of his 26 employees to embezzle up to Rp 12.4 billion ($1.1 million) from the bank through its loan scheme. Rizky, meanwhile, allegedly borrowed ID cards of some of his neighbors to siphon Rp 12.2 billion from the bank. These two new suspects were ‘instructed’ by an accounting officer of the Bogor branch of BSM, John Lopulisa. John was earlier arrested, along with the head of BSM‘s primary branch in Bogor, M. Agustinus Masrie, the head of a smaller Bogor branch, Haerulli Hermawan, and Iyan Permana. The fraud is believed to have cost the bank Rp 59 billion.

Islamic International Rating Agency has upgraded the national scale ratings of Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank (Kuwait Finance House–Turkey) on both the short-term and long-term scale to AA-/A-1+ from A+/A-1 previously. Ratings on the international scale have been reaffirmed with local currency ratings at BBB/A-3 and foreign currency assessment at BBB-/A-3. Outlook on the ratings is ‘Stable’. According to IIRA, a significant ratings driver is the fact that the bank stands to benefit from strategic and financial support if needed, both implied and explicit. Additionally, the board and management of the bank have remained stable, with several of the key personnel having been associated with the bank for a number of years.

In an effort to prevent any repeat of Dubai's corporate debt crisis, the UAE central bank plans to restrict the amount of exposure banks can have to the debt of government-related entities. The rules will be issued by the end of this year and banks are expected to be given about five years to finish complying with them. A period of consultations between the central bank and commercial banks ensued. Last week, the UAE central bank issued restrictions on mortgage loans in order to limit speculation in the real estate market; the caps were not as stringent as initially planned because of lobbying by the banking industry.

A recent report by Standard and Poor indicates that while Islamic banks in the GGG are likely to grow faster than their conventional counterparts, profititability rates for the two banking models are converging as Islamic banks take a hit from comparatively lower interest rates and non-core banking revenues. The economies of the countries that make up the GCC are showing robust recovery after the 2008 economic crisis, with Qatar looking particularly strong. The region has one of the world's largest Islamic banking markets and the sector has healthy performance metrics. S&P predicts that Islamic banking in the region will continue to increase its market share, and they expect the operating environment over the next two years to remain supportive for Islamic banks' business and credit quality.

Dubai Islamic Bank, the UAE’s largest Islamic lender, is refocusing on growth, says CEO Adnan Chilwan. This year, Chilwan expects a double-digit rise in DIB’s financing portfolio for the first time since 2008. Chilwan says that in early 2014 DIB’s ratio of non-performing assets will fall below 10%. DIB is reaping the benefits of a rebounding local real estate market, but Chilwan says he is not fuelling another bubble in the sector. He also says the bank aims to reduce the proportion of its portfolio dedicated to real estate financing to between 22% and 25%. According to Chilwan, an important part of efforts to sustainably grow the bank’s revenues has been a greater focus on retail: including personal and car finance, as well as mortgages.

Dear Reader,

IslamicFinance.de is still edited by myself, Michael Saleh Gassner. In the same time the website became part of the family's publishing house, Al Kitab.

Myself I moved to Geneva for professional reasons, working as Islamic private banker. IslamicFinance.de remains to be a private passion.

Best regards,

Michael Gassner

First Gulf Bank (FGB) has increased its stakes in Aseel Islamic Finance, through a purchase agreement which has raised the bank’s ownership from 40% to 100%. With a paid-up capital of AED 800 million, Aseel is now FGB’s Islamic banking and finance arm, planning to develop more products for small medium enterprises. Aseel Islamic Finance will maintain an independent board of directors with Hana Al Rostamani as the Chairperson, while Javed Afzal was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer.

Qatari lender Barwa Bank expects a sharp increase in its 2013 net profit, driven mainly by billions in infrastructure spending by the Gulf state and growth in its debt advisory and asset management business. The unlisted lender is awaiting regulators' approval a public floatation as part of two share sales planned to raise more than 2.05 billion riyals. It posted a profit of 345 million riyals ($94.75 million) for 2012, a 41 percent increase from the previous year. Moreover, Barwa Bank, through its fully-owned investment banking arm, The First Investor (TFI), plans to partner with local investors in Qatar to invest in the healthcare sector. The bank also manages a Shariah-compliant Gulf equities fund, with 113 million riyals in assets. The fund has returned 19 percent to investors since inception in late 2012.

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) has reported a net profit of BD3.8 million ($10.1 million) during the first nine months of the year from a net loss of BD20.8 million during the same period last year. Net profit for the third quarter this year amounted to BD1.4 million versus a net loss of BD4.9 million during the same quarter last year. This is after setting aside provisioning amounting to BD3.4 million for the quarter under review as against BD5.4 million during the corresponding previous period. The bank made an operating profit of BD12.9 million during the first nine months of the year. Operating profit for the third quarter was BD4.8 million. Chairman Abdul Razaq Al Qassim said the results reflect a prudent policy and all earnings represent principal activities involving the bank's assets.