IslamicFinance.de

Kuwait Turkish Participation Bank Inc has been granted a licence by the Qatar Financial Centre ( QFC ) Authority, with effect from September 15 2013, to establish a branch in the QFC . The bank expects to open its QFC branch in about two months. It is licenced to undertake deposit taking; providing and arranging Islamic credit facilities dealing in Islamic investments and managing Islamic investments. The bank is a Turkish Islamic bank with 62 percent owned by Kuwait Finance House, Kuwait, 9 percent by PIFSS, Kuwait, 9 percent by Islamic Development Bank, Saudi Arabia, and 18 percent by Turkish Awqaf. It is the first and only Turkish bank to have a presence in Qatar.

Moody's Investors Service has upgraded by one notch the global foreign and local-currency deposit ratings of Kuwait-based Boubyan Bank (Boubyan) to Baa1 from Baa2. At the same time, Moody's has upgraded Boubyan's standalone bank financial strength rating (BFSR) to D+ from D, equivalent to ba1 baseline credit assessment (BCA) from ba2. All ratings assigned to Boubyan carry a stable outlook. Moody's rating upgrade primarily reflects the strengthening of asset-quality and coverage metrics and improvement in capitalisation levels. However, these strengths are moderated by high concentration risks and challenges stemming from rapid growth.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed UAE-based Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank 's (ADIB) Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A+' with a Stable Outlook, and Viability Rating (VR) at 'bb'. The bank's IDRs, Support Rating and Support Rating Floor reflect
Fitch's opinion that there would be an extremely high probability that support would be provided by the UAE authorities if needed. In addition, Fitch believes that support would be forthcoming from the Abu Dhabi government (AA/Stable/F1+). Although Fitch expects the overall asset quality issues and exposure to a seasoning financing book to continue to present challenges in the short term, these are manageable. Fitch believes that the VR remains sensitive to any deterioration in asset quality, capital or profitability.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has arranged a £20 million (Dh118.02 million) structured Islamic financing transaction to fund the development of Westbourne House, a prime 1980s commercial property in central London, combining office and retail space. ADIB’s financing package for Westbourne House was specifically tailored to meet the investors’ aims of acquiring, refurbishing and reselling high-value luxury properties to overseas buyers. The deal marks ADIB’s debut in London’s real estate market at a time when the British government is promoting the city as a centre for Islamic finance.

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. Aseel will offer a full-fledged range of Islamic solutions, such as Business Financing, Murabaha and Ijarah products for SMEs, Takaful, Investment products, Corporate Deposits, and Trade facilities in addition to Real Estate services. It will also share responsibility for managing the bank's existing Emirati Al Awwal Islamic savings certificates programme, Transaction Accounts and Individual Deposits. 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.

Bank Islami Pakistan Limited has planned to issue rights shares up to Rs750 million, as the exemption granted by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for minimum capital requirement (MCR) expired on March 31. The SBP had declined to extend the extension unless Bank Islami improves its equity position substantially. The board of the bank will consider the rights issue at the board meeting scheduled on October 31, where the price of the right shares will be decided. The SBP through a circular increased the MCR for banks up to Rs10 billion to be achieved in a phased manner by December 31. Moreover, the central bank had also advised the bank to submit concrete time bound capital plan by March 31, 2013 to comply with the future and prevailing regulatory capital requirements.

Al Salam Bank Bahrain has led investment into a new waste-to-biodiesel plant in Hong Kong. The plant is operated by ASB Biodiesel, a Hong Kong-based company under the chairmanship of HRH. It is capable of processing waste oils into 100,000 tonnes of biodiesel annually. The construction cost of the plant was $165 million. Specifically, ASB Biodiesel collects waste cooking oil and up to 550 tonnes of grease trap waste per day, then processes the waste using multi-feedstock technology from Austrian designer BDI Bioenergy International.

Fitch Ratings has assigned Al Hilal Bank's (Al Hilal; A+/Stable/F1) USD2.5bn trust certificate issuance programme a final Long-term rating of 'A+' and a final Short-term rating of 'F1'. At the same time, Fitch has assigned Al Hilal's USD500m senior unsecured fixed rate certificates (sukuk) issued under the programme a Long-term rating of 'A+'. The certificates have a profit rate of 3.267% per annum and mature on 8 October 2018. The ratings assigned to the programme and the certificates are driven solely by Al Hilal's Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs), as the sukuk structure is viewed as an originator-backed/asset-based structure. The ratings of the trust certificate issuance programme and the certificates are highly sensitive to any rating action on Al Hilal.

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has reported a 12.4 percent drop in third-quarter net profit, missing analysts' average forecast. QIB posted a nine-month net profit of 975.1 million riyals, compared with 1.1 billion riyals for the same period last year. The third-quarter results, with a net profit of 345.1 million riyals ($94.8 million), missed the average forecast of eight analysts in a Reuters poll. QIB's total third-quarter income from financing and investing activity dropped to 738.4 million riyals from 773.8 million riyals a year earlier. Fee and commission income fell to 91.4 million riyals from 119.7 million riyals. QIB shares closed 0.3 percent lower on Sunday. They have fallen 9.7 percent year-to-date.

BIMB Holdings yesterday received shareholders' nod to buy the remaining 49% stake it does not own in Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd from Dubai Financial Group (DFG) and Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH). The acquisition is expected to be accretive to the group's earnings by another 5% from the financial year ending Dec 31, 2014 (FY14). With BIMB's current 51% controlling stake in Bank Islam, the Islamic banking unit is already contributing 85% to the group's revenue and earnings. BIMB shareholders also gave the green light to BIMB to raise up to RM3 billion through a combination of a rights issue and a sukuk to part-finance the acquisition. Besides, BIMB might reportedly acquire stake in Bank Muamalat Malaysia from state investment fund Khazanah Nasional and conglomerate DRB-Hicom.

Al-Rajhi Bank said third-quarter net profit fell 8.1 percent. The bank made SR1.72 billion ($458.6 million) in the three months to September 30, compared with SR1.87 billion in the same period a year earlier. Al-Rajhi attributed the fall in net profit to a decrease in operating income, which dipped 4.6 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2012. It did not elaborate further. Al-Rajhi's loans and advances at the end of the third quarter stood at SR185 billion, gaining 12 percent on the same point of 2012. Its total assets were worth SR273 billion at the end of the third quarter, up 10 percent on the corresponding point in 2012.

Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd. has signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding e-GP (Electronic Government Procurement) system with the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU), Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), Ministry of Planning. Under this Memorandum, Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd. will provide e-GP (Electronic Government Procurement) service within the territorial jurisdiction of the Bank. CPTU of the Ministry will provide e- GP Portal Dashboard and training to nominated focal persons of the Bank for the use of payment system under e- GP. On the other hand, CPTU Ministry of Planning will publish the names of the Bank in e-GP portal link to the Bank as the e-payment service provider.

The Bahrain Chamber of Dispute Resolution (BCDR) ordered Bank Alkhair's former Chief Executive Officer, Majed Al-Refai, in a verdict to repay a $2 million loan he had taken during his tenure as CEO, and to compensate the bank for all legal fees and costs. The latest ruling against Al Refai follows several other criminal cases involving Al Refai and associates which have all been ruled in favor of the bank. On 29 September 2013, the Supreme Criminal Court of Appeal sentenced Al Refai and his Canadian associate Robert Little each to one year in prison for forging the bank’s Articles of Association. The bank has confirmed numerous legal proceedings, which are ongoing since September 2010, all within the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and do not affect the ongoing operations of the bank.

The financial crisis changed the focus of Bahraini investment banks away from bumper projects and the preference now is for slimmer balance sheets, according to GFH founder Essam Janahi, who last week stepped down as chairman. GFH has now reduced its liabilities to $223 million, from over $2bn at the peak of the crisis, and is rolling out a more conservative strategy. Future investments will shy away from aggressive rates of return and favour smaller deals to better manage risk, Mr Janahi said. Bahraini firm Arcapita filed for bankruptcy protection in a New York court in March last year, emerging from Chapter 11 last month with a five-year plan to sell legacy assets to pay creditors. Last week, the reorganised firm appointed a new seven-man board of directors that includes a representative from Bahrain's central bank and the chief executive of Bank Alkhair.

Islamic International Rating Agency has upgraded the national scale ratings of Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank on both the short-term and long-term scale to AA-/A-1 + (Double A Minus /A-One Plus) from A+/A-1 (A Plus/A-One) previously. Ratings on the international scale have been reaffirmed with local currency ratings at BBB/A-3 (Triple B/A-Three) and foreign currency assessment at BBB-/A-3 (Triple B Minus/ A-Three). Outlook on the ratings is 'Stable'. The ratings draw on recent, continued business expansion, reinforced by fresh capital provided by the bank's sponsors. Organization level improvements in terms of strengthening the control areas and adding focus to certain business functions, has also been noted.

Al Salam Bank-Bahrain (ASBB) shareholders approved by majority the Board of Directors’ recommendation to merge the bank with BMI Bahrain through exchange of ASBB shares. The Chairperson H.H. Shaikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Khalifa pointed out that ASBB’s strategy is to grow organically and through mergers and acquisitions, and consistent with this strategy the Board of Directors had been continuously on the lookout for suitable commercial banking targets to acquire and integrate. H.H Shaikha Hessa mentioned that upon merger the Group will have total assets of circa BHD 1.8 billion, financing facility of circa BHD 1.2 billion, equity of over BHD 285 million and total customer deposits in excess of BHD 1.2 billion.

Islamic banking has a presence in India in the form of NBFCs and Baitul Mal (Islamic Treasury), but the business is small. Many Indian institutions, including some government-owned ones, have shown interest in this growing niche opportunity, for example Kerala government-owned KSIDC. India needs an Islamic banking model as a tool of financial inclusion. Moreover, India could attract the Middle East’s high investible surplus through Islamic banking and finance. However, there are also challenges, like the regulatory framework, dearth of Islamic banking professionals and lack of awareness. By not introducing Islamic finance, India is losing the opportunity of garnering capital from a large section of the Muslim population as well as from Islamic nations in the Middle East and elsewhere.

The Family Bank took part in the Third Global Islamic Micro-Finance Forum which is organised by the Al-Huda Centre of Islamic Banking and Islamic Economics (CIBE). The two-day forum includes a workshop on "How to Develop, Operate and Sustain Islamic Micro-Finance Institutions", in which a number of experts and consultants are participating. Family Bank, led by the Social Development Minister and Board of Directors Chairperson Dr. Fatima Mohammed Al-Balushi, implements its programmes in cooperation with the Labour Find (Tamkeen). It is the first Islamic micro-finance bank in the Middle East with the prime objective to contribute to poverty alleviation and socio-economic empowerment of the communities by providing sustainable Islamic financial services to the needy.

The Board of Ajman Bank has decided not to confirm CEO, Mohammed Zaqout and instead named on an interim basis Seifeldin Abdelkareem as the Acting CEO. The decision has been taken by mutual agreement, the board said. The bank maintained earnings momentum recording a breakthrough performance with record growth rate of 382 per cent in 2012 year-end compared to 2011 year-end. Ajman Bank began its operations in 2008 and now operates 11 branches across the UAE.

Ajman Bank has sacked its Chief Executive Mohammed Zaqout, less than six months after appointing him to lead the United Arab Emirates' lender. The Islamic bank said it had terminated the services of Zaqout with effect from Sunday, with Chief Financial Officer Seifeldin Abdelkareem becoming acting CEO. The bank, listed on the Dubai Financial Market since 2008, is 25-percent owned by the government of Ajman.