IslamicFinance.de

The Islamic Development Bank's (IDB) Board of Executive Directors has approved new fundings totalling $670.9 million for development projects in member and non-member countries. The Executive Directors approved $312.8 million to finance electricity projects in Egypt and Senegal; $110 million to fund the development of a major road in Uganda; $48 million to fund pearl preservation and economic revival projects in Bahrain; $44 million for an underwater communications cable in Bangladesh; and $12.4 million to finance fish farms in Mozambique. Moreover, the executive directors gave their approval for four donations for Muslim communities in non-member Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, India and Thailand while funds will also be channelled into development projects in Africa.

A report “Mid-Term Review of the Ten-Year Framework and Strategies for Islamic Financial Services Industry (IFSI) Development” will be launched on 19 May 2014. The Mid-Term Review report is a joint initiative of the IFSB and Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI). Previously, in March 2007, the IFSB, IDB and IRTI had jointly developed, in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, the IFSI Development: Ten-Year Framework and Strategies. After five years of the initial publication, a Mid-Term Review of the initiative was undertaken with the aim to assess the progress made, incorporate the new developments taking place in the global financial system and the challenges. The report will be available for download from the IFSB and IRTI websites, www.ifsb.org and www.irti.org from 19 May 2014.

Of the 30 listed banks in Bangladesh, 13 declared higher dividends than in the previous year, eight announced lower dividends, and eight the same, according to Dhaka Stock Exchange. Dutch-Bangla Bank came up with the highest amount of dividends—40 percent cash—for its general shareholders. ICB Islamic Bank gave no dividends. With the mixed trend in dividend declaration, the banking shares were unable to draw the investors' attention in the last couple of months, as corporate declarations from the sector could not fulfil retail investors' expectations. The banks' income from lending business declined in 2013 than the previous year due mainly to the political volatility. But thanks to the central bank's move of relaxing loan provisioning rules at the yearend, the banks could recover losses.

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) will release a Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the industry’s 10-year framework document on May 19, outlining benchmarks to monitor industry progress in a more focused way. The original framework, released in 2007 by the IFSB and the research arm of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank, identified 16 recommendations for policymakers but did not spell out detailed metrics to track their progress. The MTR, in contrast, proposes a stronger implementation plan, including concrete initiatives to be undertaken by a range of stakeholders. Furthermore, a working group to study a standard for retakaful has now been launched and another working group will soon be set up to study a standard for capital markets.

The first UK-Bahrain Islamic Finance Summit was held in London and highlighted the importance of co-operation in the area of educational and training development in Islamic finance. The BIBF presented a paper on that topic, saying that a million professional Islamic finance jobs are expected to be created worldwide by 2020. The paper highlighted several trends and facts within the Islamic financial sector. It also highlighted that this has produced a paradigm shift from an educational standpoint in Organisation of Islamic Co-operation countries and will generate multiple specialised training opportunities for human capital development within the sector. The BIBF team also participated in many panel discussions during the event, focusing on investment, education, and regulation.

The book Startup Rising, from the author Christopher Shroeder, is perhaps the first major portrait of the startup scene in a region that is often deeply misunderstood. It describes the desire of young people in the GCC and MENA regions to have social impact through their business ventures. It also tells the story of how businesspeople have used technology to work around cultural barriers and institutional challenges. Most importantly, the book attempts to map out the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the region. Shroeder sees three groups of people shaping the MENA entrepreneurship ecosystem: Investors, Conveners and Recognizers. They are all engaged in their societies, because they feel a sense of national pride and a desire to level the playing field for all businesses to compete.

There is an increasingly loud chatter brewing about halal food in non-Muslim countries and amongst a segment of Muslims, and, it seems, it’s not all positive. The differing reactions should be a basis for a multi-jurisdiction primary-based research on the rational for halal and kosher in non-Muslim countries, as this may provide a blueprint for positioning, placing and promoting, especially benefitting suppliers. Today, there is no global halal industry body like Bahrain-based AAOIFI or IIFM or Malaysia-based IFSB to provide guidelines. It is hoped that the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC) would, one day, roll off the tongue for halal as AAOFI, launched in 1991, is for Islamic finance concerning accounting and auditing.

Licensing and the implementation of sharia often cause investors to reconsider investing in Aceh. The Aceh provincial administration, through the Aceh Promotion and Investment Board (BIPA), has made strenuous efforts to convince investors to invest capital. BIPA has coordinated with various stakeholders, including city administrations and district level administrations, to help spur economic growth in Aceh. It also initiated a joint commitment to improve the image of Aceh and inputting data on impediments and issues faced by the business world to seek immediate solutions. However, uncertain regulations and licensing as well as an unfriendly attitude towards foreign investors are issues yet to be solved.

Eureeca, a crowd investing platform offering a global solution for growth businesses to raise finance, announced that Sameer Al Ansari has joined the company as a Board Director. Al Ansari is the founder of PE Plus, and the former chairman of Dubai International Capital, and CEO of Shuaa Capital. Al Ansari, who also sits on the boards of Dubai International Financial Centre Authority; Hawkamah Institute of Corporate Governance; and Cedrus Bank, is the company’s sixth board member.

The UAE's Debt Settlement Fund was set up to rescue Emiratis struggling to meet payments on loans and credit cards. It was launched with an initial budget of Dh10 billion. Heavily indebted Emiratis who receive help by the fund are not allowed to borrow from any banks and their name is centralised in all banks. All banks are required to cooperate, and uncooperative institutions will face penalties. Under the auspices of the agreement, the bank writes off half the outstanding amount of the debt, which must be in dispute. However, in turn, the bank gets closure on a debt that is stuck in litigation. However, only Emiratis who have been taken to court by a bank on account of default as of the date of the launch of the initiative in 2011, qualify for the programme.

Iran's Bank Mellat filed an application for a judicial review against the UK Government in the Administrative Court on 16 April 2014. In its final ruling last June, the UK Supreme Court found that by imposing domestic sanctions against Bank Mellat, the UK Government acted both “unlawfully and irrationally”. Following the UK Supreme Court decision, Bank Mellat had asked the UK Government to withdraw its 2010 listing proposal to the EU Council. It was hoped that this may have been sufficient to convince the EU Council to give up on its own sanctions against the bank. However, the UK Government has refused to withdraw the proposal. The UK Government has also now applied for permission to intervene in support of the EU Council’s appeal against the first European Court decision.

With the support of the government to develop Islamic finance in Turkey, Turkish and foreign investors are becoming more and more aware of Islamic financing methods and products in Turkey. The main legislation regulating Islamic banking in Turkey is the Banking Law No. 5411 (the "Banking Law"). Regulated under the same legal framework, participation banks must establish their own financing models approved by shariah scholars, to the extent it is in compliance with Turkish laws. Due to lack of specific regulations on Islamic finance, financing offered by participation banks has its own obstacles. Despite legal and practical issues yet to be resolved, Turkey is determined to increase its standing in the Islamic finance market.

Turkey’s Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said the government wants more foreign lenders to apply for operating licenses as the country’s pool of potential bank acquisition targets shrinks. The focus on licenses comes after Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. announced last month that it was buying Tekstilbank AS and Qatar Islamic Bank said on March 26 that was nearing the end of exclusive talks to buy a stake in Asya Katilim Bankasi AS. (ASYAB). While the acquisition field narrows, Turkey’s regulator said it will look favorably on applications for banking licenses as the government encourages foreign investment.

The International Islamic Financial Market ( IIFM ) held its 30th Board of Directors meeting at Bank Indonesia's headquarters in Jakarta. The Board commended IIFM efforts in holding two successful industry consultative meetings on Sukuk standardization requirements from documentation, structures and guidelines point of view which were very well attended by industry stakeholders. Moreover, IIFM aims is to come up with more standards as per its well established comprehensive development process, some of which will be issued during 2014 and in the next year. On the sidelines of the Board meeting, a specialized industry seminar on "Islamic Capital & Money Market" was also organized, discussing the technical aspects of Sukuk, Islamic hedging and liquidity management tools.

Kuwait's Investment Dar has made a settlement-in-kind offer to creditors, in the latest of a long line of restructurings at the company. In a statement, it said the new offer was presented to creditors at a meeting in Dubai on Wednesday, and that it was optional and voluntary. The offer is an alternative to a proposal Dar made under a KD1 billion ($3.6 billion) debt restructuring plan agreed in 2011. There were no details of the type or value of assets offered under Wednesday's proposal. Giving reasons for the new settlement offer, Investment Dar said it had originally hoped that one of its "major assets" would have been returned to it by now through the Kuwaiti judicial system, but that this had not happened. The company has been in a long-running legal battle over a stake it once held in Bouyban Bank.

A move by Iran to recover bad debts on behalf of banks has shed light on possible corrupt lending under the country’s previous president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. President Hassan Rouhani’s administration, in power for nine months, says bad debt in the banking system has reached a “critical” level – 15.6 percent. The authorities this week have handed the names of 575 of the biggest defaulters to the judiciary to try and recover some of the $33 billion owed. The list has not released but some believe the bulk may have been borrowed by as few as 100 people and firms. The bad debt may hamper Rouhani’s plans to boost employment and raise living standards. However, analysts also see positives in the new openness on the debt problem and moves to fix it.

Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House has appealed a decision by Kuwait's financial regulator to monitor its Kuwait-listed shares after the stock was traded in high volumes ahead of a company disclosure last year. In recent months, Kuwait's Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has been clamping down on what it sees as unusual market activity. Some executives and analysts have welcomed the move but others say the watchdog is being heavy-handed. Kuwait's regulator noticed GFH stock traded in high volumes in May 2013. The regulator notified GFH of its probe into the firm last September and said in April this year that it would monitor the stock for six months.

The Dubai-listed Dar Al Takaful will raise paid-up capital by 50 per cent, or Dh50 million, to Dh150 million through right issues, plunging its shares by nearly 3.5 per cent in the early morning trade of May 8. Rights shares will be offered to shareholders who own shares at the close of trading on Wednesday, May 14, 2014. The right issue will be issued at the par value of Dh1 per share and one ordinary share for every two shares. However, any surplus shares will be allocated to subscribers from shareholders or non-shareholders on a pro rata basis. The Islamic insurance company earlier this year signed a deal with Daman Investments to manage it investment account.

ndonesian airline Garuda Indonesia Tbk has secured US$100 million in financing from a unit of Malaysia's Maybank to fund its operations and expansion. The Musyarakah-based loan has a tenure of three years and will be issued through Maybank's Indonesian unit, PT Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk. Garuda Indonesia posted a net loss of $163.9 million in its first quarter ended March, compared with a loss of $33.75 million in the same period a year earlier, as the airline continued to struggle with rising competition.

The United Arab Emirates should enact stronger measures to curb real-estate speculation in Dubai to prevent an “unsustainable” surge in prices, the International Monetary Fund said. According to Masood Ahmed, head of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, there is evidence that prices of real estate have been rising at a very rapid pace over the past 18 months. However, not everybody shares the same view. The Institute of International Finance, a Washington-based financial industry association, said that the rise in U.A.E. property values probably won’t lead to an asset-price bubble because credit growth remains relatively modest.