IslamicFinance.de

Kuwait Finance House denies any decision to merge with Ahli United Bank. Kuwait Finance House is currently studying many other strategic alternatives to enlarge its profitability and marketshare among local and regional banks.

The Islamic Development Bank will invest more cash in Sri Lanka's Amana Bank through an investment vehicle. Approval has been recently given for the investment group to go up to 29.9% of the stock by subscribing to a cash call. The investment vehicle IB Growth Fund (Labuan) will buy stock in in an upcoming rights issue. The investment deal was inked on May 18 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said that the board of directors of Islami Bank Bangladesh has been engaged in an internal row. The row is over the appointment of new staff, that Islami Bank Vice-chairman Professor Ahsanul Alam claims were made on paying bribes. Due to the row between him and chairman Arastoo Khan, two groups in the board have also been created with the 21 directors supporting either Arastoo or Ahsanul, and each group calling the other a liar. In a statement released on May 20, nine directors threatened to resign from their posts. Professor Ahsanul Alam has claimed that three directors who are abroad have also opted in support of this statement.

Nigeria may become the regional operational hub of the 43-year old Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in Africa. IsDB is considering a proposal to expand its existing country gateway office in Abuja to serve as a key regional office. The office will coordinate the operations of the Bank in its West and Central African member-countries. According to the Ministry of Finance, the Abuja gateway office will serve Nigeria, Gabon, Niger, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, the Republic of Cameroon, Uganda, Senegal, Djibouti and Guinea Bisaau, among others. IsDB President Bandar Mohammed Hajjar said the Bank would enhance the development impact of its projects through comprehensive development solutions that integrate services and products in its member-countries.

Le lancement officiel des activités de Wifak International Bank s’est tenue dans le hall du nouveau centre d’affaires au nord de Tunis. Wifak Bank a eu son agrément de la Banque centrale de Tunisie (BCT), le 8 octobre 2014. Selon M. Mellousse, Wifak Bank va, dans une première étape, mener ses activités à travers 9 agences réparties dans diverses régions du pays. La nouvelle banque proposera à ses clients un bouquet de services et produits bancaires modernes et innovants conformes aux dispositions de la finance islamique. Il convient de noter que les 3 banques islamiques tunisiennes ambitionnent d’atteindre, d’ici 2022, 15% des actifs bancaires contre 7% actuellement. La concurrence entre les banques islamiques et classiques est donc sérieusement lancée.

Low oil revenues are prompting the government of Oman to sell $2 billion in Islamic bonds to raise funds for the national budget. The hole in Oman’s national budget will measure 12% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, though forecasts predict the shortfall will decrease in coming years. Oman is also considering forging public-private partnerships to balance the cost burdens of nationalized industries. The country announced earlier that it would sell stakes in state-owned oil and gas downstream companies, but no concrete action has been taken. S&P Global Ratings lowered the monarchy’s credit rating from BBB- to BB+. As a response, finance minister Darwish Al Balushi said that Oman was confident of its economy and the country's reserves were still in a comfortable position.

Dana Gas has received an initial payment of $50 million (Dh184 million) from the Egyptian government as partial payment of its outstanding receivables. This payment represents 18% of Dana Gas Egypt’s total overdue receivables of $283 billion (Dh1.038 billion) as of the end of first quarter 2017. Dana Gas, which pumps most of its gas at fields in Egypt and Iraq, is seeking to recover payments from both countries for overdue bills. The company was owed $1 billion from Egypt and the self-governed Kurdish region in northern Iraq. CEO Patrick Allman-Ward had previously said that the company will not make any new investments in Egypt due to delay in receiving payments. In the first quarter 2017, Dana Gas reported gross revenues of $118 million and net profit of $11 million. Overall group production was 69,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day, 16% higher compared to first quarter of 2016.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and Al Kuraimi Islamic Microfinance Bank (KIMB) have entered into a Joint Strategic Collaboration to implement Islamic Microfinance Institutions. The memorandum was signed by the CEO of ICD, Mr Khaled Al Aboodi and the CEO of KIMB, Mr. Yousuf Al Kuraimi. The collaboration will focus on the implementation of Islamic Microfinance Institutions and Banks. KIMB will make equity investments conditioned upon ICD and its affiliates co-investing alongside. Special focus is on the provision of required technical and advisory services by ICD for the global expansion and diversification of KIMB’s current operations beyond Yemen.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with City Bank Bangladesh in order to strengthen their collaboration. The signing ceremony was held at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the IDB Group in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The MOU was signed by the CEO of ICD, Mr Khaled Al Aboodi and Mr Sheikh Mohammed Maroof, Deputy Managing Director and Mr Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman, Chief Financial Officer of City Bank. The collaboration will encompass the areas of Term Finance, Public Private Partnership transactions, Lines of Finance and other areas. The signing ceremony was also attended by Mr Farid Masmoudi, Director of ICD, Mr Mahbub Jamil, Head of Structured Finance of City Bank and other high officials of both institutions.

Egypt’s central bank is launching its anticipated microfinance initiative to support the country’s small and medium-sized businesses. According to the new initiative, the banks will not be obliged to establish a special unit for microfinancing; as they can provide both direct and indirect lending to clients. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) plans to allocate 20 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.2 billion) for the microfinancing activities in the country. CBE deputy governor Gamal Negm announced earlier that the central bank is preparing the ground to launch an initiative dedicated for the microfinance sector before the end of this month.

The World Economic Forum’s Middle East and North Africa meeting takes place this year at the Dead Sea in Jordan. The meeting’s formal programme has the theme: Enabling a Generational Transformation, and is based on three interrelated pillars: two long term and one urgent. The first long term pillar focuses on how to enable innovation and youth empowerment by using new technologies like bio-tech, nano-tech and artificial intelligence. These new technologies will continue to develop, so training people in these areas will be a long-term solution in creating new jobs for young people. The second pillar is about finding a framework for an inclusive economic transformation. The third and more urgent pillar is the search for how to best cope with the vast humanitarian crisis in the region. The common thread in all three strands is an optimism that anarchy and sectarian chaos can be defeated.

#Kenya’s first fully Shariah compliant bank Gulf African is banking on a Shariah compliant insurance premium financing facility. The regular Insurance Premium Financing (IPF) enables customers to cover costs of immediate insurance premiums while spreading repayment over an agreed period. This Shariah compliant IPF enables the lender to enter into an agreement with both the insurer and the insured. The bank pays the full insurance premium of the insured immediately while operating under the Tawarruq model. Gulf African Bank CEO Bdalla Abdulkhalik said this policy will act as security for the bank and customers will also enjoy effortless renewals as agreed upon. Gulf African Bank will also act as the billing and collecting agent.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and Coris Bank International have entered into a Joint Strategic Collaboration to establish Islamic windows. ICD is assisting Coris Bank International’s subsidiaries in launching four dedicated Islamic windows in Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal and Benin. The advisory agreement was signed by the CEO of ICD, Mr. Khaled Al Aboodi and Mr. Idrissa Nassa, CEO and Chairman of Coris Bank International. Mr. Nassa stated that the signature of this advisory agreement with ICD aims to achieve the bank's objectives. The current strategy of the group is to implement an Islamic Window in all its banking network. In midterm the group aspires to create sharia compliant subsidiaries.

The Islamic Development Bank signed an agreement with Jordan to provide the Kingdom with US$100 million in loans and grants. Jordan's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury said that the deal included a US$79 million loan and a US$21 million grant, adding that the amount would be used to finance projects in the field of health. The minister also highlighted pressure on Jordan in various fields of energy, education and infrastructure since the start of the Syrian crisis in 2011. The minister urged all countries to provide further support to Jordan to help it cope with the challenges, noting that such support is vital for Jordan. Between 1975 and 2017, the bank provided Jordan with US$975.6 million in loans and grants to support projects in various fields.

Dear Reader,

regular readers may remember my critic on bitcoin from an Islamic perspective missing intrinsic value. The former blog entry you find here: http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/7840 - almost two years ago.

So far bitcoin just went up higher and higher, with wild fluctuations but nevertheless.

It reminds on how bubbles work, think about the tulip mania in 1637 a nice piece of economic history. A single tulip bulb was traded and bought on credit. Check the Wiki page on it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania

As bitcoin has even less value than a tulip except for payment purposes, it is the payment functionality, which can lead to destruction. What happens if a new alternative currency is becoming en vogue, which has a better usability and faster transaction time? In my view this is most likely trigger to burst the bubble.

FT Alphaville covers now the difficulties coming up with bitcoin's increasing transaction numbers causing inconvenience in using the digital currency:

https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2017/05/17/2188961/the-currency-of-the-futur...

#Malaysian holding company Sime Darby has received approval from its bondholders to restructure US$800mil (RM3.46bil) worth of sukuk. Holders of the sukuk approved the company’s plan to buy back the papers or replace the borrower to Sime Darby Plantation from Sime Darby. The broader reorganisation of the group involves the proposed listing of Sime Darby Plantation and Sime Darby Property through share distributions. Sime Darby will remain listed, owning the automotive, industrial equipment and logistics businesses. The holding company plans to create three standalone businesses: plantation, property and trading, and logistics. Plantation and property would be listed on Bursa Malaysia, while trading and logistics would remain under Sime Darby.

Order books for Qatar Islamic Bank's planned dollar five-year sukuk have topped $1 billion. The senior unsecured deal is part of a $3 billion sukuk programme. It will be of benchmark size, which conventionally means upwards of $500 million. Initial price guidance for the Islamic bond was 145-155 basis points over mid-swaps. Citi, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC, Noor Bank, QInvest and Standard Chartered Bank have been appointed to lead the transaction.

Leading international policymakers, experts and scientists have called for urgent action to engage more youth in agricultural production to tackle unemployment and food insecurity. More than 100 delegates from different countries gathered on the sidelines of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) 42nd Annual Meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Organized by the IDB and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), the seminar looked at the challenges and problems facing rural young people. Participants agreed that the focus should be on resource-efficient technologies that work for young people and make agriculture a viable source of income. These technologies can include solar pumps, improved irrigation systems that use sensors to control water flows or automatically adjust fertilizer and pesticide application rates. Greenhouse and net-house technologies make high-value agricultural production possible.

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) has released the fifth edition of its annual Islamic Financial Services Industry Stability Report 2017. The Report finds that despite subdued growth conditions, the global IFSI has been able to sustain its total assets value at approximately $1.9 trillion in 2016. The Report illustrates areas that could be further strengthened across all sectors of the IFSI (banking, capital markets and Takaful), many of which will require measured efforts by the national authorities to address the emerging risks. Secretary-General of the IFSB, Zahid ur Rehman Khokher, stated that Islamic financial services industry withstood the challenging operating environment. However, it moved away from the double digit growth trajectory witnessed in the previous years. He added that this slowdown underscores the importance of strengthening the resilience of the Islamic financial system.

The Research Center for Islamic Economics (IKAM) continues to contribute in Islamic economics. Turkish Journal of Islamic Economics (TUJISE) started to be published by IKAM by 2016. It is is a peer-reviewed biannually published international journal aiming to promote new researches and perspectives in the field.
The mission of TUJISE is to present a forum in which scholars from around the globe discuss the possibility of development of new and alternative perspectives in the Islamic economics. We wish to have three kinds of contributions from researchers. We prioritize to publish distinguished and original empirical and theoretical research papers. We also publish book reviews that address current original studies. In review article and commentary section essays addressing any topic from different approaches with special references to the related literature will take part.

We call all researchers to contribute TUJISE. All the papers are evaluated in a double-blind review process and published promptly.

Questions about submissions may be directed to editor-in-chief, at info@ikam.org.tr

For further information please visit the website at www.tujise.org