IslamicFinance.de

The stock markets in the United Arab Emirates look likely to trade softly as they reopen on Monday after the Eid holidays, although Abu Dhabi's Dana Gas might just rise sharply after it reached an agreement on overdue payments from the government of Kurdistan.
The markets in the UAE are the only ones open in the Gulf. Others, like Egypt, will pick up trading later this week. There is no fresh, major corporate news in the UAE except Dana's settlement, which will see Kurdistan immediately pay Dana's consortium $1 billion, including $400 million that will be used for investment in the region. Dana will receive 35 percent of the money. In addition to Dana's share of the $600 million payment, "Future benefits to Dana Gas should be much larger, given the massive resource potential of the two fields, Khor Mor and Chemchemal. Dana Gas's share of 2P reserves in the two fields amounts to close to 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent, with huge upside", said Allen Sandeep, head of research at Cairo-based Naeem Brokerage. He continuid: "Overall, we view this as a major positive development for Dana Gas."

Four banks were chosen by Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Holding to manage its first Islamic bond issuance programme. The four banks are: Dubai Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered.
The proceeds are anticipated to fund expansion plans worth $2bn for malls and shopping centres in Lebanon, Egypt and Syria, alongside plans for a hypermarket in Erbil, Kurdistan.

The Minister of Finance in the Government of Kurdistan province, Baez Talabani has opened Ceyhan Bank for Islamic Investment and Development. The chairman of Ceyhan sets as goal of opening this bank to provide qualified and new services, on the basis of Islamic shareholders for people, companies and government institutions.