IslamicFinance.de

Syndicated lending by Saudi Arabian banks has increased by almost twice in 2012, according to Bloomberg. On the contrary, syndicated lending has slowed overall in the Middle East and North Africa as it fell by 5 percent this year registering its first decline since 2009. The Shariah-compliant bond market is mostly driven by privately held companies in Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy, as they keen to access the public debt markets and thus earn higher yields.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, will be hosting a two-day business forum under the title “IDB Group-Nigeria Business Forum” in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Finance of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).
The objective of the Business Forum, planned to be held during the period from 15-16 March 2012, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, is to make the Nigerian public mre sensitive and underline the products and services being provided by the IDB Group, including eligibility criteria, modes of financing, terms and conditions of financing, procurement, and other operational matters.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, will host a two day business forum under the title "IsDB Group-Nigeria Business Forum" in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Finance of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).
The event will be held during the period from 15-16 March 2012, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Its objective is to sensitize the Nigerian public and highlight the products and services being offered by the IsDB Group, including eligibility criteria, modes of financing, terms and conditions of financing, procurement, and other operational matters.

It appears that HSBC Saudi Arabia led a very successful SR15 billion ($4 billion) 10-year Sukuk issuance for the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). The funds from the Sukuk launch will be used for the construction of the new King AbdulAziz International Airport in Jeddah.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector has appointed Malaysia’s INCEIF to deliver its Chartered Islamic Finance Professional course for the ICD’s two-year Islamic finance talent development program.
The program will begin in January 2012 in Jeddah. ICD received more than 300 applications for the new program, which has the purpose to take in up to 24 participants in the future. Al-Aboodi, ICD's CEO, hopes that graduates will eventually work in Islamic finance jurisdictions where talent is lacking.

Capital Intelligence (CI) has lowered the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of Bank AlJazira (BAJ), based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to 'BBB' from 'BBB+'. The bank has now a stable outlook.
At the end of 2010, the Bank's total staff was 1,616.

Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, will honor the invitations of the presidents of the Republics of Benin, Togo, Sierra-Leone, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Senegal and Niger.
The delegation that will attend him contains: the Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs, Ambassador Hameed Opeloyeru; the Director, African Affairs, Ambassador Yahaya Lawal and a host of senior officials from the General Secretariat.

An executive master’s degree program for Islamic finance management at Effat University was started by Prince Turki Al-Faisal, a member of university’s board of trustees, in order to underline the success achieved by Islamic banking in overcoming the global economic crisis.
Islamic finance management is the first program under the newly established deanship for higher studies and scientific research at the university.

A seminar organized by Al-Rajhi Capital disclosed in Riyadh that the Saudi government has been extremely serious about exploiting its investment potential for the benefit of investors and nation at large.
But there is a need to exert more efforts to enhance customers’ awareness about local and international investment potentials and to assist them in taking the right investment decision.
Al-Rajhi Capital, the investment banking subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Al-Rajhi Bank, has launched a program under which eight investment seminars are being organized across the Kingdom.
A seminar will be held on April 2 in Jeddah at Al-Rajhi Capital Center, while another seminar will be organized in Dammam on April 23.

The last and final day of JEF 2011 included a prolific discussion on Islamic banking and finance with Sheikh Saleh Kamel, as a keynote speaker. Governor of SAGIA HE Amr Al Dabbagh shed light on what Saudi's Investment plans for the next 5 years.
Sheikh Saleh called for the unification of Fatwa Authorities at banks. He highlighted the importance of a managing entity to ensure that Islamic transactions are viably controlled and stressed need for proper understanding of its true meaning for proper application of Islamic Finance.

Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit is seeking to increase its capital resources to meet the growing demand.
It is a clear indication that trade and investment flows are currently very strong in member countries.

In three years from now there will be a new four-star hotel in Jeddah.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed Monday by SHUAA Capital Saudi Arabia and Youssef Ismail Youssef, representing the landowner, the 12-story 254-room business hotel, with a built-up area of approximately 13,000 sqm, would have a total cost of around SR160 million.
The hotel will be situated on Madina Road going to downtown and in proximity to the Ruwais area.

Regional groupings are building blocks for a pan-Islamic economic integration, according to Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
A source at the OIC headquarters here informed Khaleej Times on Thursday that addressing the Twenty-Sixth Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the OIC (COMCEC) in Istanbul, urged OIC member states to consider supporting the numerous capacity-building programmes undertaken by the various OIC institutions as this will certainly pave the way for aligning national trade policies to enhance intra-OIC cooperation in the domain of trade.
The source said that the meeting discussed the implementation of the OIC Ten Year Programme of Action, which was approved at the 3rd extra-ordinary OIC summit held in Makkah in 2005, within the context of the on-going economic activities, programmes and projects for promoting rapid socio-economic development in the OIC countries.

Standard & Poor's assigned 'AAA' rating to Islamic Development Bank (IDB) $3.5 billion trust certificate issuance program. Standard & Poor's said the IDB's ratings are underpinned by strong shareholders' support, very high level of capital and liquidity and a good asset portfolio with historically very low losses and preferred-creditor treatment.

As Islamic finance is growing very rapidly in the United States, the US-based Florentez Investment Management Inc. (ShariahShares ETF) is set to launch a family of Shariah-compliant exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange).

The Saudi mortgage law, once passed would drive Saudi housing demand and prices as more people access the market.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) has entered into a joint venture agreement with Capitas Group, LLC, a US financial services firm specializing in developing and managing Shariah-compliant finance companies, to form a management company dedicated to the global development of the Shariah-compliant finance industry. ICD is a multilateral financial institution, which is part of the Islamic Development Bank.

The International Islamic Relief Organisation-Saudi Arabia (IIROSA) is to launch six endowment (waqf) projects in Makkah at a cost of over SR470 million, with annual returns of about SR45 million that will be used to finance the organisation’s relief and development projects.

Alinma Bank's profit fell by 85 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 as its net income amounted to SR5.6 million ($1.49 million), compared to SR38.6 million ($10.29 million) for the previous quarter, according to a posting on the Saudi stock market (Tadawul) website on Saturday.