IslamicFinance.de

Warba Bank announced that it will be partaking in a USD 1.25 billion five-year joint venture with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). Warba Bank said that subscription for the deal had attracted regional and international financial institutions. The amount of issued bonds reached over 136%, around USD 1.7 billion. Warba Bank indicated that it would reap around 2.6% of annual income due to the deal. The IDB issued around 53% of the bonds to investors from the MENA region and Europe, while 47% of the bonds target investors from Asia.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) dedicates special concern for promoting waqf in line with its objective of boosting social and economic development of Islamic nations. The eighth forum on fiqh issues was held in Great Britain, at the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies. Dr. Abdullah Mohammad, IDB's representative of the Islamic Institute for Research and Training stated that IDB has always sought to innovate mechanisms to benefit from the waqf institutions. Dr. Farhan Nethami, the center chair, lauded the Kuwaiti General Secretariat for Aqwaf for promoting waqf in all parts of the world, through funding philanthropic projects. He called for following the example of Kuwait and establishing coordination with non-Muslim communities in the social and economic domains, noting such an approach boosts understanding and mutual respect.

Kuwait's Warba Bank announced the launch of a marketing campaign for sukuk to be issued with a total value of USD 250 million. Warba Bank's CEO Shaheen Hamad Al-Ghanim said the campaign targets investors in Kuwait and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, in addition to global stock markets. Al-Ghanim explained that the bank signed a deal with an international advisor to a new strategy for 2021, which is based on improving the bank's operations and further enhancing the quality of assets and diversifying sources of income. He noted that Warba Bank has previously obtained approvals from the Central Bank of Kuwait and Capital Market Authority, while the General Assembly has authorized the board of directors to issue sukuk.

According to a report by Kuwait Finance House (KFH), over a period of five years Hong Kong managed to establish Islamic Shariah compliant organizations, authorities, products and services. There is high potential for Islamic banking in Hong Kong due to Hong Kong's high liquidity, free economy, strong presence of foreign banks and simple taxes' system. Thus, it is a great candidate to become a major Islamic financial hub.

International Islamic Trade Finance has granted a credit to Egypt worth USD 235m. This financial package should help to the state-run Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. to secure country's commodity supply. The Egyptian Ministry of Finance will assume responsibility for paying back the credit, in case if the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. cannot perform obligations under the contract.

See more under: http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2265517&language=en

KFH conducted a study which states thath the global sukuk market has experiences a significant boost during the last six years. The growth of sukuk is as high as 28.3% which makes the total value of sukuk issuance worldwide during the first half of the current year USD 210.8 billion. It is expected that next year, 2013, will bring further rise in profit and expansion.

More on: http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2263268&Language=en

According to a recent economic report, the Islamic finance industry has great prospects of global growth since it has already achieved significant growth rates among global financial services sectors. This year, the total value of Islamic financial assets is expected to be as high as USD 1.6 trillion and the growth is expected to continoue the following year. As main reasons for the expansion the increasing demand for Shariah-compliant assets and the active promotion of the Islamic financial market are pointed out.

According to a recent report by Kuwait Finance House (KFH), Islamic microfinance is a good solution for decreasing poverty. Since it is a combination of economic, social and religious principles, it uses two types of resources: external ones like Zakat and charity on one hand, and internal ones like deposits and equity. A number of institutions among which the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank are working on studying the viability of Islamic microfinance.

The laicist French government seeks to make amendments to laws improving Islamic finance investors access to France. Although a relevant draft law was turned down by the Constitutional Council in form, but not in content, French Minister of Economy, Industry and Employment Christine Lagrade made it certain that the government would work further. The French minister's advisor Thierry Dissaux told KUNA that the government would introduce amendments to French legal and tax systems in order to match Islamic financial principles.

According to recent studies, Islamic financial investments in France are estimated at roughly USD 120 billion.

Talal al-Kandari reported on Kuna.

The Cabinet's approval of a draft decree establishing Warba Bank, with a capital of KD 100 million of which a 76 % stake will be held by citizens and subscribed to on their behalf by the government and 24 % of its stocks held by Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA).

Kuwait News Agency citing that the Moroccan newspaper "Al-Jareeda Al-Oula" reported that three Gulf investment groups have revealed their intention to invest USD 250 mn this year in Morocco, including the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED and the Kuwait Finance House Group (KFH).
In the same context, the newspaper quoted an official from the "ENOCENOC" group of the United Arab Emirates as saying that the group decided to invest USD 150 million to set up an investment project in the northern city of Tangier.

The Executive Director of the ENOCENOC Group Saeed Khoury said the investment will be to build the first phase of the plant in Tangier which is scheduled to enter service in the first quarter of next year.

Arab Times reported that the French Senate,is organizing two round table discussions May 14 to examine the role France can play in attracting Islamic funds.

Senates Finance Commission president Jean Arthuis will preside the meeting and Zubeir Bin Terdeyet, Director of Isla Invest, Maya Boureghda, a legal counsellor at BNP Parisbas, Anwar Hassoune, vice-president of Moodys rating company, [deleted], SGAM Asset Management, London, Jean Francois Pon from the Federation of French Banks and Gilles Saint Marc, a lawyer from AARPI.

Source: http://www.arabtimesonline.com/kuwaitnews/pagesdetails.asp?nid=16009&cci...

and https://www.senat.fr/rap/r07-329/r07-3293.html

Kuwait News Agency reported on 24 March that the Saudi-based Al-Rajhi bank, the largest Islamic bank globally, received approval to open a branch in Kuwait.

Full Text: http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=6&id=12201