IslamicFinance.de

Dubai Investments announced the establishment of a new Islamic bank called Arkan Bank. It will be the first home-grown, wholesale Islamic Bank operating from Dubai International Financal Centre. It will have an initial paid-up capital of $100 million and another $200 million will be raised after 12 months of its establishment through listing on Nasdaq. CEO Khalid Bin Kalban said Dubai Investments will initially hold a 25% in the bank and would aim to retain a stake of that size. He added that Arkan Bank's core business lines would be corporate banking, asset management and awqaf, investment banking and treasury. Arkan Bank initially plans to focus on the GCC region and subsequently build scale to become the top-tier Islamic wholesale bank in the region.

Dubai Investments announced the establishment of a new Islamic bank called Arkan Bank. It will be the first home-grown, wholesale Islamic Bank operating from Dubai International Financal Centre. It will have an initial paid-up capital of $100 million and another $100 million will be raised after 12 months of its establishment through listing on Nasdaq. CEO Khalid Bin Kalban said Dubai Investments will initially hold a 25% in the bank and would aim to retain a stake of that size. He added that Arkan Bank's core business lines would be corporate banking, asset management and awqaf, investment banking and treasury. Arkan Bank initially plans to focus on the GCC region and subsequently build scale to become the top-tier Islamic wholesale bank in the region.

Dubai Investments will lead a consortium of investors to launch Arkan Bank. Arkan Bank is now applying to the Dubai Financial Services Authority for approval for a licence to operate as an Islamic financial institution. It plans to offer sharia-compliant banking services and investment products to serve ultra-high-net-worth individuals, corporates, and institutional clients. The bank has an initial paid-up-capital of $100 million and will have an authorised share capital of $500 million. Arkan Bank chairman Khalid Bin Kalban said the bank would initially focus on the GCC region and subsequently build scale to become the top-tier Islamic wholesale bank. The bank plans to list its shares on NASDAQ Dubai within 12 months of its establishment.

The sukuk, which comes amid a period of high demand and a flurry of bond sales in the region, is to be launched by the end of April in the name of Dubai Investments Park, a major real estate development Dubai Investments owns on Dubai's outskirts.

Dubai Investments is in talks with investors and financial institutions to fund a second phase of the Mussafah manufacturing unit of Emirates Float Glass.
Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, officially inaugurated the upgraded Emirates Float Glass (EFG) factory, wholly-owned by Dubai Investments, at the Abu Dhabi Industrial City in Mussafah.

Conglomerate Dubai Investments could look to gather up to 1 billion dirhams ($272.3 million) in 2012 through sale of a sukuk to finance the expansion of its manufacturing units and repay debt.
The company is already in discussions with an Italian lender for a $200 million loan and a sukuk issue will only be taken into consideration if the loan deal does not go through. The statement came from Chief Executive Khalid bin Kalban.
Some of the funds from the sukuk will be used for the expansion of Emirates Float Glass factory, the conglomerate’s glass manufacturing unit.

Dubai Investments has secured only a quarter so far of the Dh1.2 billion ($326.7 million) loan it wanted to raise. Because of the political unrest the conglomerate’s manufacturing business is facing setbacks.
In April, the firm said it was in bank talks for a Dh1.2 billion loan to expand its operations, which was to be finalised by May. The loan was going to be used for the expansion of Emirates Float Glass, its glass manufacturing unit in Abu Dhabi and to complete the last phase of its industrial development Dubai Investment Park.

Dubai Investments PJSC stated that it will initiate its first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report 2010 which points out the conglomerate's initiatives in the areas of CSR and environment protection, undertaken during the past year.
The report covers the period between January 2010 and January 2011.
Dubai Investments has supported many projects and social institutions active in the fields of education, sports and care for individuals with special needs, either through financial contributions or other forms of support.