IslamicFinance.de

Due the Covid-19 pandemic crisis all banks have introduced measures to help customers that are struggling. Islamic banking are offering now cirisi products and are more flexible to their costumers and their needs.

The central bank of Bangladesh approved applications from two domestic banks, Standard Bank and NRB Global Bank, to become fully Islamic banks. The two banks so far only operated Islamic windows but sought to convert to fully-fledged Shariah-compliant banks to enlarge their scope of product offerings. NRB Global Bank said it plans to change its name to Global Islami Bank to underscore its new role. The move brings the number of fully-fledged Islamic banks in Bangladesh to ten, with the others being Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Islami Bank Bangladesh, Exim Bank, Social Islami Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank, Union Bank, First Security Islami Bank and ICB Islamic Bank. Analysts note that the industry has still high potential for further expansion as Bangladesh enjoys a vibrant economy with GDP per capita having more than tripled over the past decade.

Standard Bank has acted as Joint Lead Manager on the National Treasury of South Africa's debut Sukuk in the international capital markets. The US$500m 5.75-year Sukuk is the largest Sukuk issuance from Sub-Saharan Africa and only the third Sukuk to be issued by a non-Islamic country. The Sukuk will be used to fund South Africa's National Revenue Fund. It also creates a benchmark for the market which will assist state-owned companies to access diversified sources of funding from Islamic investors. The Sukuk is based on the Ijara principle.

Such is the hype of activity about Shari’a-compliant product at the moment that even The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has now moved a step closer towards the issuance of a debut sukuk. The government presented a draft bill to parliament that could get deal going, proposing the issuance of a €200m-equivalent sovereign sukuk denominated. Euros or US-Dollars, both are welcome. Additionally, the Luxembourg government has also identified three real estate assets to underpin the transaction.

Islamic investment firm Arcapita is the first Gulf company to emerge from U.S. bankruptcy under Chapter 11 rules. Arcapita’s plan is to transfer its assets into a new holding company which will dispose of them over time to pay off creditors and gradually wind-down the firm. Arcapita’s creditors include Barclays, CIMB, Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Bank, Standard Chartered and the Central Bank of Bahrain – its largest creditor with $255.1 million owed.

The US$ 100 million Sukuk for The Building Materials Company has been successfully arranged and paid for in full on its Maturity date 18 October, 2011. Kuwait Finance House, Liquidity Management Centre, Gulf International Bank and Standard Bank underwrote the sukuk.
The Sukuk was supported by building material factories which supplied an over-collateralization and an added security for all Sukuk holders. It offered a semi-annual return of 100 basis points over US Dollar 6 months LIBOR.

The $100 million sukuk for the Building Materials Company has been successfully resolved and paid for in full on its maturity date on October 18.
The statement was given by the arrangers and lead managers, Kuwait Finance House (KFH), Liquidity Management Centre, Gulf International Bank, and Standard Bank.

Through the acquisition of the local Islamic insurance company, Takafol SA, by Absa, it is once more underlined that the mainstream banks in South Africa are taking Islamic finance as a serious niche market business.
The Takaful premium market in South Africa is at this point estimated at about 3 billion South African rands (about $420 million), which is very modest compared to the conventional insurance market.
Banks such as Absa and Standard Bank posess clear strategies of growth and expansion beyond South Africa to sub-Saharan Africa, and Islamic banking and insurance are an attractive component of this offering especially in countries with large and affluent Muslim populations.