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According to a new report released by Oliver Wyman and Morgan Stanley, Covid-19 will fundamentally change the way the Wealth Management industry in the Middle East operates. The report, called Wealth Management: After the Storm, highlights how a golden decade of growth for the Wealth Management industry has been drastically disrupted by Covid-19. Raji Souag, Partner at Oliver Wyman Middle East, sees global high net worth wealth declining by four percent, or $3.1 trillion in 2020. He believes that digitalisation and globalization will be among the immediate priorities of Wealth Management firms. Advisors will remain central to client relationships, however, they need to be supported with strong digital capabilities.

Russia and Iran are exploring the establishment of an Islamic bank as the two countries expand their economic cooperation. According to Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, the banks are exploring the mechanism, but the related decision has not been made yet. State-linked Russian lenders Vnesheconombank, Sberbank and Tatfondbank have been developing Islamic financial products of their own over the past year. Iran is keen to diversify funding options for its companies. At present, most financing in Iran is sourced from domestic lenders with only a small portion sourced from foreign sources and the debt capital markets.

The sukuk market is struggling to recover from last year’s dip in issuance and it could take years for supply to return. According to a recent Thomson Reuters report, issuance of sukuk is down 18% for the first nine months this year compared with the same period last year, while the year-end figure could exceed $50 billion. Issuance is estimated to gradually recover over the next few years to $54 billion in 2017 and $59 billion in 2018, but this is well below the record $134 billion seen in 2012. This is largely due to the lasting effects of Malaysia’s central bank decision to stop issuing short-term sukuk in 2015. The survey found that Sukuk still lack active secondary markets while governments have yet to incorporate them into their debt management strategies, steps which could increase their appeal.

#Malaysia-based International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp (IILM) has lengthened maturities in its Islamic bond programme by auctioning $500 million of four-month sukuk. Previously, the IILM has issued three-month and six-month papers, which were introduced to manage short-term funding needs. The IILM sold the four-month sukuk at a profit rate of 1.37389%, attracting 17 bids worth a combined $1.3 billion. It also sold $840 million of three-month sukuk at a profit rate of 1.24411%, attracting orders of $1.6 billion via 14 bids. The issues were bought by 11 primary dealer banks.

Bank Al Jazira has priced a 2 billion riyal ($533 million) sukuk issue that will boost the lender’s capital reserves. The bank priced the transaction at 190 basis points over the six-month Saudi interbank offered rate. The Islamic bond issue is structured with a ten-year lifespan but includes an option for the lender to redeem the sukuk after five years. It was arranged by GIB Capital as well as the bank’s own investment banking arm.

Dubai Chamber's Corporate Governance conference will be held on November 28. The main topic of the conference with a title "Dubai Dialogue: Corporate Governance and Value Creation" is centered around the overall emerging trends in corporate governance and the importance of adopting the right structures and the roles of corporate boards.

According to the 2012 National Bonds GCC Savings Index, Bahrain nationals has experienced the biggest increase of savings sentiment while Qatari nationals savings sentiment has darken. E.g Kuwait interviewees had admitted that their savings are less than they had originally planned at 78%. You can find more statistics here.

Three new takaful licences has been launched and are waiting for completing of all the requirements, according to Oman's Capital Market Authority.

Standard Chartered (StanChart) extends its business activities in Oman by opening of its third branch in the country. According to officials, bankhouse considers establishing Islamic banking operations in the sultanate.

Lebanese banks anticipate the Syrian market to grow once the political stability will be reached. By now, there are seven Lebanesse banks that are operating in Syria.

KPMG and ACCA report underlines the necessity of the harmonization of the financial reporting and tighter cooperation of Islamic banks with the International Accounting Standards Board in order to develop guidance, standards and educate the investor community on key issues.

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announces that the monthly issue of the Sukuk Al-Salam Islamic securities has been oversubscribed. Subscriptions worth BD63m were received for the BD12m issue, which carries a maturity of 91 days. The expected return on the issue, which begins on 27 January 2010 and matures on 28 April 2010, is 1.05%.

Seven Islamic banks were included in this year's study which tested the service quality performance of 27 banks across the UAE. Five of the seven Islamic banks included claimed a place within the top 10 performance ranking table.

There has been a significant increase in syndication deals since the start of 2009, with a total of 36 deals announced or closed worth a cumulative total of $9.5bn. If the rest of the year continues as it started it would suggest that total Islamic syndicated loans for 2009 will end in the region of $21bn, which would be broadly in line with 2007 levels, analyses Paul McNamara from Yasaar Media.

A consortium of four banks namely, National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Arab African International Bank, and Banque du Caire arranged, underwrote and syndicated a facility for the Egyptian Nitrogen Products Company (ENPC). Faisal Islamic Bank was among the co-arrangers.

HSBC Amanah today announced the launch of HSBC Amanah Premier - the world's first Islamic banking service aimed at internationally mobile, affluent consumers.

Nakheel Development Limited announced via the exchange, Nasdaq Dubai that it aims to repay the Sukuk in the next two weeks. According to the statement it will use funds that will be provided by the Dubai Financial Support Fund.

Westlaw Business, part of Thomson Reuters, and the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) today announced their agreement to provide current standards and other Islamic finance industry information for global business law professionals within the Westlaw Business Islamic Finance Centre. Please check the full news at the link provided.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) announced today the launch of Wajaha, a distinguished wealth management service for ultra high net worth individuals. Tailored to meet the distinct needs of the ultra high net worth clients, Wajaha is an invitation-only service that offers unparalleled advantages, from unique financial products to personal relationship managers, offered within a private setting in exclusive Wajaha Centres in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.

HE Maqbool Ali Sultan, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Capital Market Authority chaired on Saturday the fourth and last meeting of the Board for 2009, which approved a number of proposed amendments to the Capital Market Law including a new clause on the creation of arbitration centre pertaining to the laws under the jurisdiction of CMA

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