IslamicFinance.de

As salamu Alaikum,
Next saturday, May 13, 2023, at 15.00 I present as guest of Muslim Student Association in Zurich (@msazurich) on the 1st chapter of my book and then go into the banking crisis and money creation. The talk is in English.

Physical
???? Samstag, 13. Mai 2023
? 15:00 - 17:00
???? Building KAB, floor G, room 01
????? Kantonsschulstrasse 3, 8001 Zürich

Physical attendance - registration linked at @msazurich and in my link tree in Insta profile. (just confirm lengthy privacy in German).
Talk online accessible without registration: Click on Linktr.ee/islamgeldwohlstand - presentation on bigbluebutton/senfcall similar to zoom - no installation required or instagram @islamgeldwohlstand

My German book "Islam, Geld und Wohlstand - Ein Handbuch über Finanzen und Vorsorge" can be obtained:
Instagram:
DE: @islambooks24
CH: @IslamShop.ch
or any other bookstore or online dealer in German speaking countries - if you are publisher interested for your country, please contact me.

The seventh annual G20 Interfaith Forum concluded its meetings on Saturday after five days of sessions that addressed the COVID-19 emergencies, climate change, social, racial, and economic disparities, environmental challenges, the preservation and safeguarding of sacred sites, and other pressing issues. Originally intended to be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, host of the 2020 G20 Summit, the conference was conducted virtually in response to the global pandemic. Attendance exceeded 2,000 participants from more than 90 countries. The crisis posed by the COVID-19 pandemic played a central role in the discussions at the Forum. The discussions offered vivid testimony to the need for the world's political leaders to include religious actors in policymaking processes including notably the November 2020 G20 Leaders' Summit in Riyadh. Formal recommendations resulting from the Forum will be shared with G20 leadership in the coming weeks.

Cryptocurrency adoption and investments remain low in Muslim countries as people are still unsure of its compliance with Islamic law. At the SCxSC Fintech Conference 2020 last week, shariah expert Datuk Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar said that investors need more time to understand cryptocurrency from the shariah perspective. In Malaysia, the SC Shariah Advisory Council has declared that it is permissible for Muslims to invest in and trade cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, on government-registered crypto exchanges. Bakar explained that cryptocurrency is not regarded as legal tender, but it is a legit commodity that can be exchanged within the market, as long as it is not backed by “ribawi items,” like gold and silver. Bakar added that the Securities Commission of Malaysia has also made it possible for companies to issue coins as a method of raising capital, subject to certain restrictions through its fatwa resolution.

A university has announced the launch of the first Accounting and Islamic Finance undergraduate course in the UK. The BSc (Hons) Accounting and Islamic Finance degree at Birmingham City University will see students study Islamic economics, whilst developing an understanding of 'corporate social responsibility'. Course leader Shaista Mukadam said students on the course will be taught the philosophy around the principles and will be encouraged to find ways to implement them in real-world scenarios. It’s not just a course for Muslims, it’s about an ethical way of doing finance based on the teaching of Islam.

United Arab Emirates energy firm Dana Gas has raised a $90 million loan allowing it to redeem $309 million in bonds due at the end of October and avoid a third debt restructuring. The company has obtained a one-year $90 million loan from Mashreq Bank. The new loan will be repaid when Dana completes a planned sale of its Egyptian assets. The firm shook the global Islamic finance industry in 2017, when it said it would not redeem its $700 million sukuk, arguing they were no longer valid under UAE law because of changes in Islamic financial practice. After a protracted legal battle, it reached an agreement with creditors in 2018. That restructuring followed an earlier one in 2012.

The State of Pakistan and the International Trade Finance Corporation of the Islamic Development Bank signed a financing agreement amounting to $ 386 million, to be used in importing oil and liquefied gas. The Pakistani side emphasized the importance of this agreement and its role in promoting economic and social development.
In another development, remittances from Pakistanis working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia amounted to 665 million dollars in September this year, an increase of 29%. On the basis of a total, remittances from the Gulf countries and Western countries reached 3 and 2 billion dollars in September this year.

The United Nations food agency, the World Food Programme (WFP), won the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger and improve conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas. The Rome-based organisation says it helps some 97 million people in about 88 countries each year and that one in nine people worldwide still do not have enough to eat. The prize is worth ten million Swedish crowns, or around $1.1 million, and will be presented in Oslo on December 10.

The role of Fintech platforms and services in supporting public services in Indonesia has become more prominent and relevant due to the global COVID-19 outbreak. Fintech service providers are now offering more digital payments options which allow Indonesians to pay for everyday expenses. Fintech investment platforms have also been launched. Financial tech startups have also announced that they’d like to help the nation’s government with disbursing Coronavirus related relief aid packages. Despite the efforts to establish a regulatory sandbox, there’s still a growing threat of illegal Fintech businesses. The Fintech sector in Indonesia remains focused on enabling greater financial inclusion by providing reliable payments and lending services to those who may be underserved by the traditional banking sector. However, these services must be well-regulated to ensure consumer protection.

The pandemic has brought the global economy to its knees and the lives we once knew as 'normal' have been turned on their head. At the same time, displacement and disruptions due to climate-related events such as storms, flooding and droughts have persisted and intensified. While causing great upheaval, the pandemic has provided an impetus for us to reset and reprioritise resources to reconstruct our economies and financial systems to be more sustainable and inclusive. In the case of the climate crisis, trillions are needed to help reach the goal of The Paris Agreement. The role of green bonds will be key. Malaysia continues to be the forefront of green sukuk, which caters to the needs of investors that prefer investments with a positive environmental impact.

Five investors have been removed from the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), in the first such move by the group for those failing to meet its minimum requirements. The delistings follow criticism in recent years that the PRI was not doing enough to ensure members lived up to the principles, including to embed environmental, social and governance-related issues in their investment decision-making. The new standards require members to have a responsible investment policy covering at least half of all managed assets, staff responsible for implementing it and senior-level oversight. The PRI said it now plans to toughen membership requirements further and will launch a consultation at a meeting on Oct 21.

Bitcoin’s blockchain is an open network protocol that can replace today’s internet, and offers benefits specific to the Islamic Finance industry. Bitcoin Association ambassador for Malaysia Masumi Hamahira said Bitcoin’s blockchain offered every benefit today’s Internet does, while making ownership sequences or various assets far more efficient to manage and prove. Hamahira is an Advisor for the Islamic Finance department at Japan’s MUFG Bank. Hamahira said that Bitcoin could assist in the sukuk market by managing settlement in different currencies on one platform, rather than the current variety of platforms used. Proving a record of ownership sequence and helping to combat money-laundering across borders provides a particular appeal to the Islamic Finance industry.

Malaysia has over one million SMEs (small and medium enterprises) making up 98% of total businesses. The majority are micro SMEs, of which 21% are owned by women. One industry in which Malaysian SMEs could become a world pioneer is Islamic fintech. Islamic finance is now entrenched in Malaysia, accounting for 32% of financing to customers. Yet, according to the IMF, Islamic fintech is still in its infancy. In Malaysia, the growth of Islamic fintech can impact development in rural areas among Malays, offering this community a unique financial-inclusion opportunity.

Asosiasi Fintech Pendanaan Bersama Indonesia (AFPI), which is an association of 156 Fintech lenders, is reportedly planning to work cooperatively with the Indonesian government to distribute funds that are meant to offset the economic problems and challenges created due to COVID-19. As of September 2020, the Indonesian government has issued 25% of the planned IDR 695 trillion (appr. $46.8 billion) it has set aside for COVID-related financial relief for local businesses. Most of the AFPI members offer peer-to-peer (P2P) lending services. As of June 2020, there were 161 licensed or registered P2P lenders operating in Indonesia. The nation’s P2P lending platforms have managed to help around 20.6 million borrowers by connecting them with 539,460 lenders.

According to S&P Global Ratings, the global Islamic finance industry will show low-to-mid single-digit growth in 2020-2021 after 11.4% in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic will halt growth at GCC Islamic and conventional banks in 2020 as they focus on preserving asset quality rather than business expansion. Shariah-compliant banks are likely to see a greater effect on asset quality indicators since they typically have a higher proportion of exposure to real estate and cannot charge late payment fees. S&P projects the volume of sukuk issuance will reach $100 billion in 2020 compared with $162 billion in 2019. Corporates will also not support a rise in sukuk this year as they hold on to cash, cut capital expenditure and turn to bank financing.

Saudi Arabia is seeing a faster adoption of technology at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has weighed heavy on the private sector. The FSD programme, which was launched three years ago, has achieved 90% of its targets and the coronavirus pandemic has led to a surge in the fintech sector, said Faisal al Sharif, director general of the Financial Sector Development (FSD) program. The FSD’s targets for Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) issuing fintech licences was three by end of 2020 but today there are eight such licences. Similarly, the target for cashless transactions was 28% e-transactions by end of this year, but today they make up almost 37% of the total.

The Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) recently held its third virtual board meeting of 2020. Dubai has successfully positioned itself as a prestigious regional centre that offers significant opportunities to traders and investors. DIEDC’s board discussed the GIES Virtual Series that is organised in collaboration with the Centre’s strategic partners, to prepare for the upcoming Global Islamic Economy Summit in 2021. With four webinars already held to date, the virtual series is set to continue until end-2020. With the participation of leading local, regional and international industry experts, the virtual webinars have highlighted many topics of interest to Islamic economy stakeholders.

The People’s Pension identified that pensioners from ethnic minorities are on average £3,350 a year, or 24.4%, worse off than other pensioners – calling this the ‘ethnicity pensions gap’. Furthermore, the Black and Minority Ethnic population is projected to grow by about 50% reaching 21% of the population by 2051 – so this is a growing problem that needs our attention now. Governmental changes to remove the pensions barriers will go some way to help the lower earners, such as removing the earnings trigger for automatic enrolment of £10,000 – but these are yet to be implemented.

The FinCEN files show that the world's biggest banks have allowed criminals to move "dirty money" around the globe. In total, these reports flagged more than $2 trillion in transactions. The BBC reported that Russian oligarchs used banks to avoid sanctions and moved their money into the West. The FinCEN files are more than 2,500 documents, most of which were files that banks sent to the US authorities between 2000 and 2017. It has been revealed through these documents that a bank allowed fraudsters to move millions of dollars even after it learned from US investigators that the scheme was a scam. There have been a number of big leaks of financial information in recent years, including 2017 Paradise Papers. The 2016 Panama Papers - Leaked documents from the law firm Mossack Fonseca showed more about how wealthy people are using offshore tax regimes.