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Eman Al-Shemmari, the head of Nuclear Medicine Sections at the Ministry of Health, expressed his admiration for Kuwait Finance House (KFH) and its actions to sponsor the Nuclear Medicine International Week. The event took place under the auspices of the Minister of Health Ali Al-Obaidi and included a number of scientific lectures in the mentioned medical field. The lectures were held in several hospitals in Kuwait. According to Al-Shemmari, KFH is largely responsible for the success of the event and the enrichment of the medical cadres and public.

The new chairman of Kuwait Finance House (KFH) was introduced to the public. After the board's election, Mohammed Al Khudairi will take over the position of former chairman Sameer Al Nafeesi. The latter resigned earlier with the intention to engage in other activities.

Read more on: http://www.zawya.com/story/Kuwait_Finance_House_names_Mohammed_Al_Khudai...

Affordable housing is a serious problem in the GCC countries since the population is growing. Already measures are being taken to address this problem. For example, amendments to the law on land and building regulations in Bahrain makes construction of additional houses on plots of land and the enlargement of small houses possible. The Diar Al-Muharraq project shall provide over 30,000 housing units. In Kuwait, a budget of 140 billion is designated to the cause of dealing with the urgent need for housing. The funding is part of the country's Five Year Plan 2010-14.

See more on: http://www.menafn.com/menafn/1093566568/Affordable-housing-GCC-National-...

Kuwait Finance House has issued $1.5 bln sukuk for Turkey in cooperation with Citigroup and HSBC. It is the first issuance of this kind for the Government of Turkey. The expectations of the financing are high due to high amount of potential investors (altogether 250) that have been attracted by newly-issued sukuk. This fact confirms not only the great confidence of investors to Turkish economy, but also the confidence of global markets in sukuk products.

See more under: http://www.zawya.com/story/KFH_issues_15b_sukuk_for_Turkey-ZAWYA20120930...

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

A bourse filing says that Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) intends to liquidate its investment unit. According to the bank, closing CBK Capital would not affect the bank's financial position in a negative way. It is said the bank has a capital of 15 million dinars ($53.5 million) and has undergone some restructuring. Activities have been reduced for a number of years.

More on: http://gulfbusiness.com/2012/09/kuwaits-commercial-bank-to-liquidate-inv...

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 ot a report by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, a trend to develop and globalize the sukuk market is being set. Since conventional banks worldwide tend to producing fewer and shorter loans, companies look for an alternative in terms of financing. In this case, it is very probable that Islamic financial instruments become a significant source of funding, particularly in the GCC and Asia. While these regions mark the center of a huge estimated $1 trillion market, they also need high capital for developing their infrastructure.

The Viability Rating of Kuwait Finance House has been downgraded to 'bb' by Fitch Ratings. The bank's Long-term Issuer Default Rating, however, remains at 'A+'. According to Fitch Ratings, the decrease in the VR is caused by he high concentrations in KFH's financing portfolio as well as asset quality indicators which continuously become worse. In addition, the bank reported slightly weaker regulatory Tier 1 and Fitch Core Capital ratios in H112. A positive move on KFH's side is expected: they plan to bolster their capital in the months to follow.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has put an ent to talks about the potential sale of its stake in Al Salam (International) Hospital. As the largest investor in the hospital, KFH contributes to the stability, integrity and strength of the latter. Thus, Al Salam contrasts with other competitive hospitals which are of individual ownership. The end of discussions on KFS's side will not affect the bank's financial position.

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.

An announcement of Gatehouse Bank plc states that the bank has a strong set of interim results for the first six months of 2012. Profit projections have been exceeded by almost 10% with a total of more than $3.2 million (GBP 2.1 million). This shows that the bank’s business and operating model is maturing out of its start-up phase. The bank is also close to meeting its 2012 financial plan, since the income for the same period is £6,121k in comparison with £1,719k for the comparative period - a 250% increase. Thus, substantial growth and wealth preservation on behalf of its investors is delivered.

Jomana Al-Kandari, nutritionist at Amiri Hospital, was sponsored by Kuwait Finance House (KFH) to attend the first international conference for the nutrition of kidney patients in the USA. This sponsorship is part of KFH's initiative in support of healthcare and education. The knowledge and experience Jomana Al-Kandari gained during the conference shall contribute to the development of the medical services to a world-class level.

Capital Intelligence has reaffirmed the rating of NIG Mudaraba Sukuk at 'BBB-', even though the company's performance in past two years continues to be weak. The company is struggling due to pressure by high financing costs of its large debt and a persistently weak stock market.

According to Forbes Middle East, the charity revenues in the MENA region have marked the highest numbers last year. $564.4 million (Dh2.1 billion) have been spent on charity by institutions and organizations, the most prominent of them being Social Reform Society — General Secretariat of Charitable Work in Kuwait, Direct Aid and the UAE charity Dar Al Ber Society.

S&P Indices made an anouncement that a new Index will be launched due to increase in the demand for a shariah-compliant benchmark in Islamic countries. The new S&P/OIC COMCEC 50 Shariah Index will measure the performance of 50 leading Shariah-compliant companies from members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Eligible countries and territories for the Index are: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Facing a debt issue, Kuwaiti investment firm National Industries Group Holding (NIG) asked creditors for extension. Since a $475-million sukuk matures next month, they asked for a four-year extension. The problem lies in refinancing the debt after borrowing costs rose, which firms who borrowed cheap short-term cash in the boom years to fund an asset-buying spree cannot complete.

The Gatehouse Bank plc, a London-based Kuwaiti-owned wholesale Shariah compliant bank, has acquired an industrial US-based real estate portfolio at the cost of USD 155 Million. This portfolio includes 20 industrial properties from the West, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest regions of the U.S. which are leased to 12 tenants with an average remaining lease term of 14 years. The acquisition has been completed in joint venture partnership with the Brennan Investment Group. It is expected that the portfolio will bolster the stability of returns generated by the properties due to its unique diversity of industry, geography, and tenancy.

The third annual Invesco Middle East Asset Management Study shows that strong corporate returns are constraining the flow of year-on-year capital within family offices in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) from ­personal assets to corporate (family business) assets.
Two-fifths (40%) of family offices interviewed noted a strong shift from personal to corporate assets. Moreover, high net-worth assets in the Middle East account for nearly 4% of the global high-net-worth asset pool.

Aproximatly 100 investment projects worth 300 billion roubles have been introduced at the 4th International Summit in Kazan.
The organizers of the forum were the government of Tatarstan, the Islamic Business & Finance Development Foundation (IBFD) with the support of the Federation Council of Russia.
The summit is attended by thousands of guests from over 30 countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation including: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Morocco, Turkey, the UAE, Oman, Pakistan.