IslamicFinance.de

Organisé régulièrement dans plusieurs pays, l’Islamic Banking Qualification Program IBQ ® se délocalise à Genève pour une session exceptionnelle les 13-14-15 juin 2016. L’IBQ est une certification internationale dédiée aux principes et pratiques bancaires islamiques. Cette formation en langue française vise à permettre aux professionnels de la finance de comprendre et/ou d’intégrer le secteur bancaire islamique. La formation est d’une durée de 25 heures structurées sous le mode de workshop interactif avec des présentations et études de cas précédées par des lectures.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), in continuing to pursue the story on the 1MDB controversy, has reported that there’s unprecedented attention on a number of Swiss banks and Zurich-based Falcon Private Bank AG, a small wealth manager snapped up by an Abu Dhabi investor during the financial crisis. The Swiss authorities, according to WSJ, are probing suspected money laundering and possible corruption of “foreign officials”. The investigations have landed Falcon in the middle of the controversy around 1MDB. Falcon, which so far hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing, said the bank was legally barred from answering questions about its clients.

The TBLI Conference Europe 2015 is going to take place at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute in Zurich on November 19-20, 2015. The cost of the event is CHF 625 (USD 639). A set of three private meetings with potential investors and business partners is available for an additional fee of CHF 500 (USD 511). Additional meetings can be booked at CHF 150 (USD 154) each. TBLI Conference offers a series of presentations and workshops that focus on environment, social, governance (ESG) and impact investing topics. This year’s conference will focus on ESG and impact investing across asset classes. Find more information on http://www.tbligroup.com/tbliconference/europe2015.html.

As Islamic finance emphasizes the connection between real economy and financial activity this BIS Working Paper is very interesting and supportive for the understanding:

Abstract:
"In this paper we examine the negative relationship between the rate of growth of the financial sector and the rate of growth of total factor productivity. We begin by showing that by disproportionately benefiting high collateral/low productivity projects, an exogenous increase in finance reduces total factor productivity growth. Then, in a model with skilled workers and endogenous financial sector growth, we establish the possibility of multiple equilibria. In the equilibrium where skilled labour works in finance, the financial sector grows more quickly at the expense of the real economy. We go on to show that consistent with this theory, financial growth disproportionately harms financially dependent and R&D-intensive industries."

Swiss voters will decide Nov. 30 on an initiative that would force the country’s central bank to more than double its gold holdings. The “Save Our Swiss Gold” initiative would require the Swiss National Bank to hold a fifth of its assets in gold within five years. It would also prohibit the bank from selling any of its gold in the future and require that Swiss gold held overseas be repatriated. Organizers of the vote, members of the conservative Swiss People’s Party, say the new rules are needed because a three-year effort to cap the strength of the Swiss franc has left the SNB holding piles of euros, a currency that has been devalued in the wake of the financial crisis. The initiative has drawn opposition from the government, lawmakers and business groups.

This Seminar on Wednesday, 18 June, is within a series of International seminars, workshops and dialogues the Academy of Philanthropy is organising around the world. This particular Seminar is held in Geneva for the benefit of private philanthropists, financiers, UN system, NGOs, as well as regular visitors to the region from the Muslim world.

The Seminar is intended as an attempt to bridge the gap between venture and institutional philanthropists on one hand and recipient countries and NGOs on the other, with the aim to discuss and learn how to leverage impact and sustainable development. The Seminar is forward-looking in light of global events, such as the post-2015 development agenda and the shifting landscape of development and philanthropy.

Session outcomes

1. Raise awareness on the roles of stakeholders in philanthropy and sustainable development at global, regional and country levels, namely: private sector, institutional donors/development agencies, venture philanthropy, and civil society.

For many years we see in the media experts believing in inflation and even hyper inflation. However, in the same time we face proponents warning against deflation. So far we all noticed.

Only a about a week ago I read an article by Myret Zaki clarifying that unfortunately inflation and deflation co-exists.

Myret Zaki's thesis is that we face inflation on financial markets, and deflation in the real economy (in French):

http://www.bilan.ch/myret-zaki/redaction-bilan/inflation-et-deflation-co...

In my view there is a general major shift in the price matrix and I still try to figure the magnitude and implications thereof. It is a bit irritating as at University we learned about neutrality of money:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrality_of_money

This means any extra supply will increase prices equally, 5 % more money, all prices going up 5 %. Pretty plausible at first hand. However, it seems it does not work in reality any more (or never did).

[English description below]

Finanz- und Geschäftstransaktionen im Islam
mit Imam Khalifa Diakite

Wann: Samstag 4. Januar 2014 von 13:30 bis 16:00 Uhr
Wo: Lagerplatz 8, 8400 Winterthur
neben dem Restaurant ‘Outback’, siehe Beschilderung vor Ort
(10 Minuten Fussweg vom Bahnhfof Winterthur, Autos können isA beim PP an der Jägerstrasse parkiert werden)
Sprachen: English-Arabisch mit Deutscher Übersetzung

In diesem Seminar wird Imam Khalifa dieses äusserst wichtige Thema eingehend anschauen und eine gründliche, auf dem Quran und der Sunna basierende Untersuchung des Finanzwesens im Islam vornehmen.
Insbesondere wird er Beispiele darüber geben, wie islamische Verträge in der heutigen Zeit angewandt werden können.

Über den Referenten
Imam Khalifa Diakite wurde in Paris als Sohn gambischer und senegalesischer Eltern geboren. Nachdem er sich in den frühen Jahren seiner akademischen und Islamischen Studien auszeichnete,wurde er Hafidh des heiligen Qurans und erhielt ein Diplom der Erinnerung von Scheich Abdul Aziz Tourey aus dem Senegal.

Dear Reader,

IslamicFinance.de is still edited by myself, Michael Saleh Gassner. In the same time the website became part of the family's publishing house, Al Kitab.

Myself I moved to Geneva for professional reasons, working as Islamic private banker. IslamicFinance.de remains to be a private passion.

Best regards,

Michael Gassner

Saudi investment firm Sedco Capital plans to register its Islamic funds in Switzerland and distribute them through tie-ups with global private Banks. This is part of efforts to diversify its client base outside Saudi Arabia. Sedco Capital has incorporated environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles into two of the equity funds, widening their appeal to include ethically minded investors in general. The firm hopes this will allow its funds to be marketed to investors beyond traditional Islamic areas in the Middle East and southeast Asia. The firm aims to be able to source two-thirds of its assets under management from outside Saudi Arabia in four to five years. One fund is to be signed by October and the second one by December.Sedco Capital's two ESG funds, launched in May last year, have $230 million in assets and are managed by Stockholm-based Informed Portfolio Management.

Falcon Private Bank is planning to launch a fund early next month that will invest in global sukuk.The fund will be offered to the bank’s clients and could grow to $500 million, according to Zafar Khan, Falcon’s Mena chief executive. There is alreade substantial demand from the bank's clients for global sukuk investments, he added. He also considers the yields of the past two years dislocated and the current yields more realistic to the underlying risk.

Safa Investment Services received this week its official certification for Shari'a compliance from Shariyah Review Bureau. It makes Safa Investment Services the first Islamic global asset management business in the world. Safa permits customers to benefit from global asset diversification of their managed accounts, but with a complete respect for the principles of Islamic law. This includes not only selecting securities that meet global regulatory standards, but also the process to manage accounts and the contracts under which they are managed.

Finanzkrise, Bankenkrise, Eurokrise – und kein Ende. In den drei monotheistischen Religionen gibt es ziemlich präzise Vorstellungen über den Umgang mit Geld und Schulden. Bieten sie uns Lösungsansätze für die heutigen Probleme?

Dienstag, 5. März 2013, 20 Uhr, IGB Leimenstr. 24, 4051 Basel

Michael Gassner: Geld und Ethik im Islam

„Jüdische“ oder „christliche“ Banken gibt es nicht, wohl aber islamische, deren Geschäftstätigkeit sich nach dem islamischen Religionsgesetz, der Schari‘a, richtet. Der zweite Vortrag in der Reihe „Geld & Ethik“ beschäftigt sich mit den Regeln des Geldwesens im Islam und deren Anwendung im modernen islamischen Bankwesen. Michael Gassner ist muslimischer Bankfachmann und entwickelt islamische Finanzprodukte für eine Schweizer Privatbank.

The Institute of International Finance (IIF) warns that rich-country central banks may end their stimulus measures for emerging markets and warned investors to be prepared. Although there are few indications that the world's central banks are about to change course soon, the risk for reversal of rates needs to be discussed in order to avoid a “boom-bust cycle”.

Heads of state and businessmen meet in Davos at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday 23/01/2013, where attention will be focused on economic reforms following the Arab Spring. This year’s theme will be resilient dynamism and how to deal with changing contexts and sudden shocks. The Davos meeting will also include a separate session on Syria to discuss the country’s prospects this year.

Saudi Arabian financial services company Sidra Capital (Sidra) and Swiss alternative investment house INOKS Capital SA (INOKS) made an announcement about investments in various transactions by its jointly managed Sidra Ancile Global Structured Trade Finance Fund (STFIF). The joint facility totals $13.5 million. STFIF is regulated both by Saudi Arabia Capital Market Authority (CMA) and the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) of Luxembourg. The fund has given approval to a number of investments in various transactions since the closure of its first offering of subscription in September 2012.

Despite the worldwide domination of a few credit rating agencies, two not-for-profit rating providers announced their alliance. The agencies are Wikirating and Public Sector Credit Solutions (PSCS). They both use crowdsourcing techniques, thus aiming to improve credit ratings. Wikirating employs a technology similar to that of Wikipedia in order to gather and aggregate information and views about credit quality for multiple categories of bonds. PSCS has provided an open source software tool which is used to calculates default probabilities for government bonds. It also has fully transparent sample models and data sets.

According to chief the executive officer of Alternative Bank of Switzerland (ABS), financial institutions worldwide must change their profit-mongering mindset. It is essential for them to replace the current principles with value-based banking practices in order to be able to contribute to the economy. Martin Rohner pointed out that the banks need to be brought back to their original economic purpose. The value-based approach removes profit from its first place, thus taking away the pressure of shareholders. Instead of striving for maximum profit, banks are to serve the community and the environment.

Read more on: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=254912

New client escaping from the debt crisis in Spain and the crisis in the Middle East turn to assets under the management of banks in Geneva. The outlook of difficulty for Swiss banks does not scare them. Thus, the amount of funds under management has grown due to inflow of foreign money, in particular from Spain and the Middle East. Geneva's banks are seen as shelter.

Read more on: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/10/17/geneva-banks-idUKL5E8LHGCI20121017

Potential for marketing Islamic funds cross-border in the Asia-Pacific and Asean is starting to be seen through the UCITS (undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities) platform. Despite the fact that it has already been used in Europe, it's the first time that it's being used in this region.
On January 16 2012 Kuala Lumpur-based CIMB declared the launch of three Islamic UCITS funds designed for cross-border distribution in Asia.
These funds will be registered and allocated in seven jurisdictions including the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.