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.

Dear All,

as salamu alaikum,

as part of my book project I developed a simple tool for Islamic stock screening. What does it do?

- data pull from Google Finance and MarketWatch
- Calculating cash and debt compliance criteria versus 220days average market cap
- Zakat calculation per share for the zakatable asset approach, if held for investment

***Telegram Group for discussion on Islamic stock screening:
https://t.me/islamicstockscreening

***Live Google Sheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VJYojBUrftJkAZRTcdbmN4TAsvaC1eas...

***Resources:
https://github.com/IslamicWealthManagement/Googlesheet

The tool is under a GLP-3.0 License and be used and amended privately with no charge. Users are encouraged to verify and improve the tool for mutual sharing. No warranties given. Feedback directly or via Telegram group highly welcomed. Is your market avalaible, or do you desire a screening for your market?

Other Screening tools are:

Idealratings: https://www.idealratings.com/
Halal Investors: https://halalinvestors.com/
Islamicly: https://www.islamicly.com/
Zoya Finance: https://zoya.finance/

Sustainable Development Key Performance Indicators (SD-KPIs) are three particularly material environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators for the expected business development of 68 different sectors.

The copyrighted SD-KPI Standard 2016-2021 was published by SD-M® on behalf of the the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) and with support of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). A Japanese, Chinese and Arabic translation is also available:

https://www.sd-kpi.com/files/SD-KPI_Standard_2016-2021_Arabic.pdf

According to the BaFin Guidance Notice on Dealing with Sustainability Risks, ESG risks should be strategically considered, e.g. by means of SD-KPI Standard 2016-2021. The Guidelines (German) to the Sustainability Code of the German Council for Sustainable Development recommend the SD-KPI Standards for materiality analysis.

The Big Six® are the six most important challenges for sustainable development in 21st century:

climate change
freshwater scarcity and pollution
deforestation and desertification
absolute poverty
loss of biodiversity
population growth and migration

Alors qu’elle avait trouvé son point d’ancrage sous le ciel ensoleillé de l’Australie, la finance éthique par excellence s’est heurtée à un écueil majeur, difficilement contournable. Si elle n’a pas encore largué les amarres sur l’îlot lointain du multiculturalisme, Covid-19 oblige, la première Islamic Bank for Australia (IBA) devrait toutefois prochainement, à l’horizon 2021, en faire son nouveau port d’attache. Loin de la France et de ses cris d’orfraie contre « l’halalisation » de l’Hexagone qui se perdent dans l’immensité des océans, la première banque islamique d’Australie se prépare à accoster sur les rivages de ce grand pays exportateur de produits Halal qui, demain peut-être, sera la nouvelle place forte de la finance éthique à l’autre bout du monde.

The Omani-Australian partnership Al Hadeetha Resources has secured funding to the tune of RO 10 million from Alizz Islamic Bank, which will support the financing of the formers copper-gold project. Australian-based mining firm Alara Resources is a majority investor in the project, which centres on the commercialization of an estimated 16 million tons of copper. These new financing arrangements signify another key milestone for the flagship Al Hadeetha Copper-Gold project in Oman. The funds will be used to procure major equipment for the copper processing plant at Washihi. Meanwhile, Al Hadeetha Resources has named Chinese state-owned enterprise China National Geological & Mining Corporation (CGM) as its Engineering Procurement Construction contractor. The project is expected to come into operation by Q1 2021.

Australia could be a regional leader in Islamic finance but tax issues are holding the sector back domestically. Talal Yassine, the managing director of Crescent Wealth, said that Australia needed to seize the opportunity of being so close to the world's leading Islamic economy, Malaysia. He said Australia's financial industry should follow the lead of the agricultural industry, which decades ago made the decision to dominate halal exports. Australian Muslims spent $US5.3 billion ($A7.8 billion) on the lifestyle sector in 2018, including $US1.94 billion ($A2.9 billion) on media and recreation and $US1.74 billion ($A2.6 billion) on food. With a growing Muslim middle class, Yassine sees a massive opportunity waiting to happen.

Click here to apply http://bit.ly/2tN5RAZ

Purpose of this call is to invite private and public sector to share their good practices on
•Islamic finance funded impact investments and dedicated vehicles
•impact investment vehicles in the OIC region
•Islamic social finance vehicles

for the mapping study that is being carried out under the Global Islamic Finance and Impact Investing Platform (GIFIIP). The selected cases will be analysed by the research team managed by IICPSD and IRTI. Subsequently the good practices, information on vehicles and further findings will be published as part of the study.

Investment Focus

It is well established that good corporate governance strengthens institutions and financial sectors, and in so
doing contributes to building strong economies and economic growth.

Deficiencies in corporate governance were among the factors that contributed to the global financial crisis
(GFC) of 2007–08. As a result, global standard setters such as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision
(BCBS) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have been updating and
strengthening their guidelines on good governance practices.

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), which sets standards for Islamic financial institutions, published its
Guiding Principles on Corporate Governance in 2006 as its standard IFSB-3. The Principles address, within the
context of corporate governance, the distinct features of Islamic banks, such as the different relationship that
they have with some of their stakeholders.

More:

Dear Reader,

regular readers may remember my critic on bitcoin from an Islamic perspective missing intrinsic value. The former blog entry you find here: http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/7840 - almost two years ago.

So far bitcoin just went up higher and higher, with wild fluctuations but nevertheless.

It reminds on how bubbles work, think about the tulip mania in 1637 a nice piece of economic history. A single tulip bulb was traded and bought on credit. Check the Wiki page on it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania

As bitcoin has even less value than a tulip except for payment purposes, it is the payment functionality, which can lead to destruction. What happens if a new alternative currency is becoming en vogue, which has a better usability and faster transaction time? In my view this is most likely trigger to burst the bubble.

FT Alphaville covers now the difficulties coming up with bitcoin's increasing transaction numbers causing inconvenience in using the digital currency:

https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2017/05/17/2188961/the-currency-of-the-futur...

Sonny Bill Williams could find his rugby career curtailed if he refuses to support any sponsorship that runs contrary to his Islamic religion. Williams covered the BNZ logo on his collar in his first game for the Blues. Williams has lodged a conscientious objection in his contract to finance companies, banks, alcohol companies, tobacco companies and gambling companies. According to Victoria University religious studies professor Paul Morris, the rugby player's conscientious objection was valid if cleared with the sponsor and the management of the team. Islamic Women's Council spokeswoman Anjum Rahman said Williams was making a statement and it was a valid choice. New Zealand Bankers' Association CEO Karen Scott-Howman said banks were constantly responding to customer preferences. However, the banks do not see the demand for Sharia-compliant banking in New Zealand.

SGI-Mitabu, a joint venture of two Australian solar companies, The Solar Guys International and Mitabu Australia, has revived its plans to fund its Indonesian 250 megawatt solar project with Islamic compliant funding. SGI-Mitabu will offer its sukuk in Labuan, Malaysia. SGI-Mitabu's sukuk issue is set to be the first Islamic finance offering by an Australian corporate and could provide a useful example of alternative sources of capital to other companies. Companies seeking alternative sources of funding may wish to consider whether a form of Islamic finance would be suitable for their next project, even if they have to look outside their own jurisdiction to make it happen.

Many Muslims contacted me in the last years with one single repeating question: Are CFD and/or Binary Options halal meaning permissible in Islam? There are indeed forex brokers offering so called Islamic accounts avoiding outright interest. But still: A contract of difference does not involve the ownership of any underlying (currency, stocks etc.) hence money against money is exchanged in different amounts - this is the most simple test for the prohibited Riba. Any Muslim receiving such offers should therefore insist of receiving the Fatwa and if not provided leave out.

The intention on those trading activities everyone can ask himself; mostly it will be akin to gambling and this on top of the fact that the trading activity itself is a zero sum game; meaning what one wins another looses, which rules out again to participate in such business. It does not do any better that aside from luck the outcome is influenced by know how - the same is true for classical money games as Poker or Backgammon. Still nobody would classify Poker therefore as halal.

Equitable Financial Solutions (EFSOL), Australia's largest, international Islamic finance company has announced the establishment of its Dubai office at Emirates Towers. EFSOL is actively pursuing its Middle-East expansion strategy, following the successful establishment of its ASEAN office based in Singapore. Usman Siddiqui, Managing Director of EFSOL said the new Dubai office will give investors access to the company's superior products and returns. He is confident that the EFSOL team will boost their financial products' offerings in key areas of Islamic finance.

From Canada, CI Financial, Manulife Financial, Royal Bank of Canada and Sun Life Financial are also included in the Hall of Shame. Jointly, these Canadian financial institutions invested US$565 million in cluster munitions producers between June 2012 and April 2016.

The report by Dutch peace organisation PAX was released today in Ottawa, together with the Cluster Munition Coalition and Mines Action Canada, to put pressure on Canada and other governments to put an end to these investments.

“It is an absolute outrage that financial institutions are investing billions into companies that produce weapons which are banned under international law”, says Suzanne Oosterwijk, author of the PAX report. “Canada has also banned these weapons. It is time for financial institutions to stop disregarding the international norm with these explosive investments into producers of illegal weapons that maim and kill civilians.”

In #Australia microfinance organisations are expecting a growing demand for financial help. Every year about 20.000 Australians obtain such loans and the figures are expected to double by the end of 2017. For example Good Shepherd Microfinance has partnered with state and federal governments and the National Australia Bank to provide the loans. Manager Adam Mooney said the increasing availability of no-interest loans of up to $1.200 would steer people away from credit cards and high-interest, short-term loans. He also said Good Shepherd was looking for more support to expand its programs.

Dear Reader,

For some time I did private research on crowdfunding and fintech for the social good. Only recently I found the long existing platform givology.org - it allows to donate specifically for education to individual pupils in poorer countries and getting in touch with them! Personally this one of the causes important to me, because it ensures that the funds are being spent on education, and therewith building a future.

My questions to you are the following:

1. Would you donate for education via an internet platform, then you can conveniently check a profile from Somaliland just here:

https://www.givology.org/~tfscholarship/

2. If you are *not* interested to donate now, could you share what exactly, if anything, would make you donate? This would be exetremely helpful and I will share the information with givology.org to find a way to do just that.

3. If you any other ideas please feel free to share them. You can also directly suggest to volunteer: http://www.givology.org/get-involved/

In case you wish to receive further updates on Givology please register your email here: https://www.givology.org/register/

The call to set up a Royal Commission on Banking has set in motion the debate on ethics in banking and finance, and the possible remedies to overcome the problem of unethical conduct. It is accepted that the problem is systemic, and yet the remedy suggested is at the individual level - for example the Banking + Finance Oath. The latest Panama Papers scandal dwarfs the past scandals yet again. As long as the money banks can make out of the deals is in excess of the fine they pay, such scandals will continue.

UN study paper on the humanitarian financing gap.

Excerpt:
"The world today spends around US$ 25 billion to provide life-saving assistance to 125 million people devastated by wars and natural disasters. While this amount is twelve times greater than fifteen years ago, never before has generosity been so insufficient. Over the last years conflicts and natural disasters have led to fast-growing numbers of people in need and a funding gap for humanitarian action of an estimated US$ 15 billion. This is a lot of money, but not out of reach for a world producing US$ 78 trillion of annual GDP.