IslamicFinance.de

According to Les Afriques the Central Bank of Nigeria is circulating a draft of their regulation for Sharia compliant financial institutions.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) said that it planned a USD 500 mn sukuk, to finance its 2009 financing program.

Oksana Kobzeva reported on 18 March on ArabianBusiness that Russia's second largest bank VTB may become the country's first issuer of sukuk. VTB Capital and Liquidity Management House, a subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House, on Wednesday signed a protocol of intention aimed at cooperating in the development of Islamic finance in Russia and other former Soviet countries.

VTB Capital is headed Yuri Solovyov

Islamic Bank of Britain, which offers Sharia-compliant banking services for individuals and businesses, reduced its loss by 15 % to GBP 5.9 mn in 2008 down from GBP 6.9 mn 2007. The bank put the reduction down primarily to growth in fee and commission income.

The customer numbers increased by 10 % to over 47,000 and deposits increased by 15 % GBP to 158 mn.

Two new major products were launched, an Islamic home finance and a 60-day notice savings account, which was launched in December 2008.

Dawood Islamic Bank Limited has received Rs. 1 billion (USD 12.9 mn) investment from Unicorn Investment Bank Limited, based in Bahrain , this was stated in a statement issued from Bank’s headoffice in Karachi. Dawood Islamic Bank launched in 2007 with an initial paid-up capital of Rs. 3 billion. The Dawood Islamic bank has a branch network of 21 branches spread over the major cities of Pakistan , including Karachi , Lahore , Islamabad , Faisalabad , Multan , Sialkot , Iqbalabad and Joharabad.

Unicorn already had a 22.2 % equity stake in Dawood Islamic Bank prior to the current investment. With the new investment the equity of Unicorn Investment Bank, in Dawood Islamic Bank has increased to 37% percent

Aamir Khan is Managing Director and Head Global Private Equity of Unicorn Investment Bank and a founder Director of Dawood Islamic Bank

Said Rafique Dawood is Chairman Dawood Islamic Bank.

Press Release

Dial-in Details for 11AM GMT/3PM Dubai Teleconference To Discuss Rating Actions Below

DUBAI, March 17, 2009--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today said it had lowered its ratings on six Dubai-based government-related entities (GREs) by one notch. The 'A+' ratings on DIFC Investments LLC, DP World Ltd., Jebel Ali Free Zone (FZE), and JAFZ Sukuk Ltd. were lowered to 'A', and the 'A-1' short-term ratings were affirmed. The 'A/A-1' ratings on Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority were lowered to 'A-/A-2', while the 'A+' long-term rating on Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group LLC (DHCOG) was also lowered to 'A'. The outlook on all entities remains negative. (A separate research update for each of the entities will follow.)

Thee ratings on the GREs reflect both their individual stand-alone credit profiles and our expectation that the United Arab Emirates (UAE; unrated) federal government, backed by its largest constituent, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (AA/Stable/A-1+), will continue to provide, as and when the need arises, financial support to the Dubai government, which owns the rated GREs.

PARIS (Standard & Poor's) March 17, 2009--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it has placed its long-term counterparty credit ratings on four Dubai-based banks, namely Emirates Bank International PJSC (EBI), National Bank of Dubai (NBD), Mashreqbank, and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) on CreditWatch with negative implications (see ratings list below). The 'A-1' short-term ratings on EBI, NBD, and Mashreqbank were also put on CreditWatch with negative implications, while the 'A-2' short-term rating on DIB was affirmed. This action reflects our growing concerns regarding the impact on the banking sector of the economic downturn in Dubai.

Frederik Richter reported on 15 March based on Reuters that Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) is looking for opportunities to acquire after the planned merger with rival Shamil Bank was put on hold.

BBK recently created its fully-owned Islamic investment bank Capinnova. BBK has a market capitalization of about $1.04 billion and a market share of 15-20 percent in the Bahraini retail market, according to its own estimates. (Reuters)

Les Afriques reported on 7 March that Mohamed Sakhr El Materi, President of Princesse El Materi Holding has received end of January the regulatory agreement to create the commercial bank Zitouna.

Existing Islamic banks in Tunisia are Best Bank (Bank Ettamwil Tounsi Saoudi) and Noor Islamic Bank, the latter with its regional office.

Futurebank sees 20.9% increase in net profit in 2008 and net profit rises to BD 10.7 mn.

Dr. Valiollah Seif is Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director.
Dr. Hamid Borhani is the Chairman of Futurebank.

The International Zakat Organisation ('IZO'), an important new charitable body of the Organisation of The Islamic Conference ('OIC'), announced its selection of The BMB Group to lead a new global charitable initiative which promises to be the largest in the Islamic world.

The proposed Global Zakat & Charity Fund would be over USD 3 bn in size and will manage charitable funds to address needy causes in the world.

The Fund will invest in community development projects with an emphasis on sustainability. The four major areas to be targeted are: (1) income generation through the provision of private equity investments to small and medium enterprises, (2) development of social enterprise through the establishment of hospitals, educational institutions and housing developments (3) development of agricultural and other vital infrastructure and (4) the provision of relief and emergency funding.

Mat Hassan Esa is the CEO of International Zakat Organisation.
Dr Humayon Dar is the CEO of BMB Islamic.
BMB appoints David Gibson-Moore as Managing Partner.

The appointment of Muhammad Al-Jasser last month as the new governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). Foreign regulatory officials and bankers expect a much more proactive policy approach from the new governor. Others expect SAMA under Al-Jasser to open up to Islamic banking in particular and to show leadership in this field in the light of the growing globalization of the industry.

Jessica Mador reported on 1 March on Minnesota Public Radio that the state's housing agency Minnesota Housing is launching a new program offering Islamic mortgages.

Chicago-based Devon Bank is underwriting the loans for the New Markets program. Devon is one of the largest Islamic lenders in the country. Corporate Counsel David Loundy says he expects the demand for Islamic financing to grow as more Muslims make their home in the U.S. Loundy says Muslims tend to be good risks.

According to a survey published originally by the newspaper Al Qabas it results that Al Rajhi Bank with its market value of USD 22.4 bn was ahead of leading global banks, including: Morgan Stanley with USD 20.88 bn, Deutsche Bank with USD 13.83 bn, Barclays with USD 11.58 bn, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) with USD 10.93 bn and Citibank with USD 10.63 bn.

According to Moody' s worldwide fall in oil prices and the global economic crisis has affected the Islamic finance industry, but the institutions' accumulated liquidity and capital will help them withstand these pressures.

According to Moody's, the drop in oil prices poses two key challenges for the Islamic finance industry. "Firstly, there is still a vital link between oil prices and Islamic banks as most of the latter operate in hydrocarbon-exporting economies. As they face increasingly limited funding sources, Islamic banks will find it more difficult to grow going forward. Secondly, oil liquidity has been a major driver of the disintermediation process in the Islamic finance industry. With reduced oil liquidity, not only have sukuk issuances been slowing sharply, thereby depriving Islamic banks of much-needed long-term funding, but pricing on such instruments has been distorted," says Anouar Hassoune, a Moody's Vice-President/Senior Credit Officer and co-author of the report.

Shamil Bank said that it had made USD 66.8 mn in total income for last year. The bank's net profit last year amounted to USD 22.8 mn, while Q4 last year, the bank sustained $16.3 million in losses.

Over the year, commodity Murahabas (bank placements) increased significantly from $424 million to $1.043 billion. The bank's Murabaha Financing (loans and advances) activities also increased from $807m to $1.048 billion.

Bahrain-based ABC Islamic Bank announced a net profit of $25.6 million for last year. Gross operating income was USD 33.8 mn which, excluding an exceptional USD 32.8 mn capital gain in 2007 arising from the partial disposal of a sukuk investment, represented a 34 % increase over the previous year. It posted a net profit of USD 50.9 mn in 2007.

Press Release

PARIS, February 27, 2009--Gulf Islamic financial institutions and takaful companies are feeling the repercussions of the current global financial market disruption less than most of their conventional counterparts because Sharia law prohibits interest-based financial products, according to a new report by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.

"IFIs didn't invest in the structured products that have hampered many conventional banks' financial profiles and performance," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Mohamed Damak in the report, titled Rated Gulf Islamic Financial Institutions And Takaful Companies Have Shown Resilience To Global Market Dislocation, But They Are Not Risk Immune. "And most IFIs should be equipped to weather the financial downturn and keep the effects on their financial profiles at manageable levels."

Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) face a significant hit on profits if real estate prices continue to fall in the Middle East according to ratings agency S&P. IFIs' direct exposure to real estate assets in 2008 reached 20 % of total loans, making them vulnerable to an ongoing correction, especially in Dubai.

Unlike their conventional counterparts, IFIs remained immune to price falls in structured products, which prompted write-downs all over the world, the report said.

Andy Sambidge reported on 25 February in Arabianbusiness that Dubai Islamic Banking reported only a small decline in net profit in 2008, AED 1.73 bn (USD 471 mn) in net profit for 2008. DIB’s total assets as of December 31, 2008, stood at AED 84.6 bn, up slightly compared to the end of the same period in 2007.

DIB’s full-year results reflected total impairment provisions of AED 521 million (including writedowns on its investment portfolio) and mark-to-market losses on equity investments of AED 277 million. The majority of these were recorded in the fourth quarter of the year, one of the primary reasons impacting profitability during the last quarter of 2008.

The Board of directors of Dubai Islamic Bank has proposed a cash dividend of 25 percent and bonus share of five percent for 2008.