IslamicFinance.de

The World’s oldest Islamic bank has strengthened its leadership to provide sharia-compliant products and services to an even broader market. Simpler, better, faster. These three key words form the cornerstone of a strategy that is seen to propel Kuwait Finance House Malaysia from its present level to a stronger position in the region. Thanks to fundamental adjustments that demonstrate efforts of Kuwait Finance House to grow its Malaysian subsidiary, the outlook for KFH Malaysia has never been better. “After making changes to the management structure in Kuwait, we came to bring the Malaysia arm in line with the group and to make sure that we drive forward to become the dominant player in Southeast Asia,” CEO David Power said.
Groomed as the regional hub for KFH in the Far East, KFH Malaysia had 18 vacant management positions when Power took over. Within a short period, he took steps to make sure that the bank had the right people on board who could assess the problems and come up with short-, medium- and long-term solutions.

Bursa Malaysia Bhd has added TA Securities Holdings Bhd to its Islamic participating organisations list, making it the 11th stockbroking house and Islamic PO partnering with Bursa Malaysia-i. TA Enterprise Bhd managing director and chief executive officer Datin Alicia Tiah stated, that the inclusion will complement and broaden its product offerings.
Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan said in a statement: "We hope that with the support from our brokers, we will be able to provide a conducive marketplace for the Shariah investing community which will, in turn, continue to spur the growth and vibrancy of the Islamic capital market domestically and regionally.”

Capital Market Authority of Oman (CMA Oman) recently issued new sukuk regulations that aim to provide clarity and transparency to market players, while providing protection to investors in sukuk transactions. At the forefront of the historical initiative is Kemal Rizadi Arbi, a Malaysian who is an adviser at CMA Oman as well as a member of the Oman government’s sukuk committee. “It is to be noted that not all jurisdictions have specific and separate sukuk regulations, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, with many just having a conventional bond regulatory framework with some additions made on the syariah requirements. “In addition, it has been drafted to provide flexibilities and spur innovation in the market, among others introducing a new trust regulation and structure and allowing the issuance of a sukuk programme,” said Kemal in an email to Business Times recently.