Kazakhstan has reaffirmed its commitment to release a $500 million sovereign sukuk, or Islamic bond, by the end of 2011. The Kazakh-issued sukuk will be the first such one to originate from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
The global sukuk market is expected to grow by 60 percent in 2011, amounting to $22 billion, the Reuters news agency predicted in January……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The last decade witnessed a proliferation in issues of sukuk, Islamic financial instruments structured to replicate the cash flows of conventional bonds. Using a market-based approach on Malaysian data, we consider whether investors react differently to the announcements of sukuk and conventional bond issues.
Our findings suggest the stock market is neutral to announcements of conventional bond issues, but reacts negatively to announcements of sukuk issues. We attribute this finding to the excess demand for Islamic investment certificates and explain the difference in stock market reactions as an adverse selection mechanism that favors sukuk issuance by lower-quality debtor companies. Unlike previous studies, our findings indicate markets readily distinguish between sukuk and conventional bonds……………………………………….Full Article: Source

RAM Ratings assigns preliminary long-term rating of A3 to Bank Muamalat Malaysia’s proposed Islamic Subordinated Sukuk Programme of up to MYR 400 million ($133.4 million).
RAM Ratings has also reaffirmed Bank Muamalat Malaysia’s respective long- and short-term financial institution ratings at A2 and P1; the rating of the Bank’s MYR 250 million ($83.4 million) Islamic Subordinated Bonds (2006/2016) has also been reaffirmed at A3. All the long-term ratings have a stable outlook……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Fitch Ratings-Dubai/London-09 May 2011: Fitch Ratings has assigned SIB Sukuk Company II Limited’s (SIB Sukuk Company) senior unsecured trust certificates an expected Long-term rating of ‘BBB+(exp)’.
SIB Sukuk Company is a special purpose vehicle, incorporated in the Cayman Islands solely to act as the issuer of the certificates and trustee for the certificate holders. The final rating is contingent on receipt of final documentation conforming to information already received. (Press Release)

Conventional banks in Indonesia have been subjects to fraud. This issue may open chances for sharia banks to attain more customers. Sharia banks must work hand-in-hand to provide services of foreign banks qualities.
“The market share of sharia banks has only reached seven percent of the total national banking,” said Bank BRI President Director, Ventje Raharjo, in Bandung, on Tuesday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

ABC Islamic Bank, a subsidiary of Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corporation, yesterday posted a first quarter net profit of $3 million, up 66 per cent over $1.8m for same period last year.
Total operating income for the first quarter was $4.8m, compared to $3.9m for the first quarter of last year. Operating expenses increased to $1.8m compared with $1.4m, mainly due to a timely recognition of staff expenses related to compensation for last year……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The United Arab Emirates’ central bank expects interbank offered rates to fall further and plans to introduce a repurchase facility for Islamic lenders in the coming months, its treasury head said on Tuesday.
The central bank has been urging banks to quote lower rates at daily fixings of interbank benchmarks as liquidity in the system improved following Dubai’s $25 billion debt restructuring deal last September……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Islamic finance market in Indonesia has been growing rapidly, albeit from a small base, and remains far behind Malaysia in significance in the financial system overall. Malaysia has over 20% of the financial system in Islamic financial institutions, while Indonesia has just under 3.5% market share.
The Islamic banking market is different in Indonesia than in many markets because there are far fewer products used compared to the GCC and Malaysia……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and RHB Bank Bhd, together with their Islamic banking arms, became the first banks to raise base lending and financing rates as well as deposit rates following the overnight policy rate (OPR) hike by Bank Negara last Thursday.
The central bank revised upwards the OPR by 25 basis points to 3% while the statutory reserve requirement (SRR) was increased 100 basis points to 3%……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Islamic Contemporary Financial Transactions training course, which was sponsored by Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB), concluded its last session.
The training course was organised by the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Qatar (QFIS), a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science & Community Development, in collaboration with the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS)……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Tebyan Asset Management, a joint venture of Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB) and Gulfmena Investments, will initially be a temporary offshore establishment and subsequently seek licence from the Qatar Financial Regulatory Authority.
The new fully-integrated Shariah-compliant asset management firm - which will primarily serve Islamic institutions, family offices, ultra high net worth and high net worth individual - is launching the first-of-its kind fund, focusing primarily on the Arab-Indo-China region……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Islamic finance has emerged as one of the most rapidly expanding sectors in the global financial system and is evolving into an industry with an increasingly significant global footprint.
There are an estimated 430 Islamic banks and financial institutions operating in more than 75 countries and around 191 conventional banks that have Islamic banking windows. With the emergence of exciting new jurisdictions in addition to the strong growth showcased by established centres of Islamic finance in the Middle East and Asia, the industry has further reinforced its growing globalisation. (press Release)

Shares in the Islamic mortgage provider Tamweel fell 10 per cent on Tuesday morning after the company resumed trading for the first time since November 2008.
Investors rushed to offload stock in the company, which dropped from 99 fils to 0.891 fils at the open on the Dubai Financial Market General Index. Individual stocks can only gain or drop by a maximum of 10 per cent in a single trading session……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Amana Takaful announced the successful completion of its recent rights issue, having had full subscription to the issue.
The issue raised a capital of LKR 750,000,000-, thereby increasing the total capital of Amana Takaful to LKR 1.25 bn. The additional capital will be directed to facilitating its expansion strategy in spearheading Takaful in Sri Lanka, as well as consolidating its position to meet changes in regulation pertaining to Risk Based capital and splitting of Life and General business……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Allen & Overy has advised National Takaful Company “Watania”, an Abu Dhabi based Shari’a-compliant (Islamic) insurance company under establishment, on its Initial Public Offering (IPO). The public offer was launched on 18 April 2011 to raise Dhs82.5m, representing 55% of the total share capital of Dhs150m.
The subscription closed on 1 May 2011. Expectations of high participation due to strong growth potential of the Islamic insurance sector materialised and the issue was oversubscribed by more than 700% generating over Dhs600,000,000. (Press Release)

The Malaysian economy’s forward march gathered substantial momentum in 2010, on the wave of widespread recovery after the global financial mayhem of the year before.
Notably, the domestic banking fraternity had strengthened immeasurably after having learnt the harsh lessons from the last crisis in the late 1990s, hence becoming more resilient and better equipped to deal with such external shocks……………………………………….Full Article: Source

FTSE Group and Dubai International Financial Centre Investments wholly-owned subsidiary Global Commodity Finance, together with Merit Commodity Partners have launched the world’s first investible, Shari’ah-compliant physical industrial metals index series.
The FTSE Physical Industrial Metals Index Series comprises four individual indices, covering aluminium, copper, zinc and nickel, as well as a benchmark index containing all four metals, giving investors the flexibility to tailor their metals exposure in accordance with investment objectives……………………………………….Full Article: Source