Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Asianinvestor.net: Following last week’s launch of Sarasin’s sharia-compliant wealth management offering in the Middle East, the Swiss private bank says it is considering launching it in other regions, including Asia.
The firm sees demand mainly from the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, says Fares Mourad, head of Islamic finance at Bank Sarasin in Zurich………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Microfinancefocus.com: IFC has asserted that strategic investments in Gulf Cooperation Council countries can strengthen financial markets and promote economic development in the Middle East and North Africa.
“Our investments in the Gulf Cooperation Council capital markets create opportunities across the region while providing productive outlets for excess savings generated by oil-producing countries,” said Lars Thunell, IFC Executive Vice President and CEO, at a news conference in Dubai…………Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Bloomberg: Qatar’s bonds rose after the largest-ever sale of debt by an emerging-market government received $28 billion of orders, four times the amount issued.
Qatar’s $3.5 billion of five-year bonds, half the total $7 billion sale, advanced to 100.1 cents on the dollar from an issue price of 99.87 cents, according to ING Bank NV data on Bloomberg at 5:59 p.m. in Doha. The emirate’s $1 billion of 30- year bonds rose 3 percent to 102.8 cents, according to prices provided by DZ Bank AG…………Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulfnews.com: The UAE’s First Gulf Bank has set price guidance for a 3-year benchmark dollar bond at 250-275 basis points over midswaps, a banker close to the transaction said.
“The price guidance is 275… [which] is still on the higher side. It may come to 250,” said the banker, who declined to be identified…………Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulfnews.com: One lesson Gulf sovereigns and corporates have learned from the financial crisis is that they must diversify their funding sources to better manage their debt maturities effectively.
This realisation has prompted most regional governments to take initiatives in recent months to create markets for debt instruments of various maturities…………Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Bernama: Malaysian Rating Corporation Bhd (MARC) is continuing to maintain Matang Highway Sdn Bhd’s AA-IS rating for its RM70.0 million Sukuk Musharakah issuance on MARCWatch Negative.
The sukuk has been under this placement since August 6, 2009, MARC said in a statement Wednesday…………Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Zawya.com: A top banker of Luxembourg a country famous for hosting international financial institutions has said that his country would welcome the establishment of Islamic banks.
“We had Islamic banking institutions in the seventies which discontinued its services and as for now there is no Islamic bank that operates in Luxembourg, but there is no prohibition to have a setup of such an institution, ” Yves Mersch, President of the Central Bank of Luxembourg, told KUNA in an interview…………Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Reuters: Bahrain’s offshore investment houses raked in the money during a five-year long oil boom, but the impact of the global financial crisis on the Gulf Arab region has swept away a business model that relied on fees from raising money for property and private equity projects.
Dubai’s real estate bubble burst late in 2008, with prices falling sharply in the Emirate and at least capping growth in other markets in the region, including Bahrain…………Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulfnews.com: The UAE Central Bank said yesterday that banks operating in the country have a combined exposure of $2.9 billion (Dh10.7 billion) to Saudi Arabia’s troubled business groups — Saad and Algosaibi — and ordered the banks exposed to take specific provisions for bad loans.
“The number of lending banks to the two groups and their related banks is 20 banks, 13 national banks and 7 foreign bank branches operating in the UAE. Their funded and unfunded exposures amount to $2.9 billion,” the bank said in a statement…………Full Article: Source
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From Thestar.com.my: As cautious optimism returns to the global economy and financial markets begin to move towards stabilisation and economic recovery, more than 1,200 industry decision-makers from over 50 countries including Malaysia, are preparing to meet in Bahrain at the 16th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC 2009).
The conference from Dec 6-8, will focus on “New Strategies for New Economic Realities”…………Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thestar.com.my: The World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation (WIEF) is looking at hosting regional meetings next year to identify issues of interest among countries.
Its chairman, Tun Musa Hitam said the WIEF is already in talks with some countries and the response so far was encouraging…………Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Csr-asia.com: The truth is, to see banking as a value neutral industry is a misplaced notion, one that stems from its neo-liberal provenance. This has perpetuated the disjuncture between community, environment and business. More than ever, the world is standing back to watch how the finance sector scales this current crisis and charts its way forward.
Arguably sustainability sits within the syntax of Islamic finance. This is because Islamic finance is premised on social welfare aspirations…………Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Albawaba.com: The latest Fund Market Insight Report from Lipper, a Thomson Reuters Company, for the Gulf Co-operation Council (the GCC) countries reveals that equity funds registered for sale in the GCC continued the upward trend noticed during the second quarter gaining 16.31% on average, bringing year-to-date performance to almost 39%.
As of the end of September 2009, almost all Lipper equity categories ended the quarter on a positive note, with the sole exception of funds invested in Kuwait, which lost 0.39%. This was mainly due to the negative performance of the Kuwait Stock Exchange during third quarter 2009; the index decreasing 2.89%…………Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Telegraph: The first Islamic insurance company to be launched in the UK has closed to new business after failing to raise enough capital to continue trading.
Salaam Halal, launched last July, has written to suppliers and partners informing them it is now in “solvent run-off”. A note has also been placed on its web site revealing it is no longer accepting “new requests for insurance quotations”…………Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Globalarabnetwork.com: Like many other sectors of the economy, the insurance industry has been affected by the international financial crisis, with most firms seeing a reduction in new business written, a rise in policy cancellations and a fall in the value of assets and investments held over the first three quarters of the year.
This slow-down has been felt across the industry, with both conventional policy providers and the increasingly active takaful, or sharia-compliant, segment feeling the pinch…………Full Article: Source
Posted on 19 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Cpifinancial.net: The fixed-rate notes have three tranches: a $3.5 billion four per cent tranche maturing January 20 2015; a $2.5 billion 5.25 per cent tranche maturing January 20, 2020; and a $1 billion 6.4 per cent tranche maturing January 20, 2040.
The proceeds of the bonds will help the State of Qatar’s general financing, and will be used in areas such as contingency funding for entities that the state owns or controls, and infrastructure investments funding in and outside the hydrocarbon sector…………Full Article: Source
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