Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Khaleejtimes.com: Saudi Hollandi Bank, or SHB, has successfully closed its first public listed Sukuk of SR725 million. This issue follows the private placement completed at the end of 2008, further cementing SHB’s position as the only bank in the Middle East to raise Tier-II capital using a Shariah-compliant structure.
Riyad Capital and Saudi Hollandi Capital acted as joint lead managers and bookrunners for this transaction. A large number of investors expressed interest in the SHB Sukuk with total orders in the range of SR3 billion……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Btimes.com.my: Islamic finance will have an important role to play in 2010 after having garnered tremendous interest in the face of almost two years of global economic crisis.
Even as world markets come to grasp with the real strength of Islamic finance in withstanding economic turmoil, Islamic countries have already used it to strengthen their economic foundations……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thestar.com.my: The bond and sukuk market, which has been gaining ground since the second half of 2009, is expected to chart stronger growth in 2010, buoyed by the global economic recovery, low interest rates and the Government’s pump-priming initiatives.
With the economy showing signs of a rebound, more corporates are expected to tap the debt market to fund their operations and deals……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: Euro zone member Cyprus will step up a drive to attract foreign investment next year, and is considering the establishment of a framework to attract Islamic finance, the head of its investment agency has said.
Sotiris Sotiriou, director-general of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA), said foreign direct investment would fall by around 10 per cent this from last year’s 1.48 billion euros……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Btimes.com.my: New initiatives and strategies must be put in place by the Malaysian government and regulators if the country wants to remain as investors’ choice for the Islamic banking business, says a senior economist.
Chairman of the Russian Centre for Islamic Economic and Finance (RCIEF) International Advisory Panel Professor Datuk Dr Sudin Haron said despite Malaysia’s supremacy as the leading Islamic financial centre, other countries in Asia were also capable of providing Islamic financial services and ultimately becoming the leading Islamic financial centre……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Business24-7.ae: Luxembourg, the second- largest investment fund centre after the US and an important private banking centre in the Europe, is trying to attract fund managers from the UAE to invest in registered funds there.
As a part of the initiatives to attract investments from the UAE into the Luxembourg-registered investment funds, the Crown Prince of Luxembourg Prince Guillaume will visit the UAE on January 12……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Menafn.com: Dubai Islamic Bank, or DIB, launches a new Shariah-compliant insurance product that provides accidental cover of Dh100,000 at low annual premium.
The product called: ‘Al Islami Takaful Riayati’, an accidental death and disability insurance plan, is underwritten by SALAMA-Islamic Arab Insurance Company, and complements the bank’s existing portfolio of different products and services……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Ameinfo.com: An Academy of Islamic Bank is set to be etablished in Dubai soon, according to Dr. Hussain Hamed Hassan, a Shariah scholar and president of several Fatwa and Sharia boards, Emirates Business 24/7 has reported.
The institute will offer bachelors, masters and doctorate courses in Islamic finance and will become operational by 2011……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Business24-7.ae: Arab equity investors suffered from one of the most unstable years in 2009 but they ended up wealthier by nearly $85 billion (Dh311.95bn), official figures showed yesterday.
And analysts believe the investors’ wealth will swell further in 2010 as they expect better and more stable performance of most regional bourses as the domestic economy improves and global markets pick up……………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Kuwaittimes.net: Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council is due to float a public tender for the strategic $25 billion GCC joint railway network in the first quarter of the current year.
Mohammad Bin Obeid Al-Mazroui, the GCC assistant secretary general for economic affairs, said in a statement published by the UAE daily newspaper, “Al-Ittihad,” yesterday, that the secretariat general would assess the bidding companies and downgrade number of potential winners to three or five……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Zawya.com: Ata Invest, a Turkish investment bank, is expecting investments to increase to almost $3 billion (Dh11.01bn) from the GCC to Turkey in 2010. This would be a significant increase compared to 2009 when investment activity took a hit primarily due to the economic crisis, Hakan Ferhatoglu, Chairman of Ata Invest told Emirates Business.
“Investor confidence is gradually returning and we expect it to be higher in 2010. We are working on more than a dozen large deals now, with each deal involving over $50mn equity. We hope to see between $1bn to $3bn of investment in the coming year,” he said……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulfnews.com: Gulf Finance House EC surged the most in more than seven months after the Bahraini investment bank said it will reduce its liabilities by $290 million (Dh1,067) after exiting its investment in Dubai. The shares gained 10 per cent, its biggest gain since May 21, to $0.33 at 11.34am in Bahrain yesterday.
The company took $300 million non-cash charge against its proprietary Dubailand position and has no remaining material exposure to Dubai, it said yesterday in an e-mailed statement……………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Business-standard.com: Islamic investment bank Gulf Finance House (GFH) has booked a $300 million provision over its exposure to a Dubai development project.
GFH, will take a $300 million (non-cash) charge against its proprietary Dubailand position and correspondingly reduce the liabilities on its balance sheet by $290 million, Gulf Finance House has said in a statement. “Furthermore, GFH has no remaining material exposure to Dubai,” the statement added……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Saudigazette.com.sa: Abdulkareem Abu Alnasr, chief executive officer of the National Commercial Bank (NCB), recently received top recognition in the banking industry after being named Saudi Arabia’s “Banker of the Year 2009” by the World Finance Magazine.
The announcement was made during a ceremony organized by the World Finance Magazine in London last month……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: UAE-based Islamic lender Ajman Bank said it has appointed Mubasher Hanif Khokhar, a former Mashreq banker, as its new chief executive.
Khokhar’s appointment is effective from today (January 3), according to a statement posted on the Dubai bourse website……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: Abu Dhabi’s First Gulf Bank obtained the approval of the UAE markets regulator for an extention on plans to buy back 10 per cent of its shares, a statement on the Abu Dhabi bourse website said on Sunday.
The bank requested an extention of one year. ‘The approval is granted to the bank in order to complete the buyback of 10 per cent of the bank’s capital,’ the statement said……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: Commercial Bank of Qatar, the largest private sector bank in Qatar, yesterday announced that it has received funds from the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) which are to be used to subscribe for a further issue of shares in the capital of the Bank.
The proposed issue would involve a placement of 10,310,265 additional ordinary shares at a price of QR78.30 per share and would increase QIA’s shareholding in Commercialbank to 9.1 percent……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Qatar-tribune.com: Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has bought five percent more stakes in the country’s listed banks, except Qatar National Bank, in a bid to boost confidence in the country’s banking sector.
All the major banks announced on Thursday that they had received funds from QIA……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Brecorder.com: Meezan Bank Ltd, the first and largest Islamic Bank in Pakistan, has achieved yet another milestone by establishing a branch network of 200 branches in 54 cities across Pakistan within a short span of 7 years.
President & CEO Meezan Bank Ltd Irfan Siddiqui, in his statement, said that Meezan bank would continue to expand its branch network in 2010……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: Abu-Dhabi based Aabar Investments said it has not made an investment in Arabtec, after the Dubai-based construction firm last week said it was not in talks about any possible deal.
‘We can confirm that Aabar has not made an investment in the company mentioned in the Bloomberg report to which you refer in your facsimile,’ Aabar said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi bourse……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: Opec member Algeria’s foreign exchange reserves reached $146 billion at the end of September, slightly higher than at the half-year stage, official news agency APS said.
Reserves stood at $144.3 billion at the end of June, up from $143.1 billion in December 2008, APS reported, citing the finance ministry……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Globalarabnetwork.com: Dubai Financial Market overall performance increased by 10.2% to reach 1803.58 points the end of 2009 compared to 1636.29 points at the end of 2008.
The market capitalization decreased in 2009 by 8.4% to reach Dhs213.4bn compared to Dhs232.9bn at the end of last year, which is due primarily to decrease of market capitalization of the non UAE companies listed in DFM and not included in the Dubai Financial Market Index……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 January 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From UPI: Swiss banks are worried the row over mosque minarets, banned in a referendum despite grave reservations from sections of the Swiss public, will lead to Muslim deposit holders taking their business to Turkey and even Germany, Swiss and Turkish media reported.
Alarm bells were raised when Turkey’s minister in charge of accession talks with the European Union, Egeman Bagis, urged Muslims to “empty” their bank accounts in Switzerland. Bagis said Turkish banks would welcome new account holders who were angered over the minarets ban……………………………………Full Article: Source
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