Posted on 05 February 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Bloomberg: Sales of Islamic bonds may increase 24 percent this year, led by Southeast Asia, as the region’s expansion helps drag the world out of recession, said CIMB Group Holdings Bhd., the leading arranger of such issuance.
Global sales of bonds that comply with the religion’s shariah principles, known as sukuk, will probably reach $25 billion this year, Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, chief executive officer of CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd., a unit of CIMB Holdings, said in an interview yesterday. Gulf issuance will fall after Dubai World’s attempt to reschedule $22 billion of debt eroded investor confidence, he said…………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Economic Times: With the global financial crisis putting the spotlight on “casino capitalism” of the West, leading scholars and experts from the Arab world on Thursday pitched for interest-free Islamic banking as a solution and its introduction in India, home to the world’s largest Muslim minority.
Tracing the genesis of the global meltdown to “greed and unscrupulousness” of financiers and speculators in the West, Umar Chapra, adviser Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah, said the crisis resulted from “excessive and imprudent lending.”………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Indiatimes.com: Union minister for corporate and minority affairs Salman Khurshid said that his ministry was open to seeking the views of experts on interest-free banking. India has to reach out to huge savings potential that lies untapped through interest-free banking or shariah-compliant financial instruments, he said.
An international conference of economists, investors, consultants and academicians called upon the government to create an Indo-Arab entrepreneurship fund and they also urged it to accept the recommendations of the committee on financial sector reforms of Planning Commission, under the chairmanship of Raghuram Rajan, with regard to interest-free banking in India…………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Irishtimes.com: The Finance Bill is expected to accommodate the principles of Sharia Law in a bid to attract business from the Islamic world. The Minister for Finance will publish the Bill later today, and it is expected to include a number of sections designed to boost the Republic’s attractiveness to foreign investment.
Some provisions to be introduced tomorrow will be designed to ensure that Irish tax and financial law can accommodate the principles of Sharia Law, which stems from the teachings and principles of the Koran…………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Ameinfo.com: Barwa Bank, a unit of Qatar’s Barwa Real Estate, has made an offer to acquire a stake in First Finance Co, in a bid to secure a foothold in Qatar’s banking sector.
The lender said it will issue 1.54 shares for every share in the Shariah-compliant investment firm to acquire at least 75% and up to 100% stake. First Finance Co received a takeover offer from Barwa in May last year and said then that it had initially accepted…………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Menafn.com: Analysis of the Loan-to-Deposit Ratio of GCC Banks: Fuelled by the economic boom and the rally in oil prices which resulted in the accumulation of huge reserves by the GCC countries, the banking sector had witnessed double digit growth in its loan portfolio and deposit base over the period 2004-2008;
loans grew at a 5-year CAGR of 32% to reach USD 609 billion at the end of 2008, while total deposits grew at a slower pace with a 5-year CAGR of 27% to reach USD 725 billion at the end of 2008.
However, growth in loan portfolio and deposits lost momentum during the first 9 months of 2009 with a marginal increase for each of 2%…………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulf-daily-news.com: Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the Gulf state’s biggest Islamic lender, is not considering a capital increase “for the time being”, its chief executive said.
Four Kuwaiti banks including National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the country’s biggest lender, had said they plan to raise their capital…………………………………Full Article: Source
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At a recent sales rally held in Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Berhad (KFH-Malaysia) announced its plans to grow its retail banking business. The rally, which was attended by branch and sales teams from all over Malaysia, also gave recognition to the top performers.
“Retail and Consumer Banking will be playing a key role in 2010 and beyond. There is a growing demand for a “back to basics” approach to bank products and services - our current range of retail deposit and financing products has always been simple and straightforward and that is appreciated by many,” announced Mr Ab Jabar Ab Rahman, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of KFH-Malaysia…………………………………Full Press Release: Source
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: Dubai World will seek to roll over a $1.2 billion Islamic loan at its Limitless property unit due in March but it is unclear whether banks will agree in the absence of a standstill agreement, banking sources said on Thursday.
The state-owned firm, which rattled global markets when it requested a delay on $26 billion of debt linked to its main property units Nakheel and Limitless World last November, has been negotiating with an unofficial bank coordinating committee…………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
While the events in Dubai during November took many fund managers in the Middle East by surprise, most are still positive on the prospects for the region, says Standard & Poor’s Fund Services in its latest annual review of the sector available at www.fundsinsights.com.
Interviews for the fourteen S&P Fund Services-rated Middle East & North Africa (MENA) funds took place in November and December 2009, around the time of the announcements relating to Dubai World and Nakheel…………………………………Full Press Release: Source
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From Cpifinancial.net: Bahraini / Qatari Takaful joint venture will not go ahead for the time being, founders say, citing the impact of the financial crisis. The founders of Al Jasr Takaful Insurance Company (under formation) have decided to postpone the company’s establishment.
A statement by the Chairman of the Founders’ Committee Shaikh Nawaf Bin Mohammed Bin Jabr Al Thani said the decision, taken at a meeting in Doha, is due to the changing business and investment environment caused by the global financial crisis…………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Bloomberg: Pakistan may offer as much as $1 billion of bonds and resume selling state assets in the coming months, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said, as the government forecasts a widening budget deficit amid rising war costs.
“We have made all the arrangements and we will conduct roadshows in the next couple of months,” Tarin said in an interview in Singapore yesterday. The government may sell about $500 million each of euro-denominated and Islamic bonds, totaling no more than $1 billion, he said…………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Saudigazette.com.sa: The Islamic Development Bank plans to issue Islamic bonds (Sukuk), worth a total of $5 billion over this year and the four following years, its president said on Tuesday.
“We hope that we can mobilize $1 billion every year beginning in 2010 and for a period of five years,” IDB President Ahmed Mohamed Ali told Reuters…………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Gulf-times.com: Qatar’s financial position in terms of assets and reserves is good, said the governor of Qatar Central Bank Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani yesterday.
In a statement issued after opening a new branch the Al Yusr Islamic banking service of the International Bank of Qatar (IBQ), Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud praised the financial results achieved by Qatari banks during fiscal year 2009, expecting the current fiscal year (2010) to be better than the previous one…………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Meattradenewsdaily.co.uk: A working group of Heads of LLC Linova-Trade, IFC Linova and a non-profit organisation for the Development of Islamic Business and Finance (IBFD Fund), recently completed a trip to Malaysia.
The purpose of trip was to outline detailed formats and areas of cooperation with representatives from Islamic business and finance in South-East Asia…………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Zawya.com: Jordan will host next month the First Islamic Finance and Investment Forum for the Middle East IFIF to discuss the role, functions and responsibilities of central banks in Islamic banking, Islamic funds & alternative investments, the situation of Islamic finance in the Middle East.
The event which will take place on the 2nd and 3rd of March at The King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Center on the Dead Sea shores, will shed light on current trends and critical issues in Islamic finance and investment, particularly in the Middle East, according to an organizers’ statement released on Wednesday…………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Cpifinancial.net: Ratings are moderated by the cyclicality of the construction and property sectors. Over the years, the structural changes in the domestic cement market - attributable to the consolidation of cement players and the market’s growing maturity, have somewhat mitigated the risk of a price war.
RAM Ratings has upgraded the long-term rating of Lafarge Malayan Cement’s (LMC) MYR 350 million ($102.6 million) Al-Murabahah Commercial Papers/Medium-Term Notes (2003/2010) (CP/MTN), from A1 to AA2; the rating has a stable outlook. At the same time, the short-term rating of the CP/MTN has been reaffirmed at P1…………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Ameinfo.com: The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) won the Deal of the Year Award from EuroWeek for its $850m fixed-rate notes launched last year.
The five-year Medium Term Note launched under NBAD’s European Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme represented the first US dollar-denominated international public transaction by a GCC Financial Institution since 2007, which has successfully established a benchmark and a new pricing reference for GCC financial institutions, diversified its investor base, and lengthened the average maturity of its funding…………………………………Full Article: Source
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