Posted on 04 October 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabianbusiness.com: Islamic finance is struggling to streamline regulations as it moves into the mainstream, but seems overwhelmed by scholar reforms. Islamic finance is toughening supervision of its powerful religious advisers as shareholders worldwide demand increasing accountability from directors, but key reforms may do little to boost independence and transparency.
Islamic banking is overhauling rules that govern the conduct of its influential sharia advisers, with competition for investor dollars and a growing market putting pressure on the once-arcane industry to adopt clearer, more uniform guidelines……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 October 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabnews.com: “The Islamic fund industry needs to evaluate new strategies to restimulate growth. Islamic fund assets remained flat in 2009 at $52 billion, whereas the potential wealth pool grew by 20 percent, now estimated at $480 billion,” concludes the Islamic Funds & Investments Report (IFIR) 2010 which was published by international auditing and advisory firm Ernst & Young in September 2010.
The other key messages from the IFIR similarly are stark — the sector needs to achieve scale to ensure its long-term sustainability; the priority over the next two years is to rebuild investor trust through staying close to the investor base and to have transparency in cost and revenue structures……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Zawya.com: Islamic private equity firms face a reality check post the financial crises, said Ashar Nazim, Director and Head of Islamic Financial Services at Ernst and Young, speaking today at the Islamic Financial Services Board summit, titled Business Models in Islamic Finance - Challenges and Opportunities in Bahrain.
Liquidity and credit surge during the past decade saw mushrooming of investment firms across emerging markets pursuing private equity business………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 October 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulf-daily-news.com: The crucial strength of Islamic finance over conventional systems in the economic crisis was asset quality. Islamic principles meant that Islamic finance was not involved in investing in low-quality assets that lacked transparency, according to Professor Simon Archer.
But he warned that there remained a lack of transparency and weak corporate governance across the Islamic finance industry……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Gulf-daily-news.com: Projections of spectacular future growth of the Islamic finance industry which rely on extrapolating the growth trends of the last five or 10 years may not be the best guide to the future.
The industry will only realise the predicted growth trends if it can properly address some fundamental issues, central to which are the business models of Islamic financial institutions, Central Bank of Bahrain Governor Rasheed Al Maraj said……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Gulf-press.com : Central Bank governor Rasheed al-Meraj has said that Bahrain wishes to see the Islamic industry moving from strength to strength. He said, however, this means on occasion being willing to pose some challenging questions for the industry to answer.
We are all aware of the great potential that exists in the Islamic finance field. Following the global financial crisis there has been a resurgence of interest in the Islamic finance model. Some consultants are predicting that the size of the industry, currently estimated at around one trillion US dollars, could double within a decade………………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Indiatimes.com: It’s not unusual to hear people ask why does not embrace women. Given the is dominated by men isn’t it even more difficult for to make their mark on the $1 trillion Islamic finance industry?
Well, only up to a point. Recent Western debate about the role of women in Islam may have centred on the veil, but from its early years, Islam was receptive to women in business and finance. And today, Malaysia is an example of how making money has little to do with gender in Islam……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 October 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulf-daily-news.com: As part of its efforts to promote Islamic finance around the world, the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) secretary-general Dr Mohamad Nedal Alchaar, and the Grand Mufti of the Shura Council of Russian Muftis, met in Moscow with the Russian Association of Experts in Islamic Finance.
The purpose of the meeting was to enhance the prospects of the development of Islamic financial institutions and products in Russia and the application of AAOIFI standards to regulate them……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Bloomberg: Qatar Islamic Bank SAQ said its Islamic bonds offer received $6 billion in bids, according to a company statement to the bourse today.
Qatar Islamic raised $750 million last week by selling five-year bonds that were priced to yield 237.5 basis points above similar maturity midswap, according to terms of the offer obtained by Bloomberg……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Gulf-times.com: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) successfully placed $750mn in its debut sukuk, representing the first international sukuk transaction from a Qatari financial institution.
Investor demand in the sukuk reached $6bn, about eight times the offered amount, Qatar’s largest Islamic bank said last night. The sukuk has a maturity of five years and will pay a fixed coupon of 3.856% per annum, QIB said……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Arabianbusiness.com: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has raised the ceiling of its Islamic bond, or sukuk, issuance programme to $3.5 billion from $1.5 billion, the Saudi-based lender said on Sunday
“(IDB) has successfully updated its Sukuk Trust Certificate Issuance programme and increased the ceiling of the program from $1.5 billion to $3.5 billion,” it said in a statement……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 October 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Reuters: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will more than double the size of bonds, or sukuk, issued under an ongoing programme to $3.5 billion to help meet financing needs mainly from flood-ravaged Pakistan.
“(IDB) has successfully updated its Sukuk Trust Certificate Issuance programme and increased the ceiling of the program from $1.5 billion to $3.5 billion,” it said in a statement on Sunday……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Bloomberg: Nakheel PJSC, the developer of palm- shaped islands off Dubai’s coast, is in preliminary talks with Nasdaq Dubai to list Islamic bonds and is confident of reaching an accord with its creditors by the year end, its chairman said.
“We are in the final stages of negotiation and we are confident we will reach an agreement,” Ali Rashed Lootah told reporters in Dubai today. Lootah said a “good percentage” of bank creditors have agreed to the company’s plan to alter the terms on more than $10 billion of debt and contractor claims……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Arabnews.com: The Jordanian Cabinet has approved the issuance of Islamic bonds (sukuk) for Al-Rajhi group at its request for financing an expansion of its investment base in Jordan, an official statement said Sunday.
However, the Cabinet stipulated that the Al-Rajhi should “coordinate” this move with legal bodies in the Hashemite kingdom, including the Fatwa Department, and should buy the sukuk from Jordanian banks……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Thelawyer.com: In November 2007 Islamic finance, which until then had been soaring on the back of a bullish economy and a climate of more liberal interpretation, hit its first snag.
Sheikh Muhammad Taqi Usmani, head of the religious board at the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions - the body that sets standards for Islamic finance products - declared that around 85 per cent of the sukuk in issuance broke key principles of Islam and were not sharia-compliant……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 October 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Bloomberg: Islamic bonds are poised to advance for a fourth straight quarter and post their longest stretch of gains since 2007 as increased confidence in Persian Gulf issuers’ ability to pay obligations helps lure funds.
Sukuk handed investors a 4.9 percent return in the third quarter, according to the HSBC/NASDAQ Dubai US Dollar Sukuk Index, extending a rally of 0.8 percent in the previous three months and a 5.1 percent gain in the first quarter……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Tradearabia.com: Gulf companies are forced to turn to fixed-income markets as tighter capital at regional banks is drying up bank credit, their traditional funding source, the chief executive of Securities & Investment Co (Sico) said.
Fixed-income markets in the region are in an early stage of their development and lack the liquidity needed for secondary trading. Companies in the region have traditionally relied on bank loans with maturities of up to seven years for funding……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Gulfnews.com: Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB), an Islamic bank belonging to the Emirates NBD Group, is in negotiations to merge with Dubai Bank, banking industry sources said.
Dubai Bank is also an Islamic Bank and a unit of the Dubai Banking Group, a part of the Dubai Holding……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Arabnews.com: Because of market developments and increasing competition which has led to product innovation and diversity, the Prudential Financial Policy Department of Bank Negara Malaysia has reviewed the regulatory framework for insurance and Takaful products “to further enhance consumer protection while according greater flexibility for insurers and Takaful operators to respond to changing market conditions, both in managing risks and enhancing their competitiveness”.
In fact, the department in late September 2010 published “Guidelines on the Introduction of New Products for Insurance Companies and Takaful Operators” under the Insurance Act 1996 and the Takaful Act 1984……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 October 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Ameinfo.com: Strengthening its position as Qatar’s next generation bank par excellence, Al Khalij Commercial Bank (Al Khaliji) and its subsidiary, Al Khaliji France S.A have announced their participation in a $1.1bn (QR4bn), seven-year financing deal for Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Steel Industries (ESI).
The biggest steel plant in the UAE, Emirates Steel is a subsidiary of government-owned Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corporation………………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Gulfnews.com: RBS Coutts, the international private banking arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), plans to expand its Middle East operations by significantly increasing its customer reach and total assets under management from the region in the next four years, an RBS Coutts executive said.
“Currently we have about $4 billion (Dh14.6 billion) [worth of] assets under management from the region. In the next four years we want to more than double that amount,” said James Fleming, RBS Coutts Global Head of Middle East……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Islamicfinanceasia.com: The concept is simple: Market makers bunch together “clean” stocks, and market players buy those stocks up for trade. For those who enjoy the thrill of buying and selling stocks, Islamic exchange traded funds (ETFs) are the filtered alternative.
An ETF is basically a fund which behaves like equity. The difference between mutual funds and an ETF is that it is readily available on the secondary market and stock quotes are available throughout the day, as opposed to mutual funds whose net asset value (NAV) is calculated at the end of the day……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Cpifinancial.net: Global Investment House (Global) has changed the subscription/redemption frequency of the Global GCC Islamic Fund from monthly to weekly effective October 2010.
The Net Asset Value (NAV) of the fund will be calculated and published every Tuesday. This will offer investors flexibility to enter and exit the fund on a weekly basis……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Islamicfinanceasia.com: While the Islamic markets have remained resilient to the upheaval of the credit crisis, Islamic secondary trading has remained inconsistent, failing to establish effective pricing levels as investor uncertainty remains.
The market for Shariah compliant financial products appears to have been hit hard by the economic melancholy surrounding the financial markets. Since their peak in 2007, when almost US$35 billion worth of Sukuk financing was issued worldwide, volumes have dropped dramatically……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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