HSBC Middle East, a subsidiary of the U. K. headquartered bank, will meet investors in Asia and Europe this week ahead of a potential Islamic bond, or sukuk, issue, IFR Markets reported.
Investor meetings will take place in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and London, and a sukuk issue is likely to price this week, IFR, a Thomson Reuters unit reported. In October, HSBC Middle East raised $500 million from a five-year bond issue……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Sharjah Islamic Bank’s $400mn sukuk sale attracted nine times as much in bids, signalling investor appetite for Shariah-compliant debt from the region.
The Sharjah-based bank, which has the third-lowest investment grade rating at Standard & Poor’s, received about $3.75bn in bids, two people familiar with the deal said on May 19. Islamic Development Bank, a Saudi Arabia- based multi-lateral lender, issued $750mn of debt last week……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Malaysia plans to appoint Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd and HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd to advise on a global Islamic sovereign bond to raise more than US$1 bil, two people familiar with the matter said.
Marketing could start as early as next month, said one of the people, who didn’t want to be named as the matter is confidential. The Government is said to be arranging a 10-year dollar-denominated Islamic debt, or sukuk, in its second sovereign sale of syariah-compliant debt in a year, four people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on May 20……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Iran’s budget law has permitted the government to issue 350 trillion rials (around $35 billion) in bonds to accelerate the implementation of development projects. The budget also allows the government to issue Sukuk bonds as well.
According to the budget law, affiliate companies of oil, energy, housing and urban development, and roads and transportations ministries can issue up to 27 trillion rials (some $27 billion) in bonds for financing their economically and technically justified projects, Hosseini added……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments raised 1.25 billion euros ($1.76 billion) from the sale of bonds exchangeable into the German automaker Daimler’s stock, after keen investor interest prompted it to increase the size of the deal.
Earlier on Tuesday, the sovereign fund said it would issue a five-year 750 million euro exchangeable bond. But during the day, the size of the deal was raised to 1.25 billion euros……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Axis, the Indonesian subsidiary of Saudi Telecom, has completed a $1.2 billion financing deal, the company said on Tuesday. The move, which comprises of three separate facilities and has a tenor of seven and a half years, is designed to fund Axis’ expansion into mobile broadband and improve its nationwide coverage.
“This deal is one of the largest Islamic finance deals in Asia and one of the largest international financing deals in East Asia,” said Ameen Al Shiddi, Saudi Telecom Company’s chief financial officer……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Axis, the Indonesian subsidiary of Saudi Telecom Company, said on Tuesday it has signed a $1.2bn financing deal with local and international financial institutions. The sharia compliant financing will help fund Axis’ expansion and growth strategies for the next five years, the company said in a statement.
The Indonesian telecom sector has witnessed sound growth over the past few years with Axis passing 11 million subscribers and serving more than 400 cities……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Kuwaiti Islamic firm Aayan Leasing and Investment Co on Monday signed a KD 205 million ($743.6 million) debt restructuring deal with creditors.
This amount is 62 percent of the Aayar’s total debts, it said in a statement. The firm, which was hit during the global financial crisis, has signed an agreement with nine creditors, seven of which are local, including Kuwait Finance House, Burgan Bank and Gulf Bank……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Bangladesh’s commercial banks following Shariah-based principles will continue their phenomenal growth as elsewhere in the world as the system deals with ‘real economy and real commodity’, the head of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group said.
In Bangladesh, there are now seven Islamic banks that provide full-fledged Shariah-based financial services through 622 branches. Besides, a number of conventional banks have set up branches to grab a pie of the market……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Islamic Development Bank is likely to lend more money to Bangladesh to run newly installed oil-fired power plants as the country’s fuel imports may nearly double in the year to next June.
“We may raise the amount of loans for Bangladesh for the next fiscal year to import fuel oil,” Ahmad Mohammad Ali, president of the Jeddha-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB), told a news conference in Dhaka on Tuesday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The government Tuesday signed a US$140 million loan agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to finance the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project. Finance Minister A M A Muhith and visiting IDB President Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali signed the deal at the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The length of the proposed Padma Bridge is 6.15 kilometres, and its total estimated cost is US$ 2.9 billion. After construction, the bridge would connect the country’s 19 south-western districts with the capital……………………………………….Full Article: Source

It has been reported that Islamic banks need to manage the risks in the financial system ahead of any possible crisis or downturn, business advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) warned.
Mohammad Faiz Azmi, global leader of PwC’s Islamic finance team, said: “Risk management is an issue which cannot be ignored by any financial institution, but Islamic banks in particular need to establish risk management credibility as they aspire to move into the mainstream of the financial system.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

Doha Bank will not lay off any employees impacted by the Qatar central bank’s ban on conventional banks engaging in Islamic finance, its chief executive said on Monday. Raghavan Seetharaman said the bank will honor existing commitments from Islamic business undertaken before Qatar’s decision.
“We have committed billions of riyals that we have to go ahead and finance. There is no stopping on that,” Seetharaman told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Abu Dhabi……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Moody’s Investors Service has placed the E+ bank financial strength rating (BFSR), mapping to B1 on the long-term rating scale, of Dubai Bank (DB) on review with direction uncertain. Moody’s has also placed on review with direction uncertain DB’s Baa2/Prime-3 local and foreign-currency issuer ratings.
Moody’s has also placed on review with the same direction the provisional P(Baa2)/Prime-3 ratings of DB Sukuk Company Ltd a special purpose entity created to issue Trust Certificates to investors under $5 billion Trust Certificate Issuance Programme, launched on behalf of Dubai Bank……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The value of initial public offerings (IPOs) in the Middle East plunged 95% to their lowest level in five years during the first quarter, Ernst & Young said in a report yesterday.
Middle East firms raised only $21.7mn in the first-quarter of 2011, compared with $420.4mn in the year-ago period as regional unrest and underperforming stock markets weighed into investor appetite for fresh offerings, the report said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Investors now favour syariah-compliant funds and investment products over conventional counterparts, due to its compatibility and returns viability for both Muslim and non-Muslims investors.
ASM Investment Services Bhd (ASM Investment), the managing arm of the nation’s first Bumiputera-owned unit trust manager Amanah Saham MARA Bhd (ASMB) believed that such interest became more evident due to a number of features that separated syariah funds from other conventional investment offerings……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Takaful Malaysia Bhd aims to recruit at least 1,900 sales personnel for its retail agency division to attain a RM20 million first-year cash contribution target for the financial year ending 2011.
Its retail agency general manager, Mohd Suhaimi Ahmad, pointed out in the first quarter of this year, the company had already achieved its total new agency leaders’ recruitment target and was optimistic of being able to reel in more new blood through various recruitment drives……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Interest in ethical investments and Islamic finance products has soared in recent years, but the implications for independent financial advisers are far from straightforward – Maryrose Fison investigates.
Demand for ethical ­investment funds has grown considerably over the past decade with a proliferation of funds now available from mainstream fund houses, as well as increasing social conscience among retail investors……………………………………….Full Article: Source