Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
Malaysia’s biggest global bond deal ever, its third Islamic bond issue and the first in the 10-year space, with roadshows around the world ahead of the launch, covering Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, London and New York.
Some 320 institutions placed $9 billion worth of orders, with strong support from the Middle East and Malaysia itself. The sovereign has no plans to issue conventional bonds, which has boosted ‘conventional’ demand for the Sukuk – foreign investors have no other way of gaining exposure to the Malaysian sovereign……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
Last Thursday was a good day for the sukuk market and Malaysia government global sovereign papers. The closing of the dual tranche $2 billion Wakala (agency) sukuk issued by the Wakala Global Sukuk Berhad on behalf of the Malaysian government, who is also the obligor, not only set new milestones but also confirmed yields below the guidance price.
Thus augurs well for the Malaysian market where a yield curve for sovereign sukuk is fast emerging given that the $2 billion offering is the third Malaysian sovereign global sukuk offering in the last 11 years……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
Sarawak Energy, the state-owned electricity group, has announced its maiden Sukuk Musharakah program for RM15bn ($4.9bn), the largest single debt program ever established by a Malaysian utility company.
Proceeds are to be used for Capex and refinancing of existing debts. As a key facilitator of the state and federal governments’ plans to tap Sarawak’s energy resources via the development of the Sarawak corridor of Renewable Energy, SEB’s Sukuk take-up will ensure the success of the energy corridor……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) are not willing to leave wealth management to conventional foreign banks any longer. According to the 15th Cap Gemini Merrill Lynch World Wealth Report, the number of high-net worth individuals in the Middle East increased in 2010 by 10.4% to 440,000. Altogether they sit on $1.7tr, 12.5% more than in 2009.
In the UAE, the happy few with over $1m said good-bye to some 1,900 wealthy members of the HNWI club, a decrease of 3.5%. Nevertheless in the UAE, all IFIs have established wealth management centers in recent years. At Dubai Bank this segment is called Royal Banking……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
The price of oil is not the only ‘greaser’ for expansion of Islamic finance. Lately, a number of countries seem to be pre-empting a social-movement-cum-change of regime as today’s ‘oil price’ facilitator for welcoming Islamic finance.
But what happens to Islamic finance when alternative energy, solar, biomass, wind, ocean, etc, becomes a viable replacement for oil, or what if the oil runs dry, or the so-called Arab street democracy reaches the Muslim Opec countries, or the anti-Sharia movements in some western countries find another boogeyman?………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
A Belgian academic and economist launched last December a global network of Islamic Finance lawyers to give legal advice in all aspects of Islamic Finance. The project called Islamic Finance Lawyers (IsFin) is based on macro-economic observations that money today is mainly in the hands of Islamic financing investors, said Laurent Marliere, a professor in marketing and general manager of IsFin.
Speaking to the Kuwait news agency (KUNA) he explained that there are two reasons for this, high price of oil and secondly the ethical issue……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
With the increased profile of Islamic banking globally, the GCC Islamic banking community is well positioned to build on a leadership role versus other potential competing centres such as Malaysia, Iran or even the UK.
GCC countries collectively now account for more Sharia-compliant financial assets globally than any other region or country. GCC Islamic banks have also demonstrated their ability to be more innovative in terms of product development and provision of services as they compete for business with conventional banks……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
Egypt will encourage a much greater focus on Islamic finance if a leading political group gets its way, a senior Islamic party official said. Abdel Hafez El Sawy, an economist for the Freedom and Justice political party, formed by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, said all the group’s economic policies would be rooted in Sharia principles.
The use of financial instruments such as derivatives and futures, which are contracts for delivery of commodities, currencies or shares of a company, violated the teachings of Islam, he said……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
Islamic finance is not fully understood by most people, while some groups still claim that Sharia-compliant finance is linked terrorist financial activity, said Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Head of Islamic Finance at Thomson Reuters.
Mr. Siddiqui said that the $1 trillion sector, which he expects to reach $2 trillion within five years, has done a poor job of educating people and explaining how it differs to conventional finance“Certain prejudices and bigotry exist in many countries that still do not understand Islamic finance,” he said. “It’s a process that requires a lot of education. Christian Evangelists have said that Islamic finance is related to terrorism finance, while in parts of the United States [some] think the same.”………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
The 36th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) which concluded on June 30 in Jeddah disappointingly came up with no life-changing resolutions perhaps at a time when many of its member countries are experiencing crucial challenges to their political and economic governance.
Perhaps expectations of the IDB to effect dramatic change in its member countries are too high and unrealistic. Perhaps the edge of the Meeting was lost because it was not convened in the original host country of Yemen because of the political protests there and moved at the eleventh hour to Jeddah……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
Islamic finance initiated to cater to the needs of Faith based Muslims four decades ago once looked at, as a patchwork of niches in the Arabian Gulf region and Malaysia, the market is evolving into a global one now. In the last thirty years, Islamic Finance industry has made considerable progress at the global front.
Especially, during the last decade the Islamic finance Sector (IFS) has registered a robust growth (between 15 to 20 percent per annum); making it one of the fastest growing segments of the overall financial system. Now, by the grace of Almighty Allah, Islamic finance has its toots expanded to Muslim as well as non-Muslims economies……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
Islamic banks operating in the UAE recorded growth in most of their banking operations in 2010, with their combined assets rising by nearly 11 per cent, according to the Dubai chamber of commerce and industry.
By the end of 2010, the collective assets of the eight Islamic banks in the UAE, the second largest Arab economy, totalled nearly Dh269 billion, accounting for around 16.2 per cent of the overall banking assets of Dh1.66 trillion……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
All those messages local and international banks have been plastering on billboards and streaming over the net and mobile phones are having an impact on their intended audience.
Emirati teens and their counterparts in Saudi Arabia are pretty clued in on what they expect from their banks and how they intend to go about getting it, according to a new regional survey……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
“Islamic Banking is the right platform to boost ‘green financing’ as it is based on the concept of promoting good practices and values,” said R Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer of Doha Bank, delivering the inaugural address at a seminar on Islamic economics, organised by the Indian Islamic Association – Qatar (IIAQ), under the title “Towards an Alternative Economy” at Omar Bin Al Khattab Preparatory School for Boys in Doha on Friday.
Seetharaman said Islamic banking is not just a financial system but it is part of a total value-based social system that seeks to enhance the general welfare of society as a whole……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
The most revealing thing about the latest new guidelines for non-interest banking issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on June 21; the provisional license given to Jaiz International to launch the country’s first Islamic bank subject to fulfilling the bank authorization requirements.
And the revelation that the Nigerian Treasury’s Debt Management Office is studying the possibility of the country issuing its debut sovereign sukuk within the next year or so, is not the provisions of the above developments but the reaction of Nigerians (presumably) commenting on the websites of local newspapers and other such outlets……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc (IBTCCB), a unit of Standard Bank Group Ltd., won approval from Nigeria’s central bank to provide Islamic banking services in Africa’s most populous nation, Deputy Governor Kingsley Moghalu said.
A preliminary license was awarded to Stanbic last week for a Shariah-compliant banking window, the first one given to a commercial bank in Nigeria, Moghalu said in an interview in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, on July 1. Islam bans paying and receiving interest……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
Non-interest banking, otherwise known as Islamic banking has understandably generated a lot of controversy in the country as a result of the policy equivocation that witnessed its introduction.
IN spite of the various amendments to the initial guidelines on the establishment of non-interest banking by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the disquiet and scepticism among Nigerians have refused to abate……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
The planned introduction of Islamic banking has sparked a row, which some experts have dismissed as needless. The ongoing controversy over the proposed Islamic Banking, also known as Non-Interest Banking was triggered by the announcement that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may have given the go-ahead for JAIZ Bank International Plc to operate as an Islamic bank and the subsequent issuance of final guidelines on Islamic banking.
Interestingly, a draft framework for non-interest banking was issued in March 2009 by the CBN and its stance on Islamic banking was not much of an issue, until recently when the final guidelines were released……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) boss, Sanusi, is not new to criticism and controversies. But he may not have perceived the dimension his move to institutionalise Islamic banking in the country would amount. He drew the ire of some Nigerians when he told an Islamic forum in far away Senegal that Nigeria would soon embrace Islamic code of banking, otherwise known as non-interest banking.
“We are working with the Debt Management Office (DMO). The Central Bank (of Nigeria) is collaborating with them on capacity building. We do have a target of issuing a first sovereign sukuk in Nigeria within 18 months,” Sanusi had stated……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has opened the doors of a new concept – the first exclusive Al Islami Private Banking branch, for discerning clients who expect nothing but the best. The new elegantly designed branch on Al Maktoum Road in Dubai offers greater convenience and a range of exclusive services for Al Islami Private Banking customers.
This stand-alone Private Banking branch is in addition to the 15 Private Banking centres located at various DIB branches across the UAE……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
The Waqf Fund, a Bahrain-based special fund to support Islamic finance training, education and research, has announced the launch of Shari’a Reviewer Development Program.
This is aimed at capacity building of Shari’a resources at Islamic Financial Institutions and to better equip them to handle their job. The Waqf Fund has signed an agreement with BIBF for the execution of this program……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
The Bank of London and The Middle East (BLME), a UK-based wholesale bank, has launched its High Yield Fund. The fund, which will target institutional and high net worth investors in the GCC, is seeking to generate higher returns than those targeted by the company’s US Dollar Income Fund.
“The launch has been the natural progression of BLME’s Asset Management business developing from the success of our US Dollar Income Fund,” said Nigel Denison (pictured), executive director & head of markets, at BLME, in an interview with The Islamic Globe……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 04 July 2011 by Laxman | Email|Print
Malaysia is on course for a ‘quantum leap’ in Takaful growth according to Bank Negara Malaysia’s Azleena Idris. With four new family Takaful licenses granted this year, Malaysia now has 12 Takaful operators pursuing the underserved market; only 54% of the 28.5m population has conventional or Takaful cover.
Takaful makes up only 9% of total assets of the insurance and Takaful industry combined but saw growth rates of 27% per annum between 2005-2010. Mohd Jafni Abd Jalil, Etiqa Takaful’s head of life agency development, told The Islamic Globe that Etiqa was keen on improving uptake among non-Muslims, which currently stands at 30%……………………………………….Full Article: Source
RSS
