Government officials leave today for a series of meetings with overseas investors to gauge their interest in an offering of Islamic bonds, or sukuk. “We will start today [Friday],’’ said Dahlan Siamat, the Ministry of Finance’s director of Islamic finance. He was responding to a question about when the government would begin road shows to drum up interest in the dollar-denominated Islamic notes.
Speaking separately, a government official who asked not to be identified said that Ministry of Finance officials would “meet investors only in Middle Eastern countries.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

Khazanah Nasional Bhd., Malaysia’s state investment company, has started taking orders for the sale of the world’s first yuan-denominated Islamic bonds after an initial delay, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The three-year bonds, which pay returns from assets that comply with religious tenets, may price to yield about 3 percent, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the details are private. Average yields on yuan bonds sold in Hong Kong are 28 basis points lower than those on global Islamic notes, according to data from HSBC Holdings Plc……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Khazanah Nasional Bhd has issued its first offshore yuan-denominated sukuk of 500 million yuan (RM246mil) via Danga Capital Bhd, a Malaysian-incorporated special purpose vehicle. The three-year benchmark sukuk was priced through a book-building process on Oct 13 and at the tightest end of the price guidance at 2.90%, the company said in a statement.
The transaction drew a demand of 3.6 times book size, enabling Khazanah to upsize the deal to 500 million yuan from an earlier announced 300 million yuan……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Thomson Reuters and Bond Pricing Agency Malaysia launches a family suite of indices across a range of Islamic instruments to provide transparent guidelines for investors interested in Malaysia.
The Thomson Reuters-Bond Pricing Agency Malaysia (BPA Malaysia) Sukuk and bond Ringgit indices are based upon market and industry standards and aimed at investors, money managers and analysts……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Dubai’s government-related entities (GREs) can pay down or refinance nearly $14 billon in debt maturing next year with relative ease, a report by investment bank J.P. Morgan said on Thursday.
The emirate’s capital market risk is limited primarily to Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), a unit of state-owned conglomerate Dubai World that is looking to refinance its 7.5 billion UAE dirhams ($2.04 bln) Islamic bond, and the topping up needs of the Dubai Financial Support Fund (DFSF), which are about $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Some traders speculate that Islamic bonds, or sukuk, could be among the first bonds issued after the drought. Sukuk held up relatively well in the secondary market during the recent volatility, partly because investors tend to buy them to hold for maturity rather than for trading. This could prompt both borrowers and investors to see the sukuk market as a relatively low-risk place for issuance.
“The sukuk markets are new and not nearly as liquid as developed debt markets. That creates opportunity,” said Akram Annous, MENA strategist at Al Mal Capital in Dubai……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Trade minister Mari Elka Pangestu gave a warm welcome to the newly launched sharia-based commodity trading, saying that such kinds of trading were needed to accommodate the growing sharia-banking sector.
“At the moment sharia-based commodity trading is much needed considering the fact that sharia banking is also growing and will need shariah-based products of which they can take advantage to manage liquidity,” Mari said………………………………………Full Article: Source

It appears as if there is a strong positive correlation between the success of Islamic banking and the involvement of the top central banker (governor) of the country. In fact, Islamic banking started progressing in UK only after Eddie George, former governor of the Bank of England, started taking personal interest in Islamic banking.
Another prime example of the positive correlation between development of Islamic banking and the leadership role of the central bank’s governor is provided by Malaysia. Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the governor of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), is considered a champion of the cause of Islamic banking and her country is undoubtedly a strong player in the Islamic financial services industry……………………………………….Full Article: Source

News that Bank Emirates NBD takes over Dubai Bank is unlikely to trigger a wave of consolidation in the Gulf Arab region. This is not a typical merger, but rather a handover arranged by the state.
Dubai Bank, which was hit hard by the financial crisis and has stopped publishing financial figures in 2009, was taken over by the Dubai Government on May 16 this year. The government, under its ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, bailed out the Islamic financial institution and now handed it over to Emirates NBD, the United Arab Emirates’s largest lender in relation to assets……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Saudi banks face limited impact from potential global slowdown risks and are likely to bounce back to healthy return-on-equity levels driven by lending growth and ample liquidity, J.P. Morgan Securities said and began coverage of the Saudi banking sector.
The brokerage set an “overweight” rating on Saudi British Bank (SABB Bank) and Samba Financial Group, the country’s second-largest lender by market value……………………………………….Full Article: Source

First Investment Co., the Kuwaiti Islamic finance company known as Al-Ola, signed an agreement with its creditors to restructure 92 million dinars ($333 million) of debt.
“We signed the accord last February with our six local lenders” including National Bank of Kuwait SAK, Kuwait Finance House, Burgan Bank SAK, Chief Executive Officer Khalid al- Sanaousi said in a phone interview today. Kuwait International Bank, Commercial Bank of Kuwait SAK and Boubyan Bank were also part of the agreement, he said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi-based Islamic insurance firm National Takaful Company, or Watania Takaful, will list its shares on the Abu Dhabi bourse on November 14, more than six months after its $22.50 million (Dh82.62 million) initial public offering, two people familiar with the matter said.
“The company got the necessary approvals to list on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on November 14, right after the Eid vacation,” one banker aware of the deal, who declined to be identified, told Zawya Dow Jones. ADX officials couldn’t be immediately reached for comment……………………………………….Full Article: Source