Goldman Sachs has registered a $2 billion Islamic bond programme, providing further evidence of conventional borrowers looking to sharia-complaint funding sources as market volatility makes raising debt finance more difficult.
The investment bank has set up the Cayman Islands-registered Global Sukuk Company Limited special purpose vehicle to issue murabaha-structured sukuk, according to a base prospectus filed with the Irish Stock Exchange……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s filing of prospectus for a $2 billion Islamic bond program for listing on the Irish Stock Exchange has been approved by the Central Bank of Ireland.
New York-based bank’s Goldman Sachs International unit set up Global Sukuk Company Limited, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, as trustee and seller of so-called murabaha trust certificates, according to the prospectus, published on the Dublin-based central bank’s website……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Fitch Ratings has assigned an ‘A+/F1+’ rating to the trust certificate program created by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (Goldman) and placed the rating on Rating Watch Negative. The issuing entity under the program is Global Sukuk Company Limited (GSCL). This program was created for the issuance of murabaha trust certificates.
The ratings assigned do not imply any confirmation that the Sukuk are Shari’ah-compliant. These ratings are based entirely on the rating of parent guarantor Goldman. Goldman guarantees the obligations of Goldman Sachs International (GSI), its wholly owned subsidiary. The guaranty is unconditional and irrevocable regarding the prompt payment of GSI’s payment obligations under the Master Murabaha Agreement. GSI is the purchaser of the commodities being sold by GSCL under a deferred payment arrangement. (Press Rlease)

Malaysia, which estimates outstanding sukuk to grow to RM1.3 trillion while registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.3 per cent by 2020, encourages domestic Islamic financial institutions to internationalise the business further.
Second Finance Minster Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah said the local sukuk market was already the world’s largest Islamic bond market, being the domicile for 60 per cent of the US$165 billion total global sukuk outstanding……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Kuwait Finance House’s Turkish unit Kuveyt Turk’s $350 million sukuk issue initial profit rate is around the 6 percent area, bankers told Reuters on Wednesday.
Last year, the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (SPK), the regulatory and supervisory authority in charge of the securities markets, published a statement setting the legal ground for sukuk issues by Turkish companies……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) expects to increase its global sukuk mandate to US$1.75 billion. Its general manager for treasury, Wan Kamaruzaman Wan Ahmad said the global sukuk fund, coming from Malaysia and Middle East countries, started with a fund size of US$650 million at its launch in October last year.
On the US$1.75-billion global sukuk fund, he said, US$1.38 billion was outsourced to fund managers with the balance being managed internally……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Europe can learn and gain from Islamic finance, given that financial institutions under it, have remained stable against the backdrop of the eurozone debt crisis.
This observation was made by Luxembourg’s Minister of Finance, Luc Frieden, in a keynote address at the IFN 2011 Issuers & Investors Asia Forum here today. Frieden said despite the credit crunch that has impacted Europe’s banks, Islamic financial institutions had weathered the global crisis and emerged to be the most well managed……………………………………….Full Article: Source

“Scholars should stand against the economic despotism,” said grand Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani. Speaking at a meeting in Tehran, ayatollah Hussien Nouri Hamedani underscored the necessity of introducing Islamic Economy to the world.
“It is incumbent upon scholars to introduce the Islamic economy to the world while the economic and “political despotism” are being collapsed,” the grand Ayatollah mentioned……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Islamic banks must do more than merely rely on the Muslim faith of potential customers if they are to secure their business, industry experts have warned. A panel discussion at the World Islamic Retail Banking Conference in Dubai saw several heavyweights from the industry call on banks to improve everything from services to branding if they want to compete with household names of conventional finance.
Wasim Saifi, global head of Islamic banking at Standard Chartered, said that research showed the majority of Muslims still bank with conventional institutions. And, he added, just advertising services as ‘Sharia-compliant’ is not going to be enough to make them move to an Islamic bank……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has reported a 22% jump in its January-September 2011 net profit to QR1.11bn mainly on its robust core earnings and lower impairments on its credit and investment portfolios.
Net income from financing was down 6% to QR1.36bn, while that from investments jumped about nine-fold to QR499.71mn. Thus, its total net financing and investment income rose 24% to QR1.86bn, according to its financial statement filed with the Qatar Exchange……………………………………….Full Article: Source

International Islamic (QIIB) has posted a net profit of QR504mn in the third quarter of this year, up 20% on the same period last year. The bank’s total assets stood at QR22.2bn in Q3: a 22% jump compared with QR18.2bn in 2010.
QIIB chairman and managing director Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah al-Thani said the bank’s results are ‘very good’ and it had ‘greatly benefited’ from Qatar’s rapidly expanding economy. ………………………………………Full Article: Source

The State Bank of Pakistan has developed a model product based on ‘Salam’ to meet the production finance (working capital) needs of country’s farming community.
The SBP said yesterday that the model product developed in consultation with all the stakeholders would facilitate Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) in improving the access of agricultural Islamic financing. ………………………………………Full Article: Source

HSBC Amanah, the Islamic arm of lender HSBC, expects a pipeline of 30 new Islamic funds to boost its assets under management for serviced funds to $10 billion, its global head of securities services said on Tuesday.
Germain Birgen said the bank currently services 90 Islamic funds worth roughly $5 billion in assets. The 30 new funds are expected to launch within the next 12 to 18 months, he said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The equity capital markets (ECM) issuance in the Middle East region surged 68 per cent to hit $8.9 billion during the third quarter of 2011 compared to $5.3 billion last year, said a report by Thomson Reuters.
However, this equity issues growth failed to lift overall investment banking fees, which fell 35 per cent from $483.8 million to $316.6 million for same nine month period in 2011, Thomson Reuters said in its third quarter investment banking analysis for ME region……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Principle has been in run-off since October 2009. It was launched and received Financial Services Authority approval in 2008 with the aim of meeting the motor and home insurance needs of the country’s Muslim population as the only Shariah-compliant insurance provider in Britain at the time.
The provider, which consists of almost entirely of Takaful motor insurance business, had net reserves of approximately £2.8m on 30 June 2011. The latest available audited accounts to 31 December 2010 revealed a net asset value of £5.1m………………………………………Full Article: Source

Bahrain’s insurance industry has felt the impact of regional political unrest, but measures put in place to boost the kingdom’s economy should help breathe new life into the sector, says an insurance expert.
Bahrain Insurance Association (BIA) chairman and Takaful International Company chief executive Younis Al Sayed said that he expected life insurance to drive growth in the industry, although he acknowledged that the segment had suffered the knock-on effect of a drop in the number of bank loans being offered in Bahrain……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Pak-Qatar General Takaful Ltd (PQGTL) and Tajweez Advisory Co WLL Bahrain, in cooperation with the International Islamic Financial Consultant (IIFC) jointly organized a three-day intensive workshop titled ‘Islamic Product Structuring and Pricing, Tools and Techniques’ at the Institute of Bankers Pakistan, conducted by a team of Shari’ah scholars and technicians.
Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited (PQGTL), the Qatari-sponsored Takaful Operator, was the lead Sponsor of the workshop……………………………………….Full Article: Source