Islamic bonds halted a three-week rally as increased volatility in global markets undermined plans by Indonesia to sell sukuk. “Given this volatility, you don’t know when you’ll get the deal done,” Zayed Ayer, chief investment officer at Kuala Lumpur-based CIMB-Principal Islamic Management Bhd. who helps oversee $700 million (Dh2.56 billion) of assets, said.
“I am not selling or buying because sukuk had a good run recently.” Indonesia said on Thursday it was assessing market movements before selling a dollar sukuk, after delaying the offering in September because of wider price swings in global markets………………………………………..Full Article: Source

As Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank (KTPB) ponders the successful closure last week of its $350 million 5-year Sukuk Al-Ijara, its second issuance to date, there is already talk of future forays into the global financial market to raise even longer term funding subject to the usual caveats of timing and market conditions.
Ufuk Uyan, the chief executive officer of Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank confirmed that “we at Kuveyt Turk are very happy to conclude the second sukuk transaction of Turkey with success and pave the way for future issuances………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A $350 million sukuk issued by Turkish bank Kuveyt Turk last month was the country’s first asset-backed sukuk, and is fuelling hopes for more such issues. But they remain unlikely to become widespread in most of the Islamic world, including the Gulf, without more aggressive legal reforms.
The five-year Kuveyt Turk deal combined both asset-backed and asset-based elements, including the sale and transfer of tangible real estate to an onshore special purpose vehicle (SPV), and a portfolio of assets sold on a cost-plus-profit basis………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic bond sales from Turkey are picking up pace after the government changed its tax law to apply the same rates to sukuk as non-Islamic debt.
The tax measures passed in two stages this year will attract more issuers in Turkey to sell sukuk, said Ali Sanver, partner at Istanbul-based law firm Pekin & Pekin, which was among firms that advised the government………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Strong demand for a sukuk issued by Turkish bank Kuveyt Turk last month underlines how Turkey may become a major source of Islamic bonds for Gulf investors who are keen to diversify geographically.
The $350 million sukuk, issued at par and carrying a profit rate of 5.875 percent, was only the second sukuk issued from Turkey. But it attracted orders totaling over $550 million ̶ and Gulf investors accounted for nearly 70 percent of final subscribers, according to data released by the lead arrangers………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The world’s largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, issued its first project bond last month, raising SR3.75 billion ($1 billion) through an Islamic deal for the oil firm’s majority-owned refining joint venture with French energy firm Total.
The 400,000-barrel-a-day refinery at the Saudi industrial port of Jubail is still in its $14 billion construction phase. So the bond is the world’s first sukuk (Islamic bond) for an uncompleted, so greenfield, project. It is also the first project sukuk in the Middle East, where project finance is increasingly important to banks’ revenues………………………………………..Full Article: Source

In a statement about extra expenditure of the Kingdom’s budget, Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said Saudi Arabia will not use its funds reserves. However, these expenditures can be financed through the issuance of sukuk.
He used the expansion of King Abdul Aziz Airport as an example for projects that can be financed using sukuk. The use of this financial instrument is a necessity at the current time………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Malaysia’s national utility company Tenaga Nasional Berhad has issued a 20-year RM4.9bn ($1.6bn) Sukuk to finance the construction of Southeast Asia’s largest coal-fired power plant, a 1000MW project on the manmade island of Manjung situated off the northern state of Perak.
The Sukuk was priced at 3.8% to 4.9% and is offered in 16 tranches. The issue was awarded an AAA rating by Malaysian ratings agency RAM Ratings and attracted RM23bn ($7.5bn) worth of subscriptions………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Libya’s civil war devastated its economy and banking system. But the revolution has created conditions for strong growth of an industry which made little headway under former dictator Muammar Gaddafi: Islamic finance.
Announcing the country’s liberation to a cheering crowd in Benghazi last week, the head of the new government made few concrete pledges of economic policy. But one of them was to promote Islamic finance, which prohibits the lending of money for interest and other practices violating religious principles………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic finance industry in Malaysia has received yet another tonic from the Malaysian government in the country’s 2012 national budget and at the same time Kuala Lumpur is urging investors to leverage Malaysia’s strength in Islamic finance to promote Shariah-compliant venture capital, considered by many as a classical Islamic financial product which has direct relevance to the real economy and to boosting entrepreneurship.
The 2012 budget in some respects was a typical pre-election budget with several handouts to key sectors including the Islamic finance industry. In the Islamic finance space, Prime Minister Najib has been one of the most proactive supporters of the Islamic finance industry………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The value of the local Islamic finance industry was estimated at US$ 1.2 to 1.5 billion encompassing sectors such as trade and motor finance. Roshan Madawela, Research Intelligence Unit’s Chief Executive Officer who together with KPMG Ford, Rhodes, Thornton and Co. under took a survey on Islamic finance in the island, speaking at a seminar on Thursday (November 3) said that Islamic finance is about profit and loss type of trading as opposed to interest based.
He said that in Sri Lanka a large number of village level institutions practiced Islamic finance. The customer base exclusive of high networth individuals was close to 2,000………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The trade financing arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has offered $400 million to help Egypt finance imports of petroleum products, wheat and other foodstuffs, Egypt’s official news agency MENA reported on Saturday.
The funds were offered by IDB’s International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, which offers trade finance that conforms to Islamic principles, MENA reported………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic finance industry emerged relatively unscathed from the 2008 financial crisis —touting itself as an alternative to the leverage and greed that fuelled the subprime crisis in conventional financial markets. Now in the midst of what looks like another crisis of confidence in global financial markets, practitioners are highlighting its benefits again.
“Islamic finance is a pool of stable capital looking for a home. Every CFO, every government, should look at it as a stable source of liquidity,” stated Afaq Khan, CEO, Islamic Banking, Standard Chartered Saadiq……………………………………….Full Article: Source

In the wake of the current financial crisis coupled with the global food shortage the need for improving village economy through enhanced output has become a challenge for the planners and other stakeholders. The importance of livestock and allied sectors cannot be compromised for the Agricultural growth.
Islamic Agricultural and Rural Finance can bring the genuine green revolution to an economy. As Islamic Finance has made a lot of progressive research in Agricultural finance bringing a number of pragmatic and useful choices which if implemented can bring revolutionary development to the economy………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kenya’s School of Monetary Studies, an institution owned by the Central Bank, has launched a diploma in Islamic finance. The government-backed scheme was initiated in order to enhance the Islamic finance skills available in Kenya as the Shari’ah compliant banking sector grows apace.
The diploma is the first indigenous effort to establish a system of formalized training for specialized Islamic finance professionals by a state-owned body. The efforts are part of Kenya’s attempts to become the Islamic finance hub of east Africa………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Doha Bank QSC, Qatar’s fifth-largest lender by market value, may make an acquisition before the end of 2012 as part of a broader plan to expand, Chief Executive Officer Raghavan Seetharaman said.
“It could be in Turkey, it could be emerging markets, we are looking at other options,” Seetharaman said in an interview in Dubai. “We are going to grow, and it’s a goal in line with the overall financial stability of Qatar………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabian banks are lending more as government spending boosts confidence in the country’s economy, benefiting companies including Saudi Arabian Mining Co and Saudi Electricity Co.
Ten out of 11 Saudi publicly traded banks raised the value of their loan portfolios in the first nine months of the year, according to statements from the banks. Alinma Bank, an Islamic lender, had the largest increase at 75%. Bank Al-Jazira followed at 19%. Al Rajhi Bank, the largest lender by market value, and Bank AlBilad had a 12% increase each………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Turkey and Malaysia, for instance, are forging greater cooperation in trade, investment and especially linkages in the Islamic financial industry between the two markets.
During the recent visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to Turkey, he and his Turkish counterpart, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed a new target for bilateral trade between the two countries from the current $1.3 billion to $5 billion………………………………………..Full Article: Source

KLIFF, the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum, held its annual meeting recently with the support of Minister for the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office Nor Mohamed Yakcop.
The KLIFF is an influential organization championing global dialogue for development of the Islamic finance industry in terms of products and legislation and has held annual meetings since 2004………………………………………..Full Article: Source

With seven Takaful companies currently operating in the UAE and five new Takaful providers set to launch shortly, the Takaful industry in the UAE has witnessed remarkable growth over the last five years.
“The Takaful growth rates speak for themselves: the CAGR of the Takaful market in the UAE was 135 per cent from 2005-08 and this figure is set to increase,” Takaful Emarat general manager Ghassan Marrouche said at the 8th Middle East Insurex………………………………………..Full Article: Source