Sales of Islamic bonds may rise to $44 billion this year as demand outstrips supply and as Asian and Middle East investors tap the market complying with Islamic banking rulings, HSBC Holdings Plc said.
“We expect a significant increase in sukuk issuance this year because it performed well against the financial crisis and liquidity crunch in 2011,” said Mohammed Dawood, managing director of Islamic global markets at HSBC Amanah. “The sukuk market is already off to a strong start in 2012. This January is the busiest we’ve seen in this market.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Tighter funding in Europe is pushing Middle East issuers to tap the still-liquid Islamic finance markets for funds. Two regional banks have sold Islamic bonds, or sukuk, this week. Dubai-based Emirates Islamic Bank issued a $500 million, five-year Islamic bond with a yield of 4.718%, while Abu Dhabi-based First Gulf Bank sold a $500 million, five-year sukuk with a yield of 4.046%.
In addition, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said it plans to issue a government-guaranteed sukuk to pay for a new terminal at Jeddah airport, and Dubai-based Islamic mortgage company Tamweel announced on Thursday a five-year, $300 million sukuk………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A flurry of sukuk issues from the Gulf this week shows borrowers are worried about limited global liquidity and future access to debt markets, and are turning to Islamic finance as a source of money that is relatively untouched by the global turmoil.
Gulf bond issuance was lower than expected last year as many companies held off on coming to market, unwilling to pay high prices due to poor market conditions; total debt issuance from the Gulf region last year was $25.8 billion, short of analysts’ estimates that volumes would be well above $30 billion………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Tamweel, the Dubai-based sharia-compliant mortgage lender, has priced a $300 million five-year Islamic bond, or sukuk, a document from lead managers said on Thursday.
The paper, which is fully guaranteed by majority shareholder Dubai Islamic Bank, priced at par with a profit rate of 5.154 percent and carried a spread of 400 basis points over midswaps, the document said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi-based lender First Gulf Bank (FGB) yesterday said its $500 million (Dh1.83 billion) sukuk has been oversubscribed 2.8 times to fetch $1.4 billion (Dh5.14 billion) on closing.
Led by FGB, Citi, HSBC, NBAD and Standard Chartered banks, the transaction set the final price for the five-year sukuk at 287.5 basis points above mid-swaps. Rated A2 (Stable) by Moody’s and A+ (Stable) by Fitch, the Regulated S Bonds are listed in London and retain a fixed profit rate of 4.046 per cent per annum. Proceeds from the sukuk are to be used for general corporate purposes………………………………………..Full Article: Source

1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), a state-owned development company, may sell Islamic bonds to partly fund the construction of an US$8 billion (RM25.2 billion) financial district in Kuala Lumpur.
“We have a RM2 billion bridging loan coming due in 2013 and are looking at all options,” chief executive officer Shahrol Halmi said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur. “We may sell medium-term syariah-compliant notes if conditions are conducive.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) and Russia’s VTB Bank plan to invite one of Kazakhstan’s leading banks to form the United Islamic Bank of the CIS, Trend cites Bekham Gurbanzade, head of a working group of the IBA.
Baku hosted the Fourth International Bank Conference of CIS States in early December 2011. The VTB and IBA made agreements. The Russian bank will use the experience of Azerbaijani specialists and consultants in Islamic banking, Azerbaijan will use the experience of the VTB. Efforts were united within the framework of the Financial and Banking Council of the CIS………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The suggestion of using Islamic banking and finance as a tool for social reform has added relevance to the countries in the Middle East, which are facing political turmoil and the collapse of many well-established regimes.
In countries such as Pakistan, which faces the humongous task of a war on terror and a potential revolution in making, Islamic banking and finance can be used to promote moderation in social behaviour and the modernisation of financial relations………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital is expanding its profitable credit finance business, Gulf Finance Corp (GFC), into Saudi Arabia and may offer a stake in the unit to new investors, is chief executive said.
“It is the only business that makes money,” CEO Michael Philipp said. The company, which helped float ports operator DP World several years ago, is setting up a sharia-compliant credit or lending business in Saudi Arabia based on the UAE model and plans to build an overall lending platform in the Gulf region, Philipp said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP) has stressed that it can use government grants or zakat (tithe) funds to defend the honour of its religious institution.
“Zakat funds may be used by our Islamic affairs minister or other MAIWP official to pay for legal fees in order to defend the sovereignty, honour, dignity and credibility of the Islamic institution,” MAIWP secretary Datuk Che Mat Che Ali said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood would consider supporting a deal to obtain emergency aid from the IMF, providing there are no conditions attached and alternatives are explored first, a senior official in the Brotherhood said.
With the risk of a currency crisis simmering in the economic upheaval that has followed President Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow last February, the military-backed government is about to start talks with the IMF on an emergency loan package………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kenya has frozen the licensing of new Takaful companies until a proper law to regulate them is completed. The move offers an unexpected boon to Kenya’s existing Takaful firms, who can now grow unimpeded by new competition.
However, the regulator’s strategy risks losing its position as the leading IF hub in East Africa to neighbors Tanzania and Uganda, who have put no such restrictions on new local and foreign firms entering their markets………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Malaysia’s 12th fully-fledged Takaful operator, AmTakaful, has eventually registered with Bank Negara Malaysia enabling it to start selling family Takaful products in the country.
Late last year The Islamic Globe reported on the signing of the shareholder’s agreement between Friends Life, a subsidiary of Guernsey-based Resolution Ltd, and AMMB Holdings, a subsidiary of AmBank Group (see Issue 44). The capitalization of the new venture is RM100m ($32m) with Friends Life putting up RM30m ($9.6m) and AMMB RM70m ($22.4m)………………………………………..Full Article: Source