Infrastructure sukuk has received a major boost when Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama Berhad (PLUS Berhad) last week closed a record landmark RM30.6 billion sukuk issuance program comprising both government guaranteed (GG) and non-government guaranteed AAA-rated (AAA) issuances of varying tenors, sizes and expected returns and yields to maturity (YTMs).
The issuance was through PLUS Malaysia Sdn Bh, which is a jointly-owned special purpose company of UEM Group Berhad and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), which was set up to acquire the Malaysian business and undertakings including the assets and liabilities of PLUS Expressways Berhad, the major provider of expressway operation services in Malaysia, under a privatization exercise (proposed acquisition)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A flurry of sukuk issues from the Gulf last 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 $25.8bn, short of analysts’ estimates that volumes would be well above $30bn. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The consensus seems to be universal that the outlook for the sukuk market in 2012 is bright. While Malaysia and Southeast Asia seems to be setting the pace, there are signs that the sukuk sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets and a few fellow MENA countries such as Turkey are showing a rebound, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE offering the best potential.
Sukuk structuring experts such as Mohamad Safri Shahul Hamid, a senior executive of CIMB Islamic Bank, stress that the (Malaysian) ringgit sukuk market will continue to dominate with several mega issuances to fund infrastructure development activities and programs………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The 10-year Islamic bonds of Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation may be priced to yield 2.75 percent to 3 percent, two investors familiar with the transaction said.
The authority plans to raise 15 billion riyals ($4 billion) from the sale that starts today, they said, declining to be identified because the deal hasn’t been made public………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi’s Civil Aviation Authority is about to sell the Kingdom’s first sovereign sukuk ever. Guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance, the SAR 15 billion sukuk opens room for further diversity and growth in the Saudi sukuk market.
The General Authority for Civil Aviation of Saudi Arabia (GACA) is set to sell its first ever sukuk. The issuance of this shariah compliant bond marks several milestones; it would be the first ever sovereign sukuk issued out of the Kingdom, it will be of a benchmark size, it is expected to set the benchmark for more sovereign and corporate sukuk out of the Kingdom this year, it would place Saudi Arabia on the sukuk map like it was never before………………………………………..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.
The paper, which is fully guaranteed by majority shareholder Dubai Islamic Bank, priced at par with a profit rate of 5.154 per cent and carried a spread of 400 basis points over midswaps, the document said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Middle East and North Africa foreign bond sales will this year surpass last year’s $27.6 billion as borrowers need to pay loans and will increasingly choose bonds, Morgan Stanley & Co. said.
“The bulk will be government and government-related debt issuance” and financial institutions will continue to be “active,” Klaus Froehlich, managing director for capital markets for the Middle East and North Africa told reporters in Dubai today. Offers of Islamic bonds or sukuk will also rise as there is “enormous appetite” for the debt, he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Global sukuk issuance exceeded $85bn last year, more than 90 percent higher than the previous year, Kuwait Finance House Research Limited (KFHR) said.
Its monthly report on the Islamic bond market also said issuance during December fell below the average, hitting $5bn. The report showed that sovereign issuance was the main catalyst for the sukuk market last year, making up $59bn, while companies’ issuance reached $19bn………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Debt capital markets activity in the Middle East North Africa region should exceed last year’s total amount as firms rebalance their borrowing away from loans towards the bond market, Morgan Stanley executives said on Sunday.
Loan volumes in Mena slumped significantly in 2011, down 36.8 percent to $39 billion, and much has been made of the withdrawal of European banks from the Middle Eastern loan market and the impact this will have on volumes going forward………………………………………..Full Article: Source

First Gulf Bank (FGB) received excellent investor endorsement through a 2.8 times oversubscription of its $500 million Sukuk (Islamic bonds) issuance. The FGB Sukuk transaction commenced on Wednesday and ended on the same day at a total value of $1.4 billion.
Led by FGB, Citi, HSBC, NBAD and Standard Chartered banks jointly, the transaction set the final price for the five-year Sukuk at 287.5 basis points above midswaps………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bahrain-based Al-Baraka Banking Group (ABG) has announced the launch of Itqan Capital, formerly known as Altawfeek Financial Group, in Saudi Arabia, through its fully-owned subsidiary Al-Baraka Islamic Bank Bahrain (ABIB). ABIB owns the majority of shares of the newly launched company.
ABIB Chairman Khaled Al-Zayani, while underlining the importance of the business model of the newly launched firm, said it would focus on four areas including asset management, principal investment, investment banking, and custodial services — all supported by centralized advisory, research and business development capabilities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Takaful, the Islamic mode of insurance, for being very transparent, is emerging globally as a very viable model and being used successfully as engine of growth in a number of Muslim countries. This was stated by Chief Executive Officer Pak-Qatar Takaful Pervaiz Ahmad while speaking at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday.
LCCI Vice President Saeeda Nazar presented the welcome address while former Vice President Shafqat Saeed Piracha also spoke on the occasion. Pervaiz Ahmad said Islamic mode of banking and all its tools are fast gaining ground in Pakistan when compared to conventional mode of banking; though it is a highly untapped market as yet………………………………………..Full Article: Source

There is currently a tremendous opportunity for Kuwait to profile itself as a hub for Islamic finance and Islamic banking, according to Belgian academic and economist Professor Laurent Marliere.
“The winners of the upcoming Kuwaiti elections could take a challenger’s position in the region and benefit from the numerous advantages of the country to pioneer new ways of conceiving Islamic finance,” he told the Kuwait news agency, KUNA, in an interview, on the occasion of the upcoming polls in the Gulf country. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The issuing of three mega Islamic banking licenses in Malaysia; starting the implementation of the new Financial Sector Blueprint (FSBP) 2011-2020 including Islamic financial inclusion and microcredit and the internationalization of Malaysia’s Islamic finance industry; and helping the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM) launch its first sukuk as part of an ambitious issuance program, are just some of the priorities for Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank, and its experienced Gov. Zeti Akhtar Aziz in 2012.……………………………………….Full Article: Source

International Finance Corp, a unit of the World Bank, plans to invest close to $1bn by the end of June in countries including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Libya, its regional director said on Sunday.
“We’ve invested so far more than a billion dollars since July 2011 and plan to invest another billion,” Mouayed Makhlouf, regional director for IFC in the Middle East and North Africa, said on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) will be launching the new qualifications in Islamic Finance keeping in view the emerging need of qualified professionals for flourishing Islamic financial industry of the country, Javaria Hassan, CIMA Country Manager, said.
In an interview to Daily Times, she said that the qualification is one of the kinds, which will provide complete learning of all advanced tools of Sharia based financial system for all businesses particularly banking and insurance………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Prospects for regional growth in light of current events took the centre stage at a recent conference held at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the financial and business hub connecting the region’s emerging markets with the developed markets of Europe, Asia and the Americas, hosted “Global Turbulence and MENA Transformations — Political Risk and Investment Trends and Opportunities”………………………………………..Full Article: Source