Massive demand for Saudi Electricity Co’s (SEC) first international sukuk issue may prompt the company to include a rare long-dated tranche—and could encourage issues by other utility companies in the Gulf.
Since last week, roadshows held by SEC in Asia, the Middle East and Europe have underlined the fact that its sukuk has almost everything possible going for it: it is the first issue of dollar-denominated Saudi paper since 2010, it is a rare investment-grade issue from that country, the company is majority-owned by the Saudi government, and the debt is a sukuk, which means it will tap a pool of Islamic investors that have bought Gulf debt eagerly in the past six months………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Investment Dar had its Islamic bonds delisted from Nasdaq Dubai because the Kuwait-based owner of half of Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. didn’t comply with the regulator’s disclosure requirements.
“The delisting of TID Global Sukuk 1 Ltd. from the official list is due to the failure of the TID Global Sukuk 1 Ltd., the Investment Dar Co., to comply with its continuous disclosure obligations under the Markets Law 2004 and Offered Securities Rules,” according to a statement on the Nasdaq Dubai website………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kuwait’s troubled Islamic investment firm International Investment Group(IIG) said on Monday it had reached an agreement in principle with most of its creditors on the main terms of its plan to restructure its $200 million exchangeable sukuk.
Negotiations are continuing with the remaining creditors, the company said in a statement. A company official contacted by Reuters, who declined to be named, said he could not elaborate on the terms or on the time frame for reaching a full agreement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia’s NCB Capital, the investment arm of the Kingdom’s biggest bank by assets, plans to launch four investment funds this year and target up to 15 percent growth in assets under management, its chief executive said.
Jawdat Al-Halabi said the National Commercial Bank unit, which has SR44 billion ($11.7 billion) in assets under management, will launch the funds in the second half of the year, with two aimed at foreign markets and two domestically focused. “We will launch two new (international) funds … a mix between equities, commodities and sukuk. The initial target for these two open-ended funds would be around $30 million per each and we hope we can raise more,” Al-Halabi said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Foreign Islamic banks will be allowed to take up to 49 percent of Morocco’s first fully-fledged Islamic bank in 2013, as the country aims to become a regional financial hub, a government minister said on Monday.
The government will submit to parliament a draft bill with a set of regulations for the introduction of Islamic finance products in the country within the next few weeks, General Affairs and Governance minister, Najib Boulif, told Reuters. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Islamic banks, banks which prohibit the payment or acceptance of interest or fees for loans of money, will soon arrive in Croatia. Dr. Sukrija Ramic, a member of the Sharia Board of the first Islamic bank on European soil, Bosna Bank International, has announced that legal regulations have been completed that will open the way for new Islamic banks to open in the region.
Ramic has said that Croatia, with its Catholic majority population, could accept an Islamic bank in the country before Bosnia and Herzegovina, since Pope Benedict XVI has previously recommended that commercial banks look to the principles of Islamic finance………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Egypt’s EFG Hermes and Qatari Islamic investment bank QInvest said on Monday they were discussing a possible merger of some of their operations to create an investment bank covering the Arab world, Africa, Turkey and South and South East Asia.
The proposed venture would include securities brokerage, asset management and investment banking operations, but not EFG Hermes Private Equity, the two said in an emailed statement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The introduction of Islamic banking in Oman will lead to loan growth of 15 percent this year, NBK Capital said and upgraded the sultanate’s largest lenders, Bank Muscat SAOG and National Bank of Oman.
Oman reversed its secular approach to finance last year after seeing a steady trickle of investment flow to nearby countries with well-established Islamic banking………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dar Al Sharia Legal & Financial Consultancy, Dubai Islamic Bank’s (DIB) Sharia consultancy and Sharia advisory subsidiary, has entered into an agreement to provide consultancy services to the fourth largest bank in Oman, Bank Sohar.
Following last year’s decision by the Central Bank of Oman to allow banks in the Sultanate to offer dedicated Islamic banking windows, Dar Al Sharia will help Bank Sohar bring authentic Sharia-compliant banking products and services to customers in Oman………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank Nizwa has appointed an Omani national, Tariq al Farsi (pictured), as General Manager for Retail and Private Banking. He has a successful and distinguished track record of building and running Islamic banks and brings more than eleven years’ experience investment, retail and corporate banking in various multinational and regional financial institutions.
Al Farsi was a senior member of the pioneering teams behind the start-up of two Islamic banks: Noor Islamic Bank and Al Hilal………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Barclays was awarded the Restructuring Deal of The Year at the Islamic Finance News Awards Ceremony 2012 which took place recently in Dubai.
The award recognizes the sizable contribution Barclays made to Nakheel’s $2.22 billion restructuring through chairing the coordinating bank committee for the Nakheel restructure………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Muslim Consumer Association of Malaysia (PPIM), in a press statement dated Feb 12, criticised banks “who use the name ‘Islam’ in efforts to promote and sell their respective products when in reality they still oppress and use methods contrary to Islamic law”.
The Association of Islamic Banks in Malaysia (AIBIM) countered that “all Islamic banking institutions in Malaysia operate in accordance with syariah values and are well regulated in compliance with high standards …”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has donated a generous amount of $100,000 for the victims of Tropical Storm Sendong in select areas of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities.
IDB representatives Mohamed Amer El-Sayed IDB and Abdo Mohammed Al-Taki, along with their local partner, the Tamparan Medical Foundation from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) headed by its president Dr. Potri Disommimba-Ali, personally distributed on Monday kits containing school supplies, shoes, uniforms and bags to 500 elementary students in Barangay Balulang, Cagayan de Oro………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar Islamic Bank has achieved compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) version 2.0.
The PCI DSS Compliance Certificate was received by QIB Acting CEO Ahmad Meshari from Paladion Networks CEO, Rajat Mohanty………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic finance and banking industry continues to rise in growth and is most definately expected to exceed $2 trillion dollars by the end of the year.
On the surface, the Islamic finance industry in the Gulf has never been healthier. When Emirates Airline looked at the markets last year to secure financing for yet another tranche of new aircraft, it decided against its traditional option; the European banks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gulf Cooperation Council countries will slow their accumulation of foreign assets this year, George Abed, the Institute of International Finance’s director for Africa and the Middle East said.
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Oman will together hold $2.02tn in foreign assets at the end of 2012, up 12 percent from 2011, George Abed said in a presentation at a conference in Doha, Qatar, on Monday………………………………………..Full Article: Source