Dubai Islamic Bank has released initial price guidance for a new 5-year benchmark-sized Islamic bond, or sukuk, arranging banks said on Monday.
Indicative pricing for the sukuk was given at 375 basis points over midswaps. The borrower wraps up roadshows in London on Monday, and execution of the deal is expected on Tuesday, arrangers said. Benchmark is usually understood to mean at least $500 million………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sukuk issuance in 2011 hit a record $85 billion, which was two-and-a-half times the pre-financial crisis record of $33 billion issued in 2007, said a top official.
‘This huge increase indicates that the Islamic capital markets are back in the game,’ Luxembourg for Finance chief executive Fernand said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Last year was a bumper year for the issuance of sukuk. Luxembourg for Finance chief executive Fernand Grulms told delegates at the conference that $85 billion were issued in 2011 which was two-and-a-half times the pre-financial crisis record of $33bn issued in 2007. “This huge increase indicates that the Islamic capital markets are back in the game,” he said.
“Nevertheless, we should set the figure in context. In the conventional debt markets, in 2011, $5.4 trillion were issued in the US alone and the sukuk market in 2011 was driven largely by Malaysia. In other words, the short answer to the question of are Islamic investments building international reach and scale is a yes and a no.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

DIFC Investments, the investment arm of the company running Dubai’s financial free zone, is close to securing a $1 billion loan from four banks to help refinance an upcoming Islamic bond maturity, a banking source familiar with the matter said.
Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest lender, and Standard Chartered will contribute an equal amount into the deal, while Noor Islamic Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank, also join the deal but with a smaller commitment………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dato Izzaddin Idris CEO and Group Managing Director of PLUS Berhad, Malaysia’s biggest toll expressway company, is to address the London Sukuk Summit on the role of Sukuk in Asia’s infrastructure boom: The case of PLUS Bhds record landmark RM 30.6 billion ($9.7 billion) Sukuk issuance programme.
Mohamed Safri Hamid, Deputy CEO of CIMB Investment Bank which was the PLUS deal’s financial adviser, sole principal adviser, sole lead arranger and joint lead manager will also address the Summit on: Domestic Sukuk issuance & the role it can play in future growth. (Press Release)

Saudi Arabia’s failure to develop a local-currency bond market in line with an International Monetary Fund recommendation may limit debt sales to the biggest companies in the world’s top oil exporter.
A 15bn-riyal ($4bn) sukuk by the state-controlled General Aviation Authority lead local-currency offerings from at least four borrowers in the biggest Arab economy, data compiled by Bloomberg show………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A number of barriers remain to the expansion of the Islamic finance industry, including a lack of qualified Islamic bankers, weaknesses in financial reporting and transparency, and the issue of regulatory capital, according to a KPMG survey conducted by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The EIU conducted interviews with a number of leading figures on behalf of KPMG, and the report entitled “Growth and Diversification in Islamic Finance” sought their views on the current and future development of Islamic finance. Included in the survey are case studies on HSBC Amanah and Unicorn Investment Bank which detail their experiences in this area………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic finance and halal industry are twins separated at birth and now are reuniting (converging) after 1,400 years.
Halal industry, as an asset class, is looking for compliant liquidity. Islamic finance, as a movement connected to the real economy, is looking for impactful intra-OIC (compliant) investment and financing opportunities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic financial products represent a class of investment which appeals to those looking for socially responsible or ethical investments and are a fast-growing asset class globally.
It is estimated that investors globally hold more than $1.5 trillion in Sharia-compliant assets and currently there are more than 500 funds globally that comply with Islamic principles, Central Bank of Bahrain executive director of financial institutions supervision Abdul Rahman Al Baker said at the opening session of the World Islamic Funds and Financial Markets Conference (WIFFMC2012)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

With over 50% (540 million) of the population falling under the Muslim category, there is an immense opportunity for an untapped market in Africa, where the option of Islamic Banking is concerned.
According to a report by KFH Research, the continent has seen the surge of Islamic Banking attributed to increasing awareness in Sub-Sahara Africa on the back of the growing trade interactions with the Middle Eastern countries, demand for Shariah-compliant products and services by Muslims in keeping with religious beliefs, demand for risk averse banking approaches in light of the global financial crisis and measures taken by the government to review and reform banking laws allowing the setting up of Islamic banking institutions. (Press Release)

Efforts to standardise global investment practices that conform to Shariah have made significant progress over the past years and more developments are expected soon as industry players recognise the need to move in a common direction, a watchdog official said.
Ijlal Ahmed Alvi, Chief Executive Officer of the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM), admitted that the process of creating and finalising regulations had been rather slow to take off because of the in-depth consultation that standard-setting bodies need to have with various units including banks, regulators, Islamic scholars and legal experts………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Fifteen years ago, Muslims wishing to take out a home finance, use a credit card or deposit money into a current account would have been hard pushed to do so and stay compliant with Sharia law. With few Islamic banks around - and a limited range of Sharia products - banking as a Muslim invariably involved compromising either your faith or your financial needs.
Today, in many markets, such compromise is no longer necessary. Islamic banking is becoming a part of the mainstream, widely available across financial products and geographies. In 2012, Islamic banking assets are expected to reach US$1.1tn globally, up 33 percent on 2010, according to Ernst & Young………………………………………..Full Article: Source

NIB is backing what could be Islamic finance’s biggest shake up in years, lending its support to the announcement of seven new standards from the Middle East’s leading Islamic finance regulator, the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).
The new standards govern key areas of Islamic finance, including financial rights and their management; liquidity management; bankruptcy; capital and investment protection; agency investment; calculation of profits transaction and options of trust………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar News Agency) Noor Islamic Bank has completed Islamic market mandates valued at over $2.2 billion (Dhs8 billion) in the past two years in Turkey, cementing its position as the leading UAE bank executing Shari’a compliant syndicated facilities in Turkey.
In total, 85 banks across Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe have participated in the syndicated commodity Murabaha financing deals led by the bank………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank Sarasin, a Swiss private bank controlled by the Safra Group that in recent years ventured into the Islamic finance space, is considering entering the Malaysian market. “It’s a point that we’re looking at and evaluating,” its head of Islamic finance, Fares Mourad, said.
Within Asia, the boutique bank - which specialises in asset management and investment advisory services - has licences in Singapore and Hong Kong………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gulf Finance House EC, a Bahraini investment bank implementing a recapitalisation plan, said it has obtained approval from sukuk holders to restructure $110 million (Dh404 million) of debt.
Holders of the Islamic bonds agreed to extend the maturity to June 2018, with a two-year grace period for the principal repayment amount in 2012 and 2013, the lender said in an emailed statement. “With the approval to restructure Gulf Finance House’s sukuk, we are now in a better position to accelerate growth initiatives for the future,” acting chief executive officer Hisham Al Rayes said, according to the statement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Almana Group’s $215 million sukuk issuance, in which Bahrain-based Gulf International Bank (GIB) played the role of sole book runner and joint lead manager, have jointly received The Banker magazine’s Deal of the Year 2012 title for the Islamic Finance-Middle East category.
The Banker’s Deals of the Year Awards celebrate the most impressive financial transactions in various fields. Winners of these awards for this year were announced in the magazine’s May 2012 issue………………………………………..Full Article: Source

TFI-Hines Brazil Income Real Estate Fund, a joint initiative of Barwa Bank subsidiary, The First Investor (TFI), and the US-based Hines International Real Estate Holdings, has announced its first seed acquisition by investing in the iconic World Trade Centre complex in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Launched in March this year, the TFI-Hines Brazil Income Real Estate Fund is the first Shariah-compliant closed-end income generating fund in Brazil, offering investors substantial risk-adjusted returns through high quality, proprietary real estate investment opportunities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Tharwa Investment Fund and Tharwa Islamic Fund, leaders in asset management services, have achieved top positions for their performance since the beginning of 2012 on the Kuwait Stock Exchange.
As for Tharwa Islamic Fund, which invests in Sharia-compliant companies, the fund’s investments are distributed as follows: 31.95 per cent in the banking sector, 19.06 per cent in the industrial sector and 13.06 per cent in the services sector as at the end of April………………………………………..Full Article: Source

As many as 100 investment projects worth 300 billion roubles, have been presented at the 4th International Summit that opened in Kazan on Thursday.
The forum, focusing on “economic cooperation between Russia and the countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)” was organised by the government of Tatarstan, the Islamic Business & Finance Development Foundation (IBFD) with the support of the Federation Council of Russia, chairman of the organising committee, head of the Investment Promotion Agency of Tatarstan Linar Yakupov told Itar-Tass………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Thomson Reuters today announced the addition of leading Islamic scholars and bankers to the supervisory bodies of the Islamic Interbank Benchmark Rate (IIBR), expanding geographic and community representation on both the IIBR Shariah Committee and Islamic Benchmark Committee. The new members, announced at the 8th Annual World Islamic Funds and Financial Markets Conference (WIFFMC 2012) in Bahrain, add credence to IIBR as a viable alternative for pricing Islamic instruments and establishing Islamic finance authenticity.
Launched in November 2011 as the world’s first Islamic finance benchmark rate, IIBR is designed to provide an objective and dedicated indicator for the average expected return on Shariah-compliant short-term interbank funding and an alternative to the conventional interest-based benchmarks used for mainstream finance. Both the Shariah Committee and the Islamic Benchmark Committee jointly oversee the ongoing implementation and integrity of IIBR. (Press Release)