PT Bank Muamalat, one of the country’s major sharia banks, will issue Islamic bonds (sukuk) worth Rp 800 billion (US$84.8 million) in the third week of June. Muamalat’s compliance and risk management director Andi Buchari told reporters on Monday he hoped the financial market would be bullish again later next month so that the new sukuk would be fully subscribed by investors.
“We are still confident about the market demand for our sukuk,” Buchari said, hoping that it could be priced with a yield of 9 percent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Emirates, the fast expanding Gulf airline, may seek to refinance a $550 million (Dh2 billion) Islamic bond maturing in June but has not ruled out repayment in cash, a senior executive said on Tuesday.
“We are currently considering whether to refinance, and by what product. Cash flow is good and we have the ability to repay if we decide,” Brian Jeffery, senior vice president, corporate treasury told reporters in Dubai………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Emirates, the biggest airline by international traffic, has ‘good’ cash flows and is able to repay its US$550m of Islamic bonds due in June, Senior Vice President of Corporate Treasury Brian Jeffery said.
The airline has not decided whether it will repay or refinance the debt, Jeffery told reporters in Dubai today. The price differential of issuing sukuk as opposed to non-Islamic debt would need to be “significant” to issue the Shariah-compliant securities, he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sukuk Al-Wakkah, a Medium Term Note program has been set up by the Bahrain based Gulf International Bank (GIB) for 1.1 billion dollars. The program falls under the tactical ambitions of the country’s search to vary its funding avenues and currencies for the bank. The lead arrangers are Standard Chartered Saadiq Berhad and Malaysia’s CIMB Investment Bank.
The Gulf International bank Capital LLC which is an investment bank under the authority of the Bahrain based lender is the international coordinator for Sukuk Al-Wakkah………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Baker & McKenzie has advised Banque Saudi Fransi, Saudi Arabia’s fifth biggest bank by market capitalization, on its debut $750 million 2.947 per cent Trust Certificates due 2017 issued under its $2 billion Sukuk Programme. The Trust Certificates are to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The firm also advised the Bank on the establishment of its $2 billion Euro Medium Term Note Programme and debut $650 million issue under the Programme in 2010………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Malaysian Airline System Bhd’s fifth straight quarterly loss is prompting investors to demand a yield of at least 6 percent for a planned Islamic bond, 2 percentage points more than the average rate on global sukuk.
The national carrier said it will sell 1 billion ringgit ($318 million) of securities in June without a set maturity. It would be the first sukuk sold as perpetual bonds in the nation. Malayan Banking Bhd., the country’s largest lender, paid 6 percent for similar notes that don’t comply with Islamic tenets at the height of the 2008 credit crisis………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Malaysia Airlines (MAS), the country’s national carrier, has been hit by a fresh challenge this week, just days after it outlined a three-pronged plan to shore up its working capital.
Executive director and deputy chief executive Mohammed Rashdan Mohd Yusof has resigned from his position after nine months at the company………………………………………..Full Article: Source

International legal practice Norton Rose Group has advised the Majid Al Futtaim Group on the simultaneous update of its $2bn Global Medium Term Note Programme (the GMTN Programme) and its $1bn Trust Certificate Issuance Programme (the Sukuk Programme).
The GMTN Programme was arranged by Barclays Bank PLC, Emirates NBD Bank PJSC and Standard Chartered Bank. The Sukuk Programme was arranged by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, HSBC Bank plc and Standard Chartered Bank. (Press Release)

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announces that the monthly issue of the Sukuk Al-Salam Islamic securities for the BD 18 million issue, which carries a maturity of 91 days, has been oversubscribed by 178%.
The expected return on the issue, which begins on 30 May 2012 and matures on 29 August 2012, is 1.18%. The securities are issued by the CBB on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The First Investor (TFI), the investment banking division of Qatar-based Barwa Bank Group, has announced the closing of the first Shari’ah compliant closed-end income generating fund in Brazil.
The TFI-Hines Brazil Income Real Estate Fund is a joint venture between Barwa bank and US-based Hines International Real Estate Holdings………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is exploring social and financial inclusion opportunities in the UK including the provision of community-based microfinance, SMEs (small-and-medium-sized enterprises) financing and technical assistance programs.
An IDB delegation, led by its President Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Ali, participated in a roundtable here Monday with financial institutions, law firms, corporates and community organizations and leaders………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has approved financing of US$ 260.6 million for development projects in member countries and Muslim countries around the world.
The funding will finance infrastructure developments in the Middle East and Africa, including US$ 81.00 million for Nigeria’s Zaria Water Supply Expansion Project, US$ 33.6 million for the Gorou Banda Thermal Power Project in Niger, and US$ 16 million for the Hadath El-Jubba-Bqerqasha Road Project in Lebanon………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The law No. 11 for 2012 issued on Tuesday approved a loan agreement signed on 23 June 2010 between Yemen and Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
Under the agreement, the IDB, as Director of the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) will present a loan of $12.5 million to contribute to finance a project of support rural development opportunities in Yemen………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Emirates Islamic Bank , one of the leading Islamic financial institutions in the region, announced today the launch of its Mobile Banking via iPhone, - another technological milestone for the bank. The new application allows customers using iPhone, to conveniently access online banking from their Smartphone while on the move.
The new Arabic-enabled application is a first-of-its-kind offering from an Islamic bank in the UAE………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabian dairy and food producer Almarai Co’s board has approved a 15.7-billion riyal ($4.2 billion), five-year investment plan that will draw on finance from bank loans and Islamic bonds, it said on Tuesday.
The money will replace the company’s existing investment base and fund expansion between 2013 to 2017 of its operations in farming, manufacturing, distribution and logistics, Almarai said in a bourse statement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) said takaful insurance, a platform for the protection of lives and properties based on risk sharing as against risk transfer would be opened to Nigerians who are interested in non-profit risk protection services.
The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel who confirmed this said the guidelines on takaful insurance would be released by the commission before the end of the third quarter of this year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A North West university is launching a research centre into Islamic finance.Launched at the University of Bolton , the Centre for Islamic Finance will begin with a lecture from Dr Ahmed Mohammad Ali, president of the Islamic Development Bank - a leading Saudi Arabian financial institution.
Dr Ali will address business leaders from across the region including lawyers, bank officials and commercial partners at the event at the university’s Senate House……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Brunei Halal Brand’s base in Birmingham will help support the company’s financial and human resource development objectives aside from being merely a sales and distribution warehouse for the United Kingdom and Europe.
In the Oxford Business Group’s (OBG) 2011 country report on Brunei, chief executive officer of Brunei Wafirah UK Dr Muhammad Nazir OBE said the brand’s operation base in UK will help in the creation of professionals in the field both for the Bruneian and European market………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A Sharia-compliant equivalent of the popular UK and US reality show The Apprentice has recently been announced by a UK-based organisation. This follows the news of an ‘Islamic Facebook’ and ‘Halal-Tube.’ The Muslim world also has superheroes, like The 99, Muslim dolls (Dara and Sara), Muslim Cola (Mecca Cola), Islamic car, and so on.
It seems the criticism labelled against Islamic fin-ance products, form over substance, also has application in the ‘info-tainment,’ and social media area. Yes, imitation is the best form of flattery, but we (the Muslim world) also need to be flattered………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Last month, a special report by The Economist magazine announced the dawn of the third industrial revolution, built on the idea of individualised production powered by 3D printers and nano devices that create objects atom by atom.
It talked of a not-so-distant age when the global centre of gravity of production — which in the 1970s moved to developing countries like China, Malaysia, Taiwan — will revert to the developed world, in order to be nearest to the ‘brains’………………………………………..Full Article: Source