South Africa’s National Treasury appointed six companies, including Standard Bank (SBK) Group Ltd., BNP Paribas SA (BNP) and Albaraka Banking Group (BARKA), to advise it on its debut Islamic bond issue.
Nova Capital Partners LLC, Liquidity Management House for Investment Co., and Regiments Capital (Pty) Ltd. were also appointed, Tshepiso Moahloli, a senior analyst in the Pretoria- based Treasury, said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The government is issuing a RM8 billion government guaranteed sukuk as the first tranche of financing of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project’s Sungai Buloh-Kajang line (SBK Blue Line), estimated to be worth more than RM30 billion.
The issuance is made through Danainfra Nasional Bhd, a Ministry of Finance Incorporated unit mandated as a special funding vehicle to facilitate the fundraising for the MRT Project. Danainfra’s Principal Officer Fazlur Rahman Ebrahim said the target date for the maiden issuance will be July 20, 2012 with book building expected to be held in the week beginning July 9………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai’s Emirates Islamic Bank, a unit of Emirates NBD, has picked banks for a potential benchmark-sized dollar sukuk, or Islamic bond, lead arrangers said on Tuesday. The lender mandated Emirates NBD Capital, Credit Agricole , Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered.
The initial price guidance for the issue was at a spread of 330 basis points over midswaps, maturing in 2018. Emirates NBD will underwrite it………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Indonesia’s three best-performing Islamic bond funds say a rebound in corporate sukuk sales is failing to keep up with demand from investors chasing higher returns as government yields decline. Insight Investments Management’s top-ranked I-Hajj Syariah Fund wants to boost company holdings from 80 percent if more securities become available, President Director Tony Henri said in an interview in Jakarta last week.
Akbar Syarief, fund manager at MNC Asset Management, overseeing the second-best performer, said his confidence in finding buyers is not matched by certainty there will be sufficient supply………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Indonesia aims to raise 500 billion rupiah ($53.30 million) in a sukuk auction on July 10 from the sales of sharia T-bills and project-based sukuk, the finance ministry said on Tuesday.……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said today that it has assigned its\’BBB+’ issue rating to the Malaysian ringgit (MYR) 1.5 billion Islamic medium-term note program launched by the Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK; BBB+/Stable/A-2).
The rating on the program and any issuance under it is linked to the issuer credit rating on the DBK. We believe the rationale for the transaction is to raise funds in accordance with the Islamic principle of Murabahah, with commodities as underlying assets………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Al Fanar Company, a Saudi-based electrical engineering and electrical products manufacturer, has signed a SR3 billion ($800 million) dual-tranche Islamic loan, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
It is the first time the firm has completed a syndicated bank fundraising, the company statement said, with three banks - Banque Saudi Fransi, Samba Financial Group and National Commercial Bank - providing the cash………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will continue its funding support for the Padma bridge project even though the World Bank and ADB had withdrawn from the project alleging corruption in the process of project implementation.
“We would like to go slow like another lender of the project Japan International Cooperation Agency,” said a senior IDB official posted at its Dhaka office………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iran will withdraw $5 billion next week from the National Development Fund to push through several oil projects, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said. The fund will allocate $14 billion to energy projects, Qasemi said, according to the oil ministry’s news agency, Shana.
Iran has sufficient financial resources despite sanctions in place, Qasemi said in the report published today………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always been a little unusual when it comes to Islamic finance and banking. Banks that were otherwise quite conventional, and which both paid and received interest, were proclaimed to be Islamic because ‘all banks in the kingdom are Islamic’.
Since the KSA plays such an important place in Islam, being home to Mecca and other holy sites, it was felt that it would give off the wrong message if any banks were seen to be conventional………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Tanjung Manis Halal Hub (TMHH) in Sarawak, the country’s biggest halal hub, has received committed investments from two companies – Sea Party Technology Co Ltd amounting to RM2 billion and Pertanza Sdn Bhd totalling RM2.5 million, Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said.
Taib, who is also Resource Planning and Environment Minister, said Sea Party, a Taiwanese company, was focusing on aquaculture industry, such as farming of tilapia fish and prawn, chlorella cultivation as well as aquaculture research and development. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source