The Law Minister, Salman Khurshid, said on Thursday that he had written to the Planning Commission and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the issue of Islamic banking. He said he was quite hopeful that the RBI would look at the issue afresh and soon come up with its views after deciding on the technical issues.
Khurshid said it was difficult to fit in Islamic banking with the existing regulations, as the very concept of debt and equity was very different in Islamic banking. Non-banking financial institutions are prevalent now and are accepted, but some ambiguities have to be addressed before they can take up Islamic finance, he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

South Africa is preparing to launch sub-Saharan Africa’s first Islamic bond, paving the way for issues by other countries in the region, officials said on Wednesday.
Thuto Shomang and Monale Ratsoma of the South African Treasury’s government borrowing department told Reuters that South Africa was leaning towards a dollar-denominated, five-year sukuk, using an ijara structure………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Emirates Islamic Bank, the sharia-compliant arm of Dubai lender Emirates NBD, has set final guidance for its $500 million sukuk, lead arrangers said on Wednesday. Guidance for the profit rate was revised to a spread of 315 basis points over midswaps, with a margin of 5 basis points on both sides. On Tuesday, the bank issued initial price talk in the area of 330 basis points over midswaps.
The tightening indicates strong demand for the deal, with orderbooks at around $3.75 billion, according to lead arrangers………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sudan’s latest issue of Islamic “sukuk” bonds was fully subscribed and raised the Sudanese pound equivalent of about $160 million, and two more such issues are planned this year to help make up for the loss of oil revenue, a debt official said.
Sudan also hopes to sell $758 million of dollar-denominated sukuk, an offer which has already been partly subscribed, said Osama Saeed, head of the research and statistics section at Sudan Financial Services Company, which issues Islamic bonds on behalf of the government………………………………………..Full Article: Source

In these unprecedented times of low growth, loose monetary policy and European crisis, many investors and issuers are reassessing their current circumstances and capital market expectations.
This environment has prompted a “risk-off” mentality, which has seen large sums flow to certain parts of the bond market, particularly those issued by the German and US governments, as well as the dollar-based sukuk market………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatari banks need to depend less on deposits and issue more debt and Islamic bonds to raise capital if they are to continue fuelling the country’s breakneck expansion without encountering future problems, an executive at Standard & Poor’s said.
Loan growth in Qatar, which posted a 14.1% increase in GDP last year, stood at 28% in 2011, according to a new report from the ratings agency on the state of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) banking sector. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

BankMuscat, the flagship financial institution in the Sultanate, is all set to raise RO 96.7 million from a rights issue aimed at enhancing Tier 1 capital. The bank is offering 226.5 million shares at 0.427 baisa per share comprising a nominal value of 100 baisa, premium of 325 baisa and issue expense of 2 baisa per share.
The rights issue will be open from July 9 to 23, 2012 with the record date being July 2. Each existing shareholder as on the record date is entitled to subscribe to 1 new share for every 8 shares held by him/her………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic mortgage lender Tamweel has decided to delay the sale of a $235 million sharia-compliant asset-backed securitisation after taking feedback from the market, the company said in on Wednesday.
Investors and traders in the Gulf region said the deal structure was too complex by regional standards, which has only ever seen one previous Islamic asset-backed transaction………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Government-guaranteed Sukuk constitutes the first tranche of financing for Malaysia’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK Blue Line) project, which has been estimated to cost a total of more than MYR 30 billion.
The Sukuk issuance will be made through Ministry of Finance vehicle Danainfra Nasional Bhd, which has been mandated as a special funding vehicle to facilitate the fundraising for the MRT Project………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The signing of the Islamic financing agreement between DanaInfra Nasional Bhd and four lead arrangers for the sukuk programme - AmInvestment Bank Bhd, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd and RHB Investment Bank Bhd - on Tuesday marks another significant milestone in the development of the public transport sector in this country, which will act as a catalyst for future growth and in line with the government’s promise to provide the best facilities for the rakyat.……………………………………….Full Article: Source

There is no doubt that Islamic finance is maturing into a global phenomenon with increasing appetite for Islamic instruments and deal structures in international capital markets, corporate loans and asset finance.
Estimates reveal that there has been dramatic growth in the Islamic corporate finance industry and many experts believe that this growth will continue to flourish as major economies in the Middle East and Asia, which are the major markets for Islamic finance, continue to expand even against the backdrop of global economic uncertainty………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) are under a significant degree of pressure to increase their risk management capabilities, as a recent study of IFIs in the GCC and South East Asia from Deloitte’s Islamic Finance Knowledge Center found.
Deloitte found that the primary driver of risk management activities (which should include Shariah risk management) within IFIs was regulatory compliance, not public image or compliance with international standards setting organizations like AAOIFI, IIFM or IFSB………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Standard Chartered Bank is making Kuala Lumpur its global hub for Islamic consumer banking as part of a strategy to grow the Islamic banking business in the country.
The bank said the global head of Islamic consumer banking and a new team of experts would be based at its head office in Kuala Lumpur by year-end to further drive the business momentum in Malaysia as well as other existing and new markets by strengthening the Standard Chartered Saadiq brand………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Emirates NBD Bur Dubai Souq branch becomes eighth dedicated business banking centre servicing the SME sector. The centre has a dedicated team of relationship managers and customer sales representatives and a dedicated trade team offering a full suite of products and services.
Attending the official inauguration were Suvo Sarkar, General Manager, Retail Banking, Emirates NBD, Vikas Thapar, Head – Business Banking, Emirates NBD, Vikram Krishna, Head – Group Marketing and Branding, Emirates NBD, Saif Al Mansoori, Deputy Head – Group Marketing and Branding, Emirates NBD, BireshChakraborty, Centre Head of the Business Banking Souk Centre, Emirates NBD………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Initial Public Offering (IPO) activity picked up in the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) in Q2 2012 which raised over $1.1 billion, witnessing the strongest quarter-wise IPO performance in the last two years, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said Sunday in its Capital Markets Watch GCC report.
PwC report found that a total of four IPOs raised $1.104 billion on the GCC stock exchanges during the quarter compared to three IPOs which raised $340 million in Q2 2011, a 69 percent increase in value. Average IPO offering value rose to $276 million in the quarter compared to $39 million in Q1 2012 and $113 million in Q2 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia’s mortgage law, approved two days ago after more than a decade of debate, will encourage banks to expand lending in a $16 billion market that now accounts for less than 4 percent of all home purchases.
The market may increase to about $32 billion annually over the next 10 years, providing opportunities for lenders, property developers and middle-class Saudi homebuyers, according to Naveed Siddiqui, chief executive officer of Capitas Group International, a Saudi holding company focused on Islamic finance………………………………………..Full Article: Source

In line with Saudi Arabia’s Government’s initiative to facilitate home ownership for citizens, Ewaan Global Residential Company has signed an agreement with Saudi British Bank (SABB) providing Shari’ah-compliant home financing solutions to customers wishing to buy their own home in Ewaan’s Alfareeda residential project.
Fahad Al-Mutawae, CEO of Ewaan Global Residential Company, developers of the Alfareeda residential project said, “We are especially pleased that the Saudi British Bank has agreed to make home financing available for Alfareeda customers, which reflects SABB’s confidence in the project as a wise long term investment in a real estate property in the upcoming district of New Jeddah to the north of the city”………………………………………..Full Article: Source