Schoolchildren in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain are to receive a new lesson in life: Islamic finance. Al Hilal Bank has teamed up with Emirates National Schools to offer special Islamic banking and economics courses on the school curriculum, as part of a push by the Ministry of Presidential Affairsto promote financial literacy.
The bank hopes fostering awareness of Islamic finance among young children will help it participate in Abu Dhabi 2030 Economic Vision development plan, said Mohammed Berro, the bank’s chief executive………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic capital market remains promising as the current growth momentum is expected to sustain moving forward, supported by investment in the key drivers for growth, Securities Commission (SC) deputy chief executive Datuk Dr Nik Ramlah Mahmood said.
She said as the industry progressed, it must continue to overcome the challenges, build scale and reach critical mass in order to sustain growth and put the industry in a position of strength………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate international cooperation between the two organisations in promoting the development of Islamic finance in member developing countries, said an ADB press statement on Tuesday.
Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan, First Habib Modaraba, Habib Bank and State Bank of Pakistan are listed as members of the IFSB, according to the board’s website………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Ithmaar Bank has announced negotiations on a proposed merger with First Leasing Bank, one of its Bahrain-based associates, have reached an advanced stage.
Ithmaar Bank Chief Executive and board member Mohammed Bucheerei said directors of both entities had approved the merger and the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) had also given its initial approval………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Ithmaar Bank, Bahrain’s sixth-largest bank by market capitalisation, is in advanced talks to merge with an affiliate through a share swap agreement, the Islamic lender said in a statement on Tuesday.
Shareholders of Ithmaar and unlisted First Leasing Bank will vote on the merger at meetings scheduled to take place at the end of October after the boards of both banks agreed to the tie-up, a filing to the Bahrain stock exchange said. The merger will be completed through a share-swap arrangement, details of which will be discussed at the upcoming shareholder meeting………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Noor Islamic Bank (Noor) issued an invitation to the world to help shape the future of banking, with the launch of its ‘Bank of the Future’ initiative, aimed at creating new innovative ways of banking.
As part of the ‘Bank of The Future’ initiative, Noor has created an online ‘Shape Your Bank’ competition that will solicit people’s expectations of banks in the future, with prize money of US $ 20,000 for the best idea on how the banking experience can be improved………………………………………..Full Article: Source

It is all about timing and the Turkish Treasury get it spot on. No sooner had the Turkish Treasury mandated Citigroup, HSBC and Liquidity Management House (LMH), the investment bank subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House, in early September “to explore opportunities for a possible Lease Certificate (Sukuk Al-Ijara) issuance in the international capital markets”, the roadshows to the GCC, Southeast Asia, Europe and the US were already in motion.
The mark-to-market process including the price discovery for a debut international issuance was unusually short – hardly a fortnight. The pricing, confirmed one banker, was tight from the start, always within the 300 basis points range………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Turkey said on Tuesday it had raised 1.62 billion lira ($904 million) through a lira-denominated sovereign sukuk, the government’s second issue of an Islamic bond as it diversifies its sources of financing.
Total bids for the two-year lease certificate stood at 3.275 billion lira, the Treasury said in a statement. The paper will pay a lease return of 3.7 percent semi-annually………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sukuk and venture capital can play a more active role in supporting the green technology industry by creating a more diverse and robust financing ecosystem for green ventures.
Bank Negara Malaysia Deputy Governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim said to promote long-term financing, the sukuk market presents an additional avenue to meet market demand………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bursa Malaysia Bhd (Bursa Malaysia) expects the newly-introduced exchange-traded bonds and sukuks (ETBS) to rapidly gain momentum and attract foreign issuances out of Malaysia under 2013 Budget.
Its chief executive officer, Datuk Tajuddin Atan, said this followed the announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak that the expenses incurred in the issuance of ETBS would get double deduction for four years. “The DanaInfra Nasional Bhd issuance of retail bonds worth RM300 million by year-end to finance the mass rapid transit development projects will spearhead the listing of ETBS on Bursa Malaysia………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company’s three billion ringgit ($981 million) Malaysian sukuk murabahah programme has been assigned a BBB grade by Fitch Ratings agency. The final rating is the same as the expected rating reflecting the completion of the issuance and receipt of final documents conforming to the information previously received by Fitch.
The sukuk murabahah programme’s rating is in line with Mumtalakat’s long-term issuer default rating and senior unsecured rating………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the Gulf state’s largest sharia-compliant lender, is planning to issue a five-year benchmark-sized Islamic bond, or sukuk, this week, arranging banks said on Tuesday.
Price guidance for the dollar-denominated issue was set at a spread of 190 basis points over midswaps. Benchmark-sized is understood to be at least $500 million. HSBC, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank and Qinvest, part-owned by QIB, are arranging the deal………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Fitch Ratings has assigned Qatar Islamic Bank’s (QIB) USD1.5bn trust certificate issuance programme a final rating of ‘A’. The issuing entity under the programme is QIB Sukuk Ltd (QIBSL).
The assignment of the final ratings follows the receipt of final documents conforming to the information previously received. The final ratings are the same as the expected rating assigned on 26 September 2012………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) plans to raise 4.5 billion dirhams ($1.23 billion) in debt next year, the state-owned utility’s chief executive said on Tuesday.
DEWA, which was recently upgraded to investment-grade by ratings agency Moody’s, will raise the funds via Islamic bonds, or sukuk, export credit agencies and syndication with the proceeds used primarily for debt repayment as well as investments, Saeed Mohammed al-Tayer told reporters………………………………………..Full Article: Source