The new Islamic banking and Takaful Acts, currently undergoing legislative process towards its enactment, will be effective next year, says Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
It has already gone for first and second reading in Parliament, she said, adding that it would be called the Islamic Financial Services Act and Islamic Finance and Takaful Act……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The success of sukuk issuances by financial institutions underlinine the tremendous potential of Islamic finance industry, which has shown healthy growth despite the global financial crisis and the lull after it, said an expert.
“The present and future of Islamic finance and banking industry are very promising,” Ernst & Young Bahrain senior director Imtiaz Ibrahim said. “Islamic financial institutions are offering various deposit products on the basis of Wakala and Mudaraba, which are reliable sources of Sharia-compliant income for depositors and provides continuous liquidity stream to such institutions,” he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Malaysian companies are taking advantage of all-time low yields to refinance local-currency sukuk, accounting for 55% of 2012’s record issuance.
Average costs for 15-year top-rated corporate debt fell 48 basis points this year to 4.6%, according to a Bank Negara index. Of the RM91bil of syariah-compliant securities issued in 2012, RM50bil was for refinancing, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Sime Darby Bhd, the world’s biggest palm-oil producer, sold RM700mil of Islamic bonds on Nov 28 as part of a restructuring, pricing the portion due in 2027 at 4.35%………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Savola Group, a leading conglomerate in Saudi Arabia, recently held an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) which approved issuance of sukuk with total value not exceeding the company’s paid-up capital.
The EGM also voted to delegate to the Board the authority to issue such tradable debt instruments without reverting to the General Assembly (GA), said Dr Abdulraouf M Mannaa, managing director of the company………………………………………..Full Article: Source

International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM) is likely to issue its maiden sukuk by early next year, Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said.
She said the IILM Board will be having a board meeting next week in the Middle East, of which she will be attending.”Hopefully, following the board meeting, it will look into early next year for such an issuance,” she said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Cagamas Bhd, Malaysia’s second-largest issuer of debt securities, saw total issuance grow 76 percent to 5 billion Malaysian ringgit ($1.64 billion) this year.

The company met its expected total issuance this year after the recent sale of a 1.45 billion Islamic bond, the company said in a statement on Thursday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Bhd (KFH), the first foreign Islamic bank to set up operations in Malaysia, is on track to return to the black for the full year, having registered three straight profitable quarters.
Chief executive officer Datuk Jamelah Jamaluddin said the group looks set to meet its target of a pre-tax profit of at least RM80 million for the full year, after three years of losses. “We just got our third quarter results approved yesterday and we are still in the black,” she said, without revealing details of the results………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kuwait Finance House (M) Bhd (KFH), the first foreign Islamic bank in the country, is optimistic of the growth of its consumer banking supported by its partnership with Animonsta Studio Sdn Bhd, an animation content developer, as well as its gold investment products.
Consumer banking business is one of the two components alongside commercial banking business under the umbrella of retail banking. Chief executive officer Datuk Jamelah Jamaluddin said when the bank re-launched its retail banking in 2010 consumer banking was less than 3% out of the total bank’s portfolio………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kuwait Finance House (M) Bhd (KFH Malaysia) aims to expand its gold savings account portfolio with sales to touch three tonnes of gold next year.
Its head of retail and consumer banking, Attar Salleh, said currently, the Islamic bank has slightly less than two tonnes of gold, accumulated from savings in KFH Malaysia’s products — KFH Gold Account-i and KFH Junior Gold Account………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Emirates Islamic Bank announced today that, as of November 30, 2012, it has successfully completed the integration of Dubai Bank customers, branches and operations into its platform. To date, most branches have been converted to Emirates Islamic Bank systems and brand, with the remainder to follow during the first weeks of December.
Following the completion of the transition, Emirates Islamic Bank is now the third-largest Islamic Bank in the country, laying the foundations for a future of aggressive, sustained growth in 2013 and beyond. (Press Release)

ZICOlaw recently signed an agreement with the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) to develop the country’s Islamic banking legislation. ZICOlaw is an integrated network of independent legal and related professional service providers in the Asean region and the first of its kind originating from an indigenous Asian law firm.
In a statement, ZICOlaw said the project is supported by technical assistance funding from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Zeti Akhtar Aziz says there is much common ground in different jurisdictions’ sharia interpretations, but a lack of understanding is holding back the growth of Islamic finance. Jurisdictions should work together to promote greater harmonisation of sharia-compliant financial products, according to Zeti Akhtar Aziz, governor of the Bank Negara Malaysia.
Zeti said it was “imperative” that jurisdictions worked towards a greater understanding of different justifications for Islamic financial products. The governor referred to a study that found there were “more similarities than differences” between regions, but a lack of awareness was holding back growth in the sector………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Qatar National Bank has launched a debt fund, becoming the first bank in Qatar to launch a fund of this kind. The QNB Debt Fund will invest in debt securities issued by GCC-based sovereign and corporate entities and is open to retail and institutional investors.
QNB said GCC bonds offer a “combination of attractive rates of return (and superior levels of underlying credit risk) which is not generally available elsewhere”………………………………………..Full Article: Source

NCB Capital, the largest asset manager in Saudi Arabia, has decided to widen its investor base by launching a range of Dublin-domiciled Islamic mutual funds.
NCB Capital, which manages more than $12bn in assets, has launched two Ucits-compliant funds that invest in Saudi Arabian and Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) equities, according to Reuters………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI). The MoU aims to enhance the mutual cooperation between the two parties and to establish a permanent exhibition for Islamic countries’ in Sharjah in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank group; one of the development organisations that the United Arab Emirates contribute in.
The MoU was signed in Dubai by HE Younis Haji Al Khouri, Undersecretary of MoF, and HE Mohammed Sultan Ben Houidn First Deputy Chairman of Chamber of Commerce and Industry. (Press Release)