The government of Dubai has mandated four banks for a potential Islamic bond, or sukuk, issue, four sources familiar with the matter said on Monday, as the emirate seeks to benefit from its lowest borrowing costs since a crippling debt crisis in 2009.
Three of the sources indicated the new issue could be announced as early as Tuesday, and two sources said the borrower was looking to raise at least $1 billion from the sale. All sources declined to be identified because the information is not yet public. A Dubai government spokesperson was not immediately available for comment………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai’s government may raise more than $1 billion from a planned sale of Islamic bonds and has mandated five banks including HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) for the offering, according to two people familiar with the deal.
Standard Chartered Plc (STAN), Emirates NBD PJSC (EMIRATES), Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC (DIB) and National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC have also been hired for the sale of sukuk, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. A sale may start as soon as tomorrow, according to one of the bankers………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Shariah-compliant lender Bank Muamalat Indonesia plans to sell Rp 700 billion ($73 million) worth of sukuk Islamic bonds in the first half of 2013, of which the proceeds will be used for branch expansions. The bond sale is part of the lender’s plan to issue a total of Rp 1.5 trillion worth across several years.
“Last year, we issued the first one, worth Rp 800 billion, that offers 10.21 percent yield,” Meitra N. Sari, the company’s corporate secretary, said on Friday. Shariah bonds comply with the Islamic teaching that bans interest, instead using asset returns to pay back investors………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announces that the monthly issue of the Sukuk Al-Salam Islamic securities for the BD18m issue, which carries a maturity of 91 days, has been oversubscribed by 193%.
The expected return on the issue, which begins on 23 January 2013 and matures on 24 April 2013, is 1.00%. The securities are issued by the CBB on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gatehouse Bank, a Shariah compliant investment bank based in the City of London and regulated by the FSA, has issued its first real estate backed sukuk, paying a distribution of 3% per annum over a five year term.
Investors will earn a return by virtue of having pro-rata ownership of the sukuk assets, which comprise shares in a company which owns a 62,000 sq ft property in Basingstoke, in the south east of England. The property is leased to IT services giant Fujitsu Services Limited for an unexpired term of 68 years. (Press Release)

Challenges or not, Islamic banking is set to continue its growth momentum this year. Underpinning this is the planned conversion of development financial institutions (DFIs) into full-fledged Islamic banks, a growing demand for Islamic finance, a strong sukuk (Islamic bond) market and anticipated mergers among Islamic banks.
Industry observers and players reckoned that these factors would spur the growth of the industry and hot up competition among the players, both existing and new………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Malaysia has emerged as a front-runner in the global Islamic financial services industry, with the state-of-the-art infrastructure and unparalleled government support. With the development of Commodity Murabaha (CM) transactions on Bursa Malaysia under its Bursa Suq Al Sila’, it attempted to snatch away the business of liquidity management by Islamic banks from the London Metal Exchange (LME).
While a one-step forward from the LME CM practice, Bursa Malaysia’s Suq Al Sila’ necessarily represents the case of trading in commodities with complete irrelevance of commodities to the intended outcome, which is no more than exchange of cash between two participating banks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the country’s second-largest lender by market value, said fourth-quarter net profit fell more than 50 percent due to higher provisions.
The bank made a net profit of QR110 million ($30.2 million) in the three months to December 31, according to Reuters calculations, compared with QR265 million in the same period a year ago and widely missing analysts’ average forecast of QR328.58 million………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Rakbank is starting 2013 with the launch of its new Islamic banking window. The bank’s Islamic banking services will be offered through a separate brand, Rakbank Amal, to include a wide range of products from accounts, loans and cards to takaful policies.
“As the fastest growing bank in the region, introducing Islamic Banking is the natural direction for Rakbank as it strives to better serve existing and potential customers in the country through added choice,” said Graham Honeybill, Rakbank chief executive officer………………………………………..Full Article: Source

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the largest Kuwaiti bank and the highest-rated in the Middle East, reported net profits of $ 1.09 billion (KD 305.1 million) for the year 2012 compared with $ 1.08 billion (KD 302.4 million) for 2011.
At year-end, NBK Group’s total assets reached $ 58.4 billion (KD 16.4 billion) up from $ 48.5 billion (KD 13.6 billion) in 2011, while total group shareholders’ equity reached $ 8.2 billion (KD 2.3 billion), up 6 percent year on year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

McDonald’s and one of its franchise owners agreed to pay $700,000 to members of the Muslim community to settle allegations a Detroit-area restaurant falsely advertised its food as being prepared according to Islamic dietary law.
McDonald’s and Finley’s Management Co. agreed Friday to the tentative settlement, with that money to be shared by Dearborn Heights resident Ahmed Ahmed, a Detroit health clinic, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn and lawyers………………………………………..Full Article: Source