Marking the first sovereign Islamic bond sale in the GCC this year, Dubai on Tuesday launched a $1.25 billion two-part conventional and Islamic bond sale to take the advantage of low borrowing costs and speedy economic rebound.
The $750 million 10-year Islamic bond, or sukuk, launched at 3.875 per cent, well inside guidance of four per cent range, while the $500 million 30-year bond sold at 5.375 per cent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, plans to raise $1 billion through a global Islamic bond in the second half of 2013 to help plug its budget gap, a top official told Reuters.
This would bring the contribution to its annual budget from domestic and global Islamic bonds to as much as 57 trillion rupiah ($5.9 billion), the same amount as 2012. The country, whose economy grew faster than its regional peers at 6.3 percent last year, will also seek funds to kick-start $54.4 billion worth of infrastructure projects this year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Taliworks Corp Bhd , a Malaysian water and waste management company, said on Tuesday its 55 perc ent subsidiary Cerah Sama Sdn Bhd received regulatory approval to sell 750 million ringgit worth of Islamic bonds.
The country’s securities commission approved the bond issue by Cerah Sama, which owns and operates the concession for a 11-kilometre highway in the country’s capital………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Nakheel PJSC’s Islamic bonds, which rallied 37 percent last year, were cut to sell by Exotix Ltd., which said the Dubai-based developer’s debt no longer accurately priced in the risk of a default.
It’s “highly unlikely” that Nakheel will manage to pay the principal on the notes, which mature in 2016, from its own capital, Exotix said in an e-mailed note today. The developer, which drove Dubai to the brink of default just over three years ago, may fall 70 percent short of funds required to settle $3 billion of sukuk and bank debt maturing that year, it said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gatehouse Bank has issued its first real estate-backed Sukuk, paying a distribution of three per cent 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. “The strong tenant profile offers further guarantee of the security of investment, and is likely to appeal to investors looking for security of income,” said the bank in a statement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) has assigned an A rating to Sime Darby Bhd’s proposed issue of US dollar-denominated sukuk.
Sime Darby will issue the sukuk via Sime Darby Global Bhd, a Malaysia-domiciled special purpose vehicle that the company had set up and owns. “The rating on the sukuk is subject to our review of the final issuance documentation,” said the rating house in a statement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

This 10-year issue has come to market very quickly, and appears to utilise the existing Sukuk programme that investors are already familiar with. The suggested 4% price of the issuance appears to be fair, given the recent $650m issue maturing in May 2022 currently trades with a yield just inside 4%.
Long-dated dollar swap rates have started to climb in the last two months, while Dubai’s 10-year credit spread has fallen, so it looks like this issue seeks to lock-in a low long-term cost of financing before the window of opportunity may close………………………………………..Full Article: Source

J P Morgan, a leading international financial services firm, has announced the appointment of Hussein Hassan as global head of its Islamic Finance practice.
Hassan will lead the firm’s effort to further build out its Islamic offering across different lines of business and regions. He will work closely with J P Morgan’s existing Islamic finance professionals, broaden the team as required and ensure J P Morgan’s product offering is best-in-class across the Corporate & Investment Banking and Wealth Management………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic banking segment strengthened its position within Brunei Darussalam’s financial services industry last year on the back of rising demand that led to the launch of a new bank and major bond issuances.
Having moved early to establish Syariah-compliant services, the Sultanate is now well placed to carve out a niche for itself as an international Islamic banking centre. However, the industry will need to address a number of challenges, led by a shortage of skilled workers, if it is to fully support the segment’s development………………………………………..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

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided to introduce changes in the “Statement of Financial Position” and the relevant notes to streamline and standardise disclosures of Islamic banks and Islamic banking branches.
According to these changes, the head “financing” used by Islamic banks in their balance sheet and the related note should be renamed as “Islamic financing and related assets”. All financings, advances (against Murabaha etc.), inventories and any other related item(s) pertaining to Islamic modes of financing, presently being reported under “Other Assets” or any other head, shall become part of the “Islamic Financing and Related Assets”………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank Nizwa, Oman’s first dedicated Islamic bank, officially opened its doors to the public on Wednesday. The bank’s launch had been announced soon after the release of the Islamic Banking Regulatory Framework (IBRF) by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO).
Bank Nizwa will be the first bank in the Sultanate to provide services like account opening through identity cards for Omanis, and resident ID cards for expatriates; instant issuance of personalised ATM cards, instant issuance of personalised cheque books and much more………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Capitalising on the modern business mantra of Islamic Banking, more and more banks are coming up with their Islamic windows, according to the Central Bank of Oman (CBO). However, the number of full-fledged Islamic banking bodies will be confined to just two key players, as is said by Hamood Sangour al Zadjali, Executive President of the CBO.
“We have given permission to two full-fledged banks to operate in the country, which are Bank Nizwa and Alizz Islamic Bank. The earlier one has already begun operations while the latter is in the process of opening their offices in the country.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

A group of Muslim investors have filed to charter a new no-interest credit union based in Houston. Marketing to Shia Muslims in Houston, Dallas and Austin, the Jafari No-Interest Credit Union’s business model would rely on fees, rather than charging interest on loans to customers.
The credit union would also not pay any interest on deposit accounts. Because of the atypical business model — running on fees — I was interested in speaking with the founders of the credit union to get an idea about how that would work………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Ernst & Young’s World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report 2013 notes that global Islamic banking assets held by commercial banks are set to cross US$1.8 trillion this year, up from the US$1.55 trillion in 2012.This is significantly higher than some of the earlier industry estimates.
Globally, the Islamic banking industry continues to record robust growth, with the leading top 20 Islamic banks registering a growth of 16% in the last three years and Saudi Arabia emerging as the largest international market for Islamic assets (excluding Iran’s banking industry, which has major limitations on international participants)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Central Bank of Bahrain announced that the Bahrain insurance market posted a growth during the third quarter of 2012, with gross premiums increased by around 9% over the same period of 2011 to register BD 184.11 million in Bahrain Insurance Market by end of September 2012.
A significant part of this increase attributed to a surge in Long-term insurance (Life & Savings Products), registering around 17% increase in gross premiums to reach BD 42.34 million in September 2012 compared with BD 36.06 million in September 2011, representing almost 23% of the gross premiums written in September 2012………………………………………..Full Article: Source