Strong investor demand and a need to improve capital adequacy ratios are causing Turkey’s Islamic banks to consider issuing subordinated sukuk, bankers and analysts say.
Ibrahim Oguducu, head of the financial institutions business at Bank Asya, the country’s largest Islamic bank, said longer-tenor subordinated sukuk would help balance mismatches between the maturities of banks’ liabilities and assets, while diversifying their funding sources………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic financial institutions in Kuwait should hire enough personnel to ensure they comply with sharia standards, and work with the personnel in a transparent way, the country’s market watchdog said on Tuesday.
The statement by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) appeared to be in response to concern about uneven self-regulation by the institutions………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai’s aim to become the economic hub of the Islamic world is so ambitious that, to achieve it, the grand strategy will have to be split into manageable parts for implementation.
Plans for one vital part - the reclaiming of the sukuk industry as an Arabian Gulf-centred business - are well under way, but are about to get a boost from a proposal prepared by Nasdaq Dubai and circulated among that exchange’s member firms………………………………………..Full Article: Source

It had been reported that The new Islamic Financial Services Act 2012 (IFSA) will statutorily enforce management of Shariah-non-compliance risk and requires Islamic financial institutions to ensure at all times that their aim, operation, business, affairs and activities are in compliance with Shariah.
“This is perhaps one of the distinctive features of the IFSA 2012,” said Prof Datuk Dr Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim, Chief Executive Officer of International Islamic Banking Liquidity Management Corporation in a note. The Act, which is pending the Royal Assent, requires that any failure to abide by this statutory requirement has to be immediately notified to the regulator and the Shariah committee of the financial institution………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Egypt’s main agricultural bank is launching Islamic retail services this month to meet increasing demand in rural areas, a bank official told Reuters.
“We are launching sharia-compliant retail banking this month with a portfolio of 50 million pounds ($7.5 million) and can raise that to 100 million” next June based on demand, said Abdel Rahman Al Kafrawi, head of Islamic transactions at Principal Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit (PBDAC)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs signed a memorandum of understanding with Meethaq Group for Islamic Banking at Bank Muscat. Shaikh Abdullah bin Mohammed al Salmi, Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, signed the MoU on behalf of the Ministry, while Sulaiman bin Hamad al Harthy, Director-General of Meethaq, represented his institution.
The MoU states that the Ministry will open a banking account for Islamic banking at Meethaq, which will in turn facilitate the collection and distribution of alms funds by utilising all possible mechanisms and channels, including the running of a branch network, ATMs, internet banking, phone banking and Awqaf shares. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Muhammad Zubair Mughal, Chief Executive Officer of AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics met with Ikram Ibragimov, the chairman of supervisory board of Hamkor Bank in Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent.
During the meeting, they had a detailed discussion on affairs of their mutual interest for the advancement of Islamic banking in Uzbekistan. According to Mr. Ikram Ibragimov, Hamkor Bank is the only bank is Uzbekistan which is working in collaboration with international organisation e.g. World Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank, KFW, Triple Jump and others………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Jordan Islamic Bank,, a subsidiary of Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Corp, reported on Tuesday a 29 percent rise in net profits to 36.5 million dinars ($51 million) last year, helped by healthy growth in Islamic banking services.
The bank’s total assets were up 4.2 percent on a year ago at 3 billion dinars at the end of 2012 dinars, the bank said in a bourse statement. Operational income rose 22.8 percent to 96.1 million dinars………………………………………..Full Article: Source

European Islamic Investment Bank PLC, a Sharia’a compliant investment bank, said Tuesday it has sold a financing facility provided to Arcapita for $8.1 million in cash, to Barclays Bank.
Facility, dating from 2007, formed part of a syndicated loan facility which was due for repayment in March 2012. Arcapita defaulted on its payment obligations and in early 2012 announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The explosion of bad debt at the state-owned Islamic Bank of Thailand was largely caused by grossly negligent lending by former executives, according to its new president. Meanwhile, former finance minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn has suggested that the Finance Ministry overhaul the oversight of state banks to improve governance and prudent lending practices.
Non-performing loans (NPLs) at IBank currently amount to Bt39 billion, or about 30 per cent of outstanding loans, its president Thanin Angsurarangsit said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gulf International Bank (GIB) recorded consolidated net income after tax of $117.9 million last year, up $13.4m, or 13 per cent, on the prior year. Net income after tax in the fourth quarter was $20.9m compared with $19.9m in the fourth quarter of 2011.
“I am pleased with the progress made in the implementation of GIB’s new strategy, which aims at a total transformation of the way the bank conducts its business and will take it into new frontiers of sophisticated banking,” said chairman Jammaz Al Suhaimi………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bahrain Islamic Bank announced that it has incurred a net loss of BD36 million for the year ended on 31st December 2012 as compared to a net loss of BD 17 million for the year 2011, after increasing its provisions portfolio by BD 41 million, with last quarter share of BD 15 million as compared to a net loss of BD 21 million for the last quarter of 2011.
Hence, this would be the end of a difficult phase and the Bank is looking eagerly ahead for returning back to profitability and the enhancement of shareholders’ equity. It should be noted that the Bank was able to register operating profit to the tune of BD 4.9 million as compared to BD 6.6 million for last year, and a net loss of BD 15.3 million for the last quarter of the year. (Press Release)

Egypt’s main hardline Islamist party says an IMF loan agreement requires the approval of a body of Muslim scholars under the new constitution and it is considering legal action to make sure the government sticks to the law.
The case could set a marker on the extent to which clerics will have a say over state affairs according to the Islamist-tinged constitution that was signed into law in December following its approval in a referendum………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Is crowd funding the VC for the masses, finally? Crowd funding enables — through a collective cooperation of a network of investors — pooling capital and other resources to seed initiatives, startups, expansions, etc.
Banks in the Muslim world do not lend without collateral, as an idea or early stage development company is too risky, too small to fund or the business model does not fit the financing criteria. Thus, venture capital does not exist in OIC in a meaningful manner. Furthermore, how many stories from the Muslim world about investing in the “next big thing” in Silicon Valley VC funds?……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Saudi Electricity Company ’s ( SEC ) Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and senior unsecured rating at ‘AA-’. The Outlook on the Long-term IDR is Stable. Fitch has also affirmed SEC ’s Sukuk issues at ‘AA-’.
SEC ’s ratings are aligned with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (’AA-’/Stable), based on strong legal, operational, and strategic links, in accordance with Fitch’s Parent and Subsidiary Rating Linkage methodology………………………………………..Full Article: Source