The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) has the most Islamic finance friendly tax systems, out of the eight jurisdictions in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, according to a study.
“While simpler Islamic finance transactions can be carried out in some countries without prohibitive tax costs, of the countries reviewed only Turkey and the QFC have a tax system that enables sukuk transactions to be carried out without excessive tax costs,” said the study, conducted by three leading experts Mohamed Amin, Salah Gueydi and Hafiz Choudhury, said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The statement by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) appeared to be in response to concern about uneven self-regulation by the institutions.
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

Last year was supposed to represent the pivotal moment in which sukuk debt – Islamic versions of bonds – came into their own as a deep, mature and liquid source of funding. Issuance data from January suggest the jury is still out. First, the case for.
Last year saw a record $144bn of sukuk issuance, according to Islamic Finance Information Service (Ifis). More than that, the market featured renewed reach, strength and innovation: sovereign issues came from ever further afield, notably Turkey; headline deals were bigger than ever before, particularly Qatar’s record $4bn issuance;……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) will probably pay almost 50 per cent less to sell debt than it did almost three years ago after borrowing costs plunged four times more than global peers amid a pick up in power demand.
The state-owned company hired six banks to raise as much as US$1 billion from the sale of Islamic bonds, a banker familiar with the deal said January 31. Dewa, which has investment-grade ratings at Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s, will probably pay about 4 per cent on 10-year bonds, according to Commerzbank and Mashreq Capital DIFC, which are not involved in the sale. It sold similar-maturity notes in October 2010 at 7.375 per cent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Funding requirements have been growing in the MENA region as governments seek to build much needed infrastructure, create employment opportunities for the younger generation and diversify their economies from the traditional hydrocarbon-based industries.
Corporates - whether privately owned or government-related entities - rely on their shareholders, banking partners and sukuk/bondholders to finance their growth. This increasing need for funding has lifted the debt capital market in the GCC over the recent years………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announced yesterday that its monthly issue of the short-term Islamic leasing bonds, Sukuk Al-Ijara, had been oversubscribed by 260%. Subscriptions worth BD 52 million were received for the BD 20 million issue, which carries a maturity of 182 days.
The expected return on the issue, which begins on 14 February 2013 and matures on 15 August 2013, is 1.10%………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a top-tier Islamic financial services institution, today announced that it was the only bank in the Middle East that has been awarded with the “Best Islamic Bond Award for the year 2012″, presented by the International Financing Review (IFR), Thomson Reuters’ official flagship title.
ADIB received the award for successfully issuing a $1bn Perpetual Shari’a-compliant Sukuk, which was priced at an expected profit rate of 6.375% - one of the lowest rates achieved for any perpetual instrument by a global bank. (Press Release)

Bahrain Islamic Bank incurred a net loss of BHD 36 million for 2012, as compared to a net loss of BHD 17 million for the year 2011, after increasing its provisions portfolio by BHD 41 million, with last quarter share of BHD 15 million as compared to a net loss of BHD 21 million for the last quarter of 2011.
“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,” said the bank in a statement. “It should be noted that the bank was able to register operating profit to the tune of BHD 4.9 million as compared to BHD 6.6 million for last year, and a net loss of BHD 15.3 million for the last quarter of the year.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The government will take $2.2 billion loans this year from Islamic Development Bank at a lower interest rate to finance the increasing imports of fuel. Of the amount, the new loan is $1.345 billion with an interest rate of 4.65 percent, while $855 million is a rollover loan with 5 percent interest. The loans will have to be paid back in nine months.
The decision to take the loans was approved last week at a meeting of the hard-term loan committee of the government, with Finance Minister AMA Muhith in the chair………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Permata Bank Syariah, the Islamic business unit of publicly listed Bank Permata (BNLI), will launch minor haj (umrah) financing in the first quarter of this year as part of its expansion plan.
Umrah financing will be the unit’s first personal financing segment, according to Permata Syariah head Achmad Kusna Permana. “We have not had any personal financing products before, so right now we are starting with the simplest and the most sharia-based product, which is umrah,” he said in Jakarta on Tuesday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Ajman Bank, the award-winning financial services institution and winner of the ‘Fastest Growing Bank in the UAE’, announced its financial results for the year ended 31 December 2012, demonstrating record growth and continued positive momentum.
Ajman Bank reported a Net Profit of Dhs33.5m for 2012, representing a robust increase of 382% from the net profit of Dhs6.9m achieved in the year ended 31 Dec 2011. The income was mainly generated through corporate banking, SME’s, and treasury operations. (Press Release)

The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Meethaq Islamic Banking Group, the Shari’ah-compliant window of Bank Muscat. The MoU was signed by Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Salmi, Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs and Sulaiman bin Hamad al-Harthy, General Manager of Meethaq Islamic Banking Group.
Under the agreement the Ministry will open bank accounts in its names with Meethaq Islamic Banking Group, which will provide the required facilities to collect and distribute donations via all Meethaq products and channels, such as branches, ATMs, internet banking services, phone banking, collection and distribution of Zakat………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia has appointed Mohammad al-Sheikh, a recently named World Bank executive director, to head the Capital Market Authority, which regulates the biggest stock exchange in the Arab world.
Mr Sheikh joins as partner from the Riyadh office of Latham & Watkins, the American law firm, which was associated with his own firm. He specialised in capital markets, mergers and acquisitions and restructuring, as well as Islamic finance………………………………………..Full Article: Source

United Gulf Financial Services - North Africa has announced the launch of its ‘Themar Investment Fund’, the Islamic Sharia law compliant fund. It has a capital of TND50m (approximately $32m), to be financed by the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector and the Deposits and Securities Fund of Tunisia.
UGFS - North Africa is an investment company based in Tunisia. It is a subsidiary of the Bahrain-based United Gulf Bank, a member of the KIPCO Group. Themar is the largest Sharia-compliant Tunisian investment fund under the Tunisian Monetary Authority. The fund targets small and medium Tunisian institutions seeking financing in different business sectors that support the Tunisian economy. Priority is given to existing and restructured projects in urban areas. (Press Release)