Dubai’s flagship investment vehicle is in talks with banks to launch its first Islamic bond, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, tapping improved sentiment towards the emirate in a bid to diversify its funding sources.
Although talks are at an early stage, Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), which controls some of Dubai’s top companies, expects to complete a deal this year, one of sources said. ICD is taking advantage of increased demand for Dubai debt, which has benefited from international investors seeking emerging market assets, but also improved sentiment driven by a recovery in the local economy and state-linked debt restructurings………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Egypt plans to raise as much as $1 billion by June from the sale of its first Islamic bonds as the government anticipates a return to political stability will soften the blow of five credit rating cuts.
The cabinet has completed a draft law to allow sukuk sales, incorporating revisions by the ruling Freedom and Justice Party and Shariah scholar Hussein Hamed Hassan, said Ahmed El-Naggar, adviser to Finance Minister El-Morsi El-Sayyed Hegazi. Officials have compiled a list of about 25 projects that could be used as assets to back future sales, El-Naggar said in a phone interview on Feb. 21 from Cairo………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Egypt is planning to enter the Islamic finance markets for the first time by issuing a $1 billion Sharia-compliant bond. Morsi el-Sayed Hegazy, the Egyptian Finance Minister, said that the Government had already drawn up a list of infrastructure projects to be financed by the country’s first sovereign sukuk.
Under Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s former leader, Cairo showed little interest in tapping the $300 billion sukuk market………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Egypt’s continued political turmoil has made its life hard in international debt markets, but its government is hoping to secure new funds by less conventional means through the issue of the country’s first sovereign Islamic bonds.
According to a Bloomberg report, the government plans to raise up to $1bn by June through sukuk sales, with one for domestic investors and one for foreign investors. “The international market is waiting for Egypt’s sukuk sale,” said Ahmed El-Naggar, adviser to Finance Minister El-Morsi El-Sayyed Hegazi, to Bloomberg. El-Naggar said in an interview with the news agency that the cabinet has finished a draft law to pave the way for the issuance, which would be debated in parliament this week………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Indonesia’s finance ministry sold 14.968 trillion rupiah ($1.54 billion) worth of retail sharia bonds, known as sukuk retail (SUKRI), only slightly below the target of 15 trillion rupiah, an official at the debt office told Reuters on Monday.
The government set the coupon rate at 6 percent maturing in three years. “The incoming bids were more than 15 trillion. We would like to sell 15 trillion but we decided to raise slightly less than that due to double orders which were 50 billion rupiah,” head of the debt office, Robert Pakpahan, said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sukuk, the Islamic equivalent for bonds, has become an option for many when they need stable long-term financing. The instrument that performed extremely well in the last fiscal year (2012) is expected to continue the trend this year.
In fact, this year the issuance of sukuk may even pick up after a little slackening trend in the last quarter of 2012, according to CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd executive director and CEO Badlisyah Abdul Ghani………………………………………..Full Article: Source

RAM Ratings has received confirmation from the facility agent that Al-‘Aqar Capital fully redeemed all the outstanding Class A Islamic Medium-Term Notes (IMTN), Class B IMTN, Class C IMTN and Islamic Commercial Papers (ICP) under its MYR 300 million Sukuk Ijarah Programme (2008/2013).
RAM has withdrawn the respective AAA, AA2, AAA(bg) and P1 ratings of Al-‘Aqar Capital’s Class A IMTN, Class B IMTN, Class C IMTN and ICP, and no longer has any rating obligation on the debt facility………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Directorate of National Savings (NSs) has successfully achieved its annual investment target of Rs 224 billion investment and now planning to launch Islamic bonds. Talking to media person at Karachi office on Monday, Director General National Savings, Zafar M Sheikh, said that so far some Rs 275 billion of new investment had been attracted by the Directorate against the target of Rs 224 billion set for the current fiscal year 2012-2013.
“We have achieved this milestone with the support of energetic team and we are expecting more investment in the remaining period of current fiscal year,” he added. Talking about the performance of the Karachi region, he said that Karachi was still leading all offices with a share of Rs 127 billion in total new investment of current fiscal year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announced today that the monthly issue of the Sukuk Al-Salam Islamic securities for the BD 18 million issue, which carries a maturity of 91 days, has been oversubscribed by 223%.
The expected return on the issue, which begins on 27 February 2013 and matures on 29 May 2013, is 0.90%. The securities are issued by the CBB on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Kenya Reinsurance Corporation is planning to venture in sharia-compliant business as it seeks to expand its presence in the growing Islamic finance segment. The local reinsurer has confirmed that it will start ReTakaful insurance in the country and the areas where it already has a presence in West Africa and the Middle East markets.
“There is a change in the insurance market and we want to take full advantage when it fully blossoms,” said the firm’s managing director, Mr Jadiah Mwarania, during an interview at the head office in Nairobi………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oman’s financial regulator, the Capital Market Authority (CMA), is encouraging consolidation in the country’s crowded financial sector, aiming in the long term for local banks to build a regional presence in the Gulf region.
“Maybe we are overbanked in a way, so limiting the number of banks would be better for the market, especially for banks starting from scratch,” Abdullah Salem Al Salmi, CMA’s executive president, said in an interview. “We would like to see some consolidation.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

For the financial year under review, CIMB’s net profit expanded by 7.8 per cent, helping the group push its net profit to a level unseen before in its history. CIMB Group Holdings Bhd has posted a record net profit of RM4.35 billion for the year ended December 31 2012, meeting its 16 per cent return-on-equity (ROE) target.
The banking group expects to maintain a R0E of 16 per cent in the current financial year as it seeks to expand its reach at home and abroad. A ROE of 16 per cent is considered to be at the top end for a major bank as CIMB’s fiercest rival at home, Malayan Banking Bhd, the country’s top bank, also has a ROE of about 16 per cent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Arqaam Capital, a Dubai-based investment bank, has hired ex-Credit Suisse banker Wafic Nsouli to head its institutional equity sales unit, tapping into talent from retrenching global banks for its expansion.
Nsouli is expected to join Arqaam on March 18 and will take charge as executive director and head of institutional equity sales, the investment bank said in a statement to Reuters. Before joining Arqaam, Nsouli was head of Middle East and North Africa equities at Credit Suisse, responsible for the company’s offices in Dubai and Saudi Arabia………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Global audit, tax and advisory firm, KPMG, has announced the appointment of its Qatar-based partner, Omar Mahmood to head up its financial services practice in the Middle East and South Asia. KPMG’s Middle East and South Asia Chairman Jamal Fakhro said it was important KPMG found the right person for the role given the strategic significance of financial services to the region.
“The financial services industry in this region is developing at a rapid rate,” said Fakhro. “KPMG is committed to supporting this development with outstanding financial services specialists.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

There are two interesting facts about Islam in Indonesia. First, more than 87.18 percent of the country’s total population is Muslim. Second, there has been an escalation of Islamic expression since the 1990s, such as women wearing veils, laws and bylaws influenced by Islam, the publication of Islamic books and the proliferation of Islamic banking, clinics, housing complexes and dormitories.
But these facts are not reflected in the political orientation of voters. For example, all Islamic parties won less votes and received less of the national vote than all secular-nationalist parties in three consecutive general elections after the New Order era………………………………………..Full Article: Source