Senegal is trying to position itself as a center for Islamic finance in West Africa, where about 52 percent of the population is Muslim, as the government pursues changes that will enable the first sales of sukuk.
Senegal still needs to adjust its policies to be able to sell debt that complies with Islam’s ban on interest after postponing a plan last year to sell such bonds, said Mouhamadou Lamine Mbacke, managing director of the African Institute of Islamic Finance, a Dakar-based company that advises governments and financial institutions and is working with the authorities on the rule changes. About 95 percent of the nation’s population of 12.7 million is Muslim……………………………………Full Article: Source

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) announced Thursday the successful pricing of a perpetual Islamic bond (sukuk) worth 1 billion U.S. dollars. The tier-1 Islamic bond was priced with a profit rate at 6.25 percent.
The launch of the first sukuk issued this year attracted “more than 14 billion dollars on the back of demand from a diverse investor base,” said DIB in a statement to the local bourse Dubai Financial Market……………………………………Full Article: Source

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the largest Sharia-compliant lender in the UAE by assets, launched a $1 billion hybrid sukuk. The perpetual sukuk, which is aimed at shoring up its core or Tier 1 capital, launched at a profit rate of 6.25 per cent, in line with final guidance released earlier in the day.
The final guidance was substantially tighter than initial price talk of 7pc, after arranging banks said order books totalled $14bn, indicating massive demand for the deal. HSBC Holdings, Standard Chartered, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Emirates NBD and DIB itself are mandated lead arrangers for the deal……………………………………Full Article: Source

Malaysia Airlines closed financing on its final Airbus A380 aircraft using the proceeds from an existing Islamic bond facility. The aircraft (MSN 114) is Airbus’ 100th A380 delivery.
The Bai Bithaman Ajil Islamic financing arrangement was established in November 2012 through Turus Pesawat, a special purpose company wholly-owned by the Malaysian ministry of finance. It raised up to ringgit (M$) 5.3 billion ($1.73 billion) for the financing of eight Airbus aircraft, including six A380-800s, one A330-200F and one A330-300……………………………………Full Article: Source

Dana Gas, the Abu Dhabi-listed energy firm, said a shareholder meeting to vote on the restructuring of the $920 million sukuk did not met the required quorum. A new meeting has been scheduled for March 21, the company said in a filing to the Abu Dhabi stock exchange on Thursday.
Dana became the first company in UAE to miss repayment of a maturing bond on October 31 but agreed new terms with a creditor committee representing bondholders, which included investment firms Ashmore Group and BlackRock, a week later……………………………………Full Article: Source

Malaysia has done well in developing its Islamic capital market and will seek to bolster the sector further. In its annual report 2012, the Securities Commission (SC) said efforts to further innovate and broaden the sukuk market will continue via the introduction of a frame-work for the issuance of AgroSukuk for companies in the agriculture sector.
To improve the availability of fund-raising avenues for agriculture activities and agro-based in-dustries, the government has also proposed in the 2013 Budget that expenses for the issuance of AgroSukuk will be entitled to a double deduction for a period of three years, effective from assessment year 2013 to 2015. …………………………………..Full Article: Source

Government-owned Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Bhd (Exim Bank) is looking at the potential of arranging a US$1 billion (RM3.1 billion) sukuk to be made available in the global market in its effort to help local companies do business overseas.
Its managing director/CEO Adissadikin Ali said the bank aimed to raise funding based on three objectives: sources of fund should match users of fund in terms of tenure, foreign exchange neutral and the right pricing……………………………………Full Article: Source

PEFINDO affirmed its ratings of idAA+ for PT Indosat (ISAT) and its bonds V/2007, bonds VI/2008, bonds VII/2009, and bonds VIII/2012, and idAA+(sy) for its Sukuk Ijarah II/2007, Sukuk Ijarah III/2008, Sukuk Ijarah IV/2009, and Sukuk Ijarah V/2012.
The outlook of the rating is Stable. The ratings reflect the strong support from the major shareholder, the Company’s stable market position, and its stable operating performance. However, the ratings are offset by the Company’s aggressive capital structure and intense competition within the telecommunication industry…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sharjah Islamic Bank’s General Assembly hailed the significant role played by His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of Sharjah Islamic Bank, during his 18 year tenure as a Chairman since 1995 and accepted the apology of His Highness for being unable to continue as a Chairman of Sharjah Islamic Bank.
The bank’s General Assembly also approved the financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, and approved the Board’s proposal of distributing 6% cash dividends, amounting Dhs145.5bn. This statement was made during 37th meeting of the General Assembly, which was held at the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s headquarters to present the annual report and most important financial results of 2012……………………………………Full Article: Source

The total assets of Islamic banks in Bahrain have increased 13 per cent at the end of last year – up from 4 per cent in 2003, said Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions general council secretary general Dr Omar Al Hafiz.
The figures were released by the Central Bank of Bahrain on Wednesday. According to Ernst and Young’s ‘World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report 2013′ released last year on the sidelines of the World Islamic Banking Conference, the Kingdom’s Islamic asset market share amounted to 26.9 per cent with $13 billion assets……………………………………Full Article: Source

Talks between BIMB Holdings Bhd and the Dubai Financial Group (DFG) over the latter’s 30.5% stake in Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd have stalled, banking sources said.
This was because a long-awaited plan by BIMB to transfer its listing status to Bank Islam was nearing fruition, a prospect DFG found more attractive than hiving off its interest to pare down debts, people familiar with the matter told StarBiz. Bank Negara had given BIMB and DFG until March 31 to conclude negotiations on Bank Islam……………………………………Full Article: Source

Both the assets and deposits of the Islamic banks showed positive growth but the rise of non-performing financing diluted the achievements during the third quarter of the calendar 2012, said the Islamic Banking Bulletin issued by the State Bank on Wednesday.
“During the quarter under review, non-performing financing (NPF) of Islamic banking industry continued to increase and reached Rs18.9 billion indicating quarterly (QoQ) growth of 3 per cent,” said the report. The rising trend of NPFs was mainly contributed by the category of “Loss” that reached Rs13.3 billion during the quarter under review; more than 70 per cent of overall NPFs, added the report……………………………………Full Article: Source

The government has launched the UK’s first Islamic Finance Task Force – a project aimed to promote London as the western world’s hub for Muslims to invest in. By promoting the international profile of the UK Islamic Finance Secretariat (UKIFS), the scheme aims to facilitate inward investment, whilst strengthening the UK economy.
This comes after Islamic finance experts predicted that the industry would grow exponentially in the coming years – something that Lady Warsi, senior Foreign Office minister and second co-chair of the task force, backed up……………………………………Full Article: Source

This week, the government launched a campaign promoting London as a centre for Islamic finance. The aim is to counter growing competition in this industry from rising centres such as Dubai and Kuala Lumpur.
Hamid Yunis - head of the Global Islamic Finance Group at international law firm Taylor Wessing - told the Today programme: “Islamic finance is generally business dealings in accordance with Islamic principles. “I think a good comparison is to those in the market who are playing in the ethical banking field.”…………………………………..Full Article: Source