Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and CEO of Emirates Airline and Group, yesterday rang the opening bell at Dubai Financial Market (DFM) during the listing ceremony of a sukuk issued by Emirates Airline on Nasdaq Dubai, the Middle East’s international financial exchange.
The listing of the $ 1 billion sukuk supports Dubai’s intensive efforts in this regard after the launch of (Dubai the Center of Sukuk) initiative by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minster and Ruler of Dubai and in line with his vision to position Dubai as the capital of Islamic economy globally………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Egypt doesn’t see sukuk as a substitute for a $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan being sought by the government, an adviser to the finance minister said. The sukuk law, which would allow Egypt for the first time to offer Islamic sovereign debt, has been sent by parliament’s upper house to President Mohamed Mursi for approval, and will be implemented in July, the Finance Ministry’s Ahmed Al-Nagar said.
Egypt has been searching for additional funds alongside talks with the IMF on a loan that has been delayed amid political unrest. The government says an IMF accord will restore investor confidence and help revive an economy that has stalled since the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The approval of a controversial draft law allowing the issuance of Islamic bonds, commonly known as sukuk, has rekindled debate in Egypt over whether it contradicts Islamic law. According to Egypt’s state-run daily al-Ahram, the bill was approved Tuesday night by the Shura Council, the country’s temporary legislature.
Three months ago, the cabinet approved a law regulating sukuk dealings but it was rejected by the country’s prestigious religious institution Al-Azhar over concerns that the new financial system might allow foreigners to own key state assets as well as suspicions about its fixed interests that are not allowed in Islam………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Al-Azhar confirms its insistence on discussing the Sukuk bill in spite of its being adopted by the Shura Council. The bill was also submitted to the President without taking the opinion of al-Azhar on its compliance with the Sharia.
An official source in al-Azhar said that the Grand Imam Dr. Ahmed al-Tayyeb decided to put the bill to discussion in the monthly ordinary session of the Islamic Research Academy next week to opine on the bill. The source pointed out that although the opinion of al-Azhar is an advisory one, it would undertake its duty and shoulder its responsibility for discussing the bill and say its opinion………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bond and sukuk issues from the Gulf region in the past few weeks have drawn huge investor order books but then performed poorly in the secondary market — a sign that some of the orders are not as solid as they appear.
In order to ensure they obtain part of a new issue, institutional investors are bidding for larger amounts than they actually want, because they assume their bids will be cut when the issuer decides on allocations, traders and analysts say………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, today rang the opening bell at Dubai Financial Market (DFM) during the listing ceremony of a Sukuk issued by Emirates Airline on Nasdaq Dubai.
The listing of the one billion dollar Sukuk supports Dubai’s intensive efforts in this regard after the launch of (Dubai the Center of Sukuk) initiative by Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and in line with His Highness’s vision to position the emirate as the capital of Islamic economy globally………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Qatar Central Bank’s (QCB) move to offer QR4bn of bonds and sukuk is “positive” and will enhance options for domestic financing and reduce reliance on foreign funding, according to Beltone Financial.
“The issuances are seen as part of continued efforts by Qatari authorities to facilitate liquidity management and deepen local financial markets by extending the domestic bond yield curve,” Beltone said in a report. The QCB recently announced that it will offer QR3bn three-year bonds and QR1bn five-year sukuk on a quarterly basis starting this month………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Binladin Group, one of the largest construction firms in the kingdom, is currently meeting fixed income investors as it plans to issue a new local currency Islamic bond, or sukuk, sources aware of the matter told Reuters.
Roadshows are due to take place this week and next, at which point the size and pricing of the deal would be determined, a banking source said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media. All-in pricing is likely to be around 2.5 percent, a second banking source said, giving a spread over the three-month Saudi interbank offered rate (Saibor) of around 150 basis points………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is not expecting to issue more Islamic bonds before 2015 if electricity demand growth in the emirate remains steady, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
“According to cash flow, there will be no additional sukuk or [conventional] bonds [in 2013]. I do not think we are going to target sukuk next year, except if [electricity consumption] growth changes to 10 per cent or growth targets change,” Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) is currently examining mechanisms to issue sovereign Islamic sukuk in the primary market in order to widen the base of investment tools that can be traded in the secondary market on the one hand and, on the other, to come up with a new method for financing the Treasury besides the traditional financing means.
Addressing experts meeting at the Arab Academy for Banking & Financial Sciences on Thursday, CBJ Governor Ziad Fariz underlined the importance of coming up with new financing tools in accordance with Sharia (Islamic law) to accelerate the economic growth………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A fund management venture set up in Dubai this month is taking aim at one of the great backwaters of the Middle Eastern economy: Islamic endowments, which control tens of billions of dollars of assets around the region.
The endowments, known as awqaf, receive donations from Muslims to operate specific social projects, such as mosques, schools and welfare schemes. The system goes back more than a thousand years, to soon after the birth of Islam. Over the past few decades, as Middle Eastern populations have grown and the Gulf’s oil industry has boomed, awqaf have amassed a vast array of assets, from real estate to cash holdings, equities and even valuable books………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic banks in Malaysia and Indonesia are opening new branches in rural areas as they target the newly rich in Southeast Asia’s largest Muslim nations. HSBC Amanah Malaysia added 22 outlets in the last three years, bringing the total to 26 across the country, chief executive officer Rafe Haneef said in an interview on Wednesday.
BRI Syariah, a unit of Bank Rakyat Indonesia, will set up 94 branches in 2013 to meet demand in smaller cities such as those on the islands of Java and Sumatra, according to Lukita Tri Prakasa, the bank’s corporate secretary………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar has been ranked as the country where Islamic banking assets grew fastest in 2012. The country’s Islamic banking assets were estimated to have grown by more than 23 percent during last year. Qatar’s regulatory clarity has helped its Islamic banks to achieve the high growth rate, said the report by the Ernst & Young Global Islamic Banking Center.
There is potential for a strong Islamic capital market play in Qatar in future. Barring the conventional industry leader, Islamic banks are comparable in size to conventional peers. Large infrastructure spend will fuel continued profitable growth for the banking industry, the report noted………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Turkish Islamic banking sector will triple in 10 years reaching $100 billion by 2023, while the country would have even more potential if it would meet the foreign demand by offering more of a variety of Islamic financial instrument, an Ernst & Young report has said.
Islamic banking, which follows the requirements of Shaira and does not charge interest, has emerged as a prominent system at a time when European banks that have been the backbone of global sector are only slightly recovering from the aftermath of the financial crisis. The Islamic banking sector offers great opportunities for Turkey as well, as the country seeks its share in interest-free banking in light of the value and market presence of Islamic banks, also known as participation banks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gulf banks will likely continue their steady recovery from the global financial crisis this year, aided by healthy economic growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and still high oil prices, says Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services yesterday in a report titled “A Growing Economy and Strong Capitalization keeps Gulf banks on a path to recovery.”
“Our forecast for average 4.6 percent GDP growth in the GCC for 2013 should keep demand for bank credit high and expand banks’ earnings. “We believe strong bank lending on the back of corporate and infrastructure growth will help expand revenues of banks in Saudi Arabia, and Qatar,” said Standard & Poor’s Credit Analyst Timucin Engin. “Specifically, we expect average lending growth to remain above 10 percent level for Saudi Arabia.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) has assigned a national scale rating of A+/A-1 (QR) (A plus/A-one) to Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB). On the international scale, IIRA has assigned a foreign currency and local currency rating of A-/A-1 (A minus/ A-one). Outlook on the rating is ‘Stable’.
The fiduciary score has been assessed in the range of ‘70-75′, reflecting strong fiduciary standards wherein rights of fund providers are adequately defined and protected. The fiduciary score is an aggregation of scores assigned to its three sub-sections, namely Corporate and Shariah Governance, and Asset Manager Quality………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited (CDC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Life Insurance and Takaful companies of the country to implement a Centralised Information Sharing Solution for Insurance Industry (CISSII).
The signing ceremony was held at CDC House, which was attended among others by senior officials of CDC, life insurance companies and SECP. On this occasion, Chairman State Life Insurances Corporation of Pakistan Shahid Aziz Siddiqi, CEO CDC Mohammad Hanif Jakhura and Commissioner Insurance Division - SECP Mohammad Asif Arif were also present………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A.M. Best Europe - Rating Services Limited has assigned a financial strength rating of B+ (Good) and an issuer credit rating of ‘bbb-’ to National Takaful Company (Watania) PJSC (Watania) (United Arab Emirates). The outlook assigned to both ratings is stable.
The ratings for Watania reflect its strong prospective risk-adjusted capitalisation, supported by strong reinsurance protection, a conservative investment strategy and its sound business plan. Offsetting rating factors are below target results in 2012 and the execution risk Watania faces in the competitive UAE insurance market………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd (Bank Islam) targets to have 1.9 million Visa Debit cardholders by year-end. Business development director Khairul Kamarudin said the response from the public to the bank’s Visa Debit Card, launched in March 2011, was really good.
“With the good response to this card, we can see many people migrating to online payment using the card,” he told reporters after the launch of ‘Thanks A Million Visa Debit Card-i Celebration’………………………………………..Full Article: Source