IslamicFinance.de

Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB) and specialist regional asset manager Gulfmena Alternative Investments plan to set up a Shariah-compliant asset management firm to tap into rising demand for Islamic investment products.

Korea is hoping to attract funds from oil-rich Middle East countries by setting up a local Islamic bank in the country, but the effort is still facing many challenges.
Al Amir Bank would be based on the principles of Islamic Shariah law, which bans charging interest on financial transactions.
But the committee has had problems finding Islamic investors, preferably from the Gulf region.
One problem Korea is confronting is that one of the most prominent banks from the Middle East in operation here is Iran’s Bank Mellat, whose operations were recently suspended as part of Korea’s sanctions against Iran for its suspected nuclear weapons program.

Standard Chartered Bank today announced the launch of the first Islamic US Dollar Nostro Account in the United States.
Islamic banks across the world will now be able to earn Shariah-compliant profits on their account balances at Standard Chartered Bank New York by using this facility.
The facility will operate on the Islamic finance principle of Commodity Murabaha. Profits will be paid on a monthly basis.
The Saadiq US Dollar Nostro Accounts will be available globally, including the Middle East & Malaysia. To ensure Standard Chartered’s products comply with the principles of Shariah, the Bank is advised by an independent committee comprising three of the world’s most renowned Shariah scholars – Dr. Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah, Sheikh Nizam Yaquby and Dr. Mohamed Ali Elgari.

Property developer Nakheel NAKHD.UL plans to issue a 6 billion dirham Islamic bond as part of its debt repayment plan as it restarts several key projects. Under Nakheel's restructuring plan, trade creditors have been offered 40 percent of what they are owed in cash and the remaining 60 percent through a sukuk Islamic bond.
Dubai contractor Arabtec's chief financial officer Ziad Makhzoumi said Nakheel had applied for listing on Nasdaq Dubai. Nakheel, the property arm of state-owned conglomerate Dubai World and undergoing parallel negotiations with its creditors, has yet to secure backing for its plan.
The developer expects to complete its debt restructuring by the end of the year.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, a top-tier Islamic financial services group, today announced the launch of its Wealth Management service that will cater to the increasingly discerning needs of mass, affluent and high net worth customers. The service will offer an innovative range of investment solutions that are tailor-made to meet the financial needs of their customers through dedicated and certified relationship managers who are supported by a team of investment professionals. ADIB Relationship Managers combine their industry expertise with technical and investment expertise to deliver innovative investment solutions and to support their brand promise of 'Trusted Advice by Trusted Advisor.'

The report pointed out that Kuwait ranked first among the GCC countries in terms Islamic banks assets to total banking assets, while Saudi Arabia and the UAE have risen among the countries that promote Islamic finance products and services. It added that there are many opportunities still available for Islamic finance solutions in the region where real estate finance tops other areas of interest prevalent in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The existence of financial centers in Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE, as well as a number of Islamic finance organizations such as the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions, Liquidity Management Centre, and the International Islamic Financial Market will continue to attract new players to the region and further propel the Islamic banking industry to greater heights.

With high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in the GCC are seen as the most active in management their wealth during later life, over 90 percent reject the idea of getting retire, according to Barclays Wealth latest Insights report.
The report titled The Age Illusion: How the Wealthy are Redefining Their Retirement is the twelfth in the Barclays Wealth Insights series, shows that HNWIs in Saudi Arabia (92 percent), United Arab Emirates (91 percent) and Qatar (89 percent) illustrated the biggest desire amongst global respondents to keep working in later life. According to the findings of the report the retirement is being rejected by a new breed of wealthy worker, who want to carry on working for as long as they are able.

With the Islamic finance industry worth an estimated $1 trillion and growing rapidly, it is perhaps no surprise that a number of Asia-Pacific nations are among a growing band of countries worldwide to signal their intention to carve out a larger share of the market.
Countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, along with Hong Kong, have set their sights on becoming hubs for Islamic finance, where investments are made according to Islamic principles.
While their sectors may be at varying stages of development, they are facing a common predicament: a shortage of professionals skilled in Islamic finance.
Education institutions around the Asia-Pacific region, like their counterparts in the Middle East and Europe, are increasingly seeking to fill that gap by adding Islamic finance specialization to their master’s programs in business administration and elsewhere.

Islamabad —Pakistan, Afghanistan and Senegal, among the world’s 50 poorest nations, are turning to Islamic banking to spur economic growth by encouraging people to take out loans and open savings accounts. Outstanding domestic bank lending accounted for 3.5 percent of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product in 2008, 25 percent in Senegal, 27 percent in Nigeria and 46 percent in Pakistan, according to data compiled by the World Bank. The rates compare with 224 percent in the U.S. and 115 percent in Malaysia, a global hub for finance that conforms with Shariah principles.
Developing Islamic nations have shunned banking in part because of the religion’s ban on interest, limiting access to funds for project financing and stunting business growth, according to the International Monetary Fund. Governments should improve regulations, products and institutions that comply with Shariah law to accelerate the industry’s development, Patrick Imam and Kangni Kpodar, economists at the IMF, said in a telephone interview from Washington on Sept. 14.

Allfunds Bank, the business-to-business fund platform, has launched an Islamic Services Unit to comply with Sharia principles. The company, jointly owned by the Santander and Intesa Sanpaolo groups, offers over 80 sharia-compliant funds from asset management firms based in Luxembourg, Ireland, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
The unit has a fatwa endorsed by the Sharia'h Board of Amanie Dubai, a specialist Islamic consultancy firm, making it the first sharia-compliant platform.
Allfunds said its clients would have direct access to the largest available range of Islamic funds and it would take further opportunities to expand the service, such as setting up a dedicated website for the sector.

Dubai Islamic Bank has become the majority shareholder in Tamweel, taking management control; bank's liquidity 'to positively impact' Tamweel's business. The transaction marks an important milestone for the bank and the UAE property market”, said His Excellency Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Director-General of His Highness The Ruler’s Court of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Islamic Bank.
“Dubai Islamic Bank has always been committed to the growth and prosperity of Dubai and the UAE, and we hope that this landmark deal will have a positive impact not only for the real estate sector but the UAE’s overall economic environment,” he added.

The Saudi joint stock company's focus on the real estate sector stems from the fact that this sector is among the most promising ones in the Kingdom, a team of Alawwal executives told a press conference at Hilton's Qasr Al Sharq hotel on Sunday.
The real estate sector is capable of absorbing more capital injections locally and from overseas. Market studies reveal that the Kingdom requires over 200,000 housing units annually.
To achieve the fund's objectives, the expertise of Ulayya Real Estate Development has been called on. It is one of the pioneers in land development and is represented by Hamad Bin Seaidan who has over 30 years of real experience in the field.
The participation in the fund is open to both citizens and resident expatriates through its head office in Jeddah and branches in Riyadh and the Eastern Province. To facilitate participation in the fund, the company has formed a specialized team and has reached an agreement of cooperation with Samba and the National Commercial Bank.

ResearchGATE is the largest social network for academic research globally. Dedicated social profiles of researchers allow to enter academic careers, published articles in journals and books, announce fields of research for international exchange just to name a few of the features.

IslamicFinance.de took another effort to create a dedicated group and invite researchers globally to use this platform and foster research in Islamic finance. The last academic initiative taken was to sponsor and start a full fledged platform for the Islamic Finance WIKI, the online encyclopedia.

Researchers are invited to participate in these initiatives.

Please visit:
http://www.researchgate.net/group/Islamic_Finance/

UAE's Emirates Steel Industries, which controls a majority of the country's steel market with an annual output of two million tons, on Wednesday secured a $1.1 billion loan from a group of regional banks as it seeks to expand its production capacity.
The Abu Dhabi-based firm, the operator of the largest steel plant in the UAE reached a seven-year project financing agreement with a consortium of seven conventional banks and two Islamic finance institutions.
The conventional banks in the consortium are the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Union National Bank, First Gulf Bank, Bank of Baroda, Arab Banking Corporation, Al-Khaliji France and Al-Khalij Commercial Bank. The two Islamic finance institutions are the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Al-Hilal Bank.

Advent Software, Inc. a leading provider of software and services for the global investment management industry, today announced that Jadwa Investment has selected Advent Portfolio Exchange(R) (APX), Advent's portfolio and client relationship management solution, and Advent Tradex(TM), a fund order management solution to streamline operations and support client service capabilities. Riyadh-based Jadwa Investment is a leading investment house in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and among the Kingdom's largest by assets under management.
The firm is a pioneer in the field of Shariah-compliant investment services, developing innovative and market-leading investment and financial products tailored to the needs of individual, corporate and institutional clients. Jadwa Investment offers a breadth of investment services for clients including dealing, investment management, custody, and advisory services.

Swiss private bank Lombard Odier aims to more than double its business stemming from the Middle East and is considering local partnerships to that end, a senior executive said. Lombard Odier has had ties to the oil-rich region since the 1970s but only opened a representative office in Dubai in 2007. Until recently, it was less aggressive than some of its competitors such as Credit Suisse and Julius Baer in targeting the region’s wealthy individuals.

Sheikh Salem Abdul Aziz Al Sabah told Arabic language daily Al Seyassah that there were five Kuwaiti Islamic lenders registered with the central bank and five conventional banks. Saudi Arabia's Al-Rajhi Bank, one of the biggest Islamic lenders in the Gulf, also operates in Kuwait. Independent analyst Ali al-Nimesh said while the current view of saturation may be accurate, demand could pick up in coming years.

Poverty is a complex issue and needs to be tackled on a range of fronts including, but not limited to, improving economic growth. Poverty remains one of the big challenges to socio-economic development of majority of developing countries, especially in Sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia. Besides, this phenomenon has brought about problems such as illiteracy, malnutrition, disease and even crime. Global food crisis further worsened the already precarious conditions of poor people in these countries.

To cope with the bane of poverty, the OIC has to reinvigorate its machinery for economic growth and cooperation among member countries through comprehensive mobilization of the resources, within and outside the OIC community. A new approach to economic cooperation was, therefore fashioned out to ensure that all stakeholders are sensitized on the need for the accelerated transformation of the economies of OIC Member-States and the welfare of their peoples.

BARWA Bank is pleased to announce the appointment of its Board of Directors (the "Board"). The nine strong Board will be chaired by H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Al-Thani, and consists of the following members:Chairman: H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Al-Thani
Deputy Chairman & Managing Director: Mr. Mohammed Abdul-Aziz Al-Saad
Board Member: Dr. Hassan Lahdan Al-Mohannadi
Board Member: Mr. Ahmed Yousef Kamal
Board Member: Mr. Ali Mohammed Sabah Al-Assiry
Board Member: Mr. Jamal A. Rahman Senan Al Muslmani
Board Member: Mr. Khalid Mubarak Al-Dulaimi
Board Member: Mr. Thani Al-Rahman Al-Kuwari
Board Member: Ms. Aisha Mohammed Al-Naoimi
The Board of Directors will meet at least 6 times per year and ad hoc as required.

KFH's IDRs (Issuer Default Rating) and Support rating reflect Fitch's view that there is an extremely high probability that the bank would receive support from the Kuwaiti authorities, if required. This view is based on the State's strong history of supporting local banks, KFH's government-related shareholders and its systemic importance. Downside risk to the IDRs is limited, as the Long-term IDR is at the Support Rating Floor. Any change in the IDRs would reflect a change in Fitch's view of Kuwait's ability and willingness to support KFH, which is considered unlikely. The Individual rating reflects KFH's dominant franchise, strong customer funding base and adequate capitalisation, as well as its weak performance and asset quality indicators, high sector concentrations and the difficult operating environment in Kuwait.