IslamicFinance.de

Gatehouse Bank plans to bring a $96.77 million Islamic bond to market by the end of the first quarter.
Richard Thomas, speaking on the sidelines of an Islamic forum in Abu Dhabi, said the bank would also arrange a 25-million pound ($40 million) syndicated lease financing this year.

The political conflict that has spread to Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and Morocco will make it more expensive for companies to issue Islamic bonds in the region and in Malaysia. The Asian nation is attractive to borrowers because of its lower yields.
But spreading unrest across the Middle East may be encouraging Shariah-compliant investors to increase purchases of Asian assets and will spur sales of Islamic bonds.

Board Members and Management of The Investment Dar Company K.S.C.C. and the Coordinating Committee met with TID's Banks and Investors in Kuwait to provide an update on the Company's restructuring process.
At the meeting, TID's Banks and Investors were presented with the headline terms of the agreed ESP, as previously disclosed together with illustrative business, operational and governance plans for its implementation. Updates were also provided on individual assets and outstanding issues.

Tadhamon International Islamic Bank is planning o buy as much as 7 billion rials ($33 million) of sukuk when the government sells the debt this month.
The government is expected to offer 25 billion rials of sukuk in the first portion of a planned 100 billion-rial note program.

Cross-border sukuk originations into and out of Malaysia are set to increase as the global sukuk market continues its rebound. Investors are looking for better and more diversified returns, as the Malaysian government’s policy of encouraging government-linked companies (GLCs) and local financial institutions and corporates to increase their cross-border exposure to Islamic capital market instruments start to take effect.

Al-Jasser had earlier delivered a “tour de force” lecture titled “Macroeconomic Management in an Oil Economy: the Case of Saudi Arabia” in the historic Examinations Hall at Oxford University in the presence of Adrian Wood, professor of International Development at Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford University; Farhan Nizami, director of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS), and Nazir Tun Abdul Razak, chairman and CEO of Malaysia’s CIMB Bank Group and younger brother of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Abdul Razak.
The fact that Al-Jasser included Islamic finance as one of four main challenges of managing the Saudi economy going forward is a welcome departure from previous governors of SAMA who dare not speak the name of Islamic banking.

Bloomberg Islamic Finance Platform (ISLM) is a comprehensive solution designed to increase transparency, better connect the community and provide analytical tools to maximise investment performance in the rapidly growing market for Shariah-compliant products and services.
Bloomberg will also launch, in cooperation with the Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM), Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) sukuk index to provide a benchmark for MYR sovereign sukuk investments.

The government faces an uphill battle to legislate tax benefits for Islamic bond investors at a parliamentary session starting Friday amid sturdy objections from opposition politicians and churches.
The Finance Ministry is pushing for a bill on Islamic bonds, or sukuk, that would grant tax exemption on profits earned by bondholders in a bid to widen Korea’s access to increasing Middle Eastern oil money.

Kuwait-based Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) has launched a 500 million ringgit (164 million US dollar) Sukuk issue in Malaysia as part of an existing funding program, one of a growing number of Middle East issuers to seek alternative sources of funding.
GIC, which was set up to drive private enterprise and economic growth in the Gulf region, had earlier established a 3.5 billion ringgit Sukuk program in the Southeast Asian country.

Yemen announced Saturday the first sukuk, Islamic bonds, had been issued as the country is seeking to benefit from the surplus liquidity of the Islamic banks to finance big investments that can help boost the national economy.
The Islamic Sukuk Unit at the Central Bank of Yemen was responsible for the issuance which was part of a one-year programme introducing sukuk worth YR 100 billion by the end of 2011.
Every three months, the unit will issue sukuk worth $ 125 million.

Islamic bonds from the Arabian Gulf may extend last week’s rally as the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak bolstered investor confidence that turmoil in the Arab’s world’s most populous nation will subside.
The yield on Dubai’s 6.396 percent sukuk due November 2014 declined 25 basis points last week to 6.28 percent on Feb. 11.

Albaraka Banking Group reduced the size of a March sukuk programme to $250 million (Dh918 million)-$300 million from the planned $500 million.
The bank also plans to issue a $100 million sukuk in Egypt at the end of the year.

Qatar International Islamic Bank plans to issue a benchmark-sized Islamic bond, or sukuk, by mid year to bolster its loan book ahead of an expected uptick in lending.
No banks have been mandated yet on the deal, which is in the early stages.
QIIB plans to raise cash because it expects an increase in lending on infrastructure projects.

SAIB Sukuk Fund will be accepting subscriptions from investors starting February 1 2011. The Fund is an openended public Fund under the supervision of the Capital Market Authority of Saudi Arabia. The minimum amosaunt to subscribe into the fund is SAR 100,000 and will provide twice-monthly liquidity.
SAIB BNP Paribas Asset Management Co. Ltd. is one of the premier Asset Management firm operating as a Joint venture between the Saudi Investment Bank and BNP Paribas Investment Partners, a preeminent global financial institution.

The Gulf Bond and Sukuk Association (GBSA), the trade association representing the Arabian Gulf fixed income market, is pleased to announce that it has filled a series of key committee positions for 2011. GBSA works through its topical sub-committees to promote a deep and transparent market for securities issued from the region.
Through its targeted sub committees, GBSA will discuss the issues that are likely to affect the future of the industry and create industry positions that will influence the direction and growth of the debt capital market in the Gulf region.

Nakheel repaid its $750 million Islamic bond, or sukuk, that matured on Jan. 16, after securing sufficient funds from the Dubai Financial Support Fund in December.
The Dubai Financial Support Fund was set up last year to distribute funds to struggling government-related entities via a $20 billion sovereign bond program.
Nakheel is seen to be at the center of the financial problems that have plagued its parent Dubai World.

The books for Emaar Properties' planned Islamic bond, or sukuk, sale are now open and the price whisper is in the 8.625% area.
The Dubai-based real-estate developer last week said it appointed HSBC, RBS and Standard Chartered to arrange investor meetings targeting fixed-income investors starting Jan. 21. The meetings were arranged in Asia, Europe and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council states.

Antara Steel Mills Sdn Bhd has proposed a RM300 million Islamic Securities Programme by way of sukuk. Antara Steel Mills Sdn Bhd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lion Industries Corporation Bhd's Amsteel Mills Sdn Bhd.

Yemen is the latest country that announces the possible raise of the much-needed financing from the financial markets through a debut sovereign sukuk issuance sometime in the first half of 2011.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are assisting Yemen on the technical aspects of issuing commercial paper under a technical agreement which the World Bank Group has with the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group to assist its member countries to help formulate policies to raise financing for infrastructure, development and budgetary support.

Bank Indonesia (BI) has received an approval from the House of Representatives to contribute US$5 million in equity to the newly established International Islamic Liquidity Management (IILM) to support the country’s growing Islamic banking sector.
The IILM would also widen investors’ basis for global debt papers, including global sukuk issuances, and increase Indonesia’s participation in growing the Sharia industry both globally and regionally.