IslamicFinance.de

· As an assistant secretary to the Bank’s Shariah Committee (SC)
· To undertake bi-annual review of the performance of Shariah Committee covering their welfare, remuneration packages and benefits

· Accountable for the entire business portfolio of New Market Business Development function.
· To penetrate into the Non-Muslim market, especially in the higher purchasing power category focusing on Family Business.

Execute and implement the marketing activities by managing the operational and financial aspects and providing support to the Departmental Head of Corporate Direct & Maybank GWB in accordance with the Etiqa Insurance & Takaful business objectives. Execute to achieve underwriting results according to the planned strategy. [...]

DanaInfra Nasional Bhd (DINB) has extended the offer period and upped the indicative profit rate of its Exchange Traded Bonds and Sukuk (ETBS), also known as DanaInfra Retail Sukuk for retail investors. The move is intended to attracting more investors to take up the new asset class. The offer period will now close on January 25th. Meanwhile, the indicative profit rate, previously at a minimum of 3.7% a year, has been altered to 4% a year. The money raised from the DanaInfra Retail Sukuk will be partially used to fund the MRT project which is worth RM15 billion.

As a global leader in the field of Islamic finance, Malaysia boasts with state-of-the-art infrastructure and unparalleled government support. The development of Commodity Murabaha (CM) transactions on Bursa Malaysia under its Bursa Suq Al Sila’ enabled the country to try to snatch away the business of liquidity management by Islamic banks from the London Metal Exchange (LME). Bursa Malaysia’s Suq Al Sila’ is a representation of trading in commodities with complete irrelevance of commodities to the intended outcome. This exceeds simple exchange of cash between two participating banks.

Islamic finance is growing at a 20% per year rate which contrasts with what conventional banking is currently most famous for - scandals, huge pay offs and bonuses. Even non-Muslims are attracted to Islamic finance which led to the fact that numerous countries have adopted and accepted this financial model. It is obvious that there is a huge economic benefit to be sought from it due to the enormous potential of the branch. Malaysia seems to be the leader in the Islamic finance market, developing by leaps and bounds.

The Islamic Financial Services Board is actively working on organizing an Islamic Financial Services Industry (IFSI) Stability Report. The publication is due in May 2013. The goal of the report is to achieve a number of objectives, among which to stress on the growth trend and challenges faced by the IFSI post-crisis, and to bring the progress on various financial initiatives undertaken to promote global financial stability and the impact on the IFSI up to date. The Roundtable on the Islamic Financial Services Industry Stability Draft Report will take place on 21st of January 2013 at Sasana Kijang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

According to a statement by CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, the sale of its 49% stakes worth RM1.11 billion in CIMB Aviva Assurance Bhd and CIMB Aviva Takaful Bhd to Khazanah Nasional Bhd has been completed. The life insurance and takaful companies stake sales are satisfied by RM1.06 billion in cash combined with RM43.5 million worth of shares in a new insurance holding company called Renggis Ventures Sdn Bhd. The latter s wholly-owned by Khazanah. To sum up, CIMB will maintain an effective 2% interest in CIMB Aviva Assurance and CIMB Aviva Takaful respectively.

The government of Malaysia paid higher yields for its second offering of state-backed sukuk on behalf of the national airline to entice investors. The total issuance of the notes had already reached 4.6 billion ringgit ($1.5 billion). The finance ministry was able to sell 1.2 billion ringgit of the debt on January 17th. The orders amounted to 1.5 billion ringgit. In comparison to that, rail operator Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd sold 3.6 billion ringgit in bids for a 2 billion ringgit sukuk sale on August 28th. The latter Shariah- compliant debt was government guaranteed as well.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd announced the suspension of chief economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin for allegedly breaching the bank’s internal policies. Azrul predicted at a forum in Singapore last week that Prime Minister Najib Razak will not win the upcoming general election in Malaysia. In a statement, the bank explained that the nature of the breaches would be established as soon as the investigations are completed. They further stressed that the suspension had no relation to Azrul's voicing his personal political views. It was reiteratively said that Azrul’s political views and his comments should are not to be associated with the bank.

The chief economist of Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd was suspended from his duties because of his prediction that the opposition would win the upcoming general election. He confirmed that he was fully aware that he was putting his position at the bank on risk. Kajian Politik untuk Perubahan (KPRU) urged in a statement to lift the suspension because it contradicts the right to freedom of speech of the bank's employees. However, the response of Bank Islam was that according to their policy any employee including management, if they behave irrespectively of their position, will be suspended with full pay, to facilitate investigation.

According to research by Kuwait Finance House, the total of sukuk issuance by end of 2012 has amounted to $131bn. This is an increase of 54% compared to 2011. The total sukuk issuance in December is $8bn marking a 61% increase in comparison with the previous year. Malaysia is the country which issued the most sukuk, followed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Indonesia.

According to Fitch Ratings, the growth of sukuk issuance in 2013 will be ensured by strong demand, mainly in originator-backed (asset-based) sukuk structures. Expectations for 2012 global sukuk issuances are for them to reach USD121b. This is an increase of 62% compared to the USD84.4bn the year before. At the moment Malaysia is the only country where sukuk rating is mandatory. The rating is considered to play a significant part in improving the confidence in this growing instrument.

To develop, review and enhance:
· Credit Risk Policy (CRP)
· Guidelines to CRP (GCRP) in line with CAFIB, Basel II / IFSB requirements and BNM's Best Practice guidelines.
· To monitor and track compliance by business units and other relevant support departments to the bank's credit risk policies.

Role:

• Provide expert advice and support to Head, Islamic Banking in relation to Islamic Banking’s financial position and control.
• Ensure that the organisation delivers reasonable returns on shareholders’ capital.
• Understand the needs and functions of Islamic Banking SBUs/SFUs to develop an effective management information system to support the Bank’s goals.
• Oversee the SBU/SFU financial reporting needs and requirements and provide timely and accurate financial information to aid decision making.
• Ensure appropriate cascading of business targets to the SBU.
• Strategic planning and control to help achieve financial goals and targets of the SBU.

[...]

Sime Darby Bhd has been approved by the Securities Commission for its proposed US$1.5bil multi-currency sukuk issuance programme. The programme is seen as a significant landmark since it is first internationally rated multi-currency syariah-compliant sukuk programme by an Asian corporate. The ratings of Sime are A, A and A3 by Standard & Poor's Rating Services, Fitch Ratings Ltd and Moody's Investor Service, Inc.

Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd has appointed a new chief executive officer of the general and family takaful company - Ab Latiff Abu Bakar. The appointment became effective on January 7th 2013. Latiff has a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration from the University of Portland, USA. He has furthermore over 20 years of experience in the field including senior management positions in insurance and takaful companies. Before joining Takaful Ikhlas, he was head of takaful in an international insurance company.

DanaInfra Nasional Bhd's RM300 million sukuk aiming to partially fund the Klang Valley’s mass rapid transit (MRT) will make its kick-start retail trading of bonds on Bursa Malaysia. Moreover, it is likely that the sukuk will attract he issuance of private debt securities such as conventional bonds and Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) which will be publicly available. According to Tajuddin Atan - CEO of Bursa Malaysia Bhd - a number of parties have expressed their interest in issuing retail bonds. In addition, there should be ample amount of issuance for the successful trading of these bonds on the local exchange.

The first exchange traded bonds and Sukuk (ETBS) has been launched on Tuesday. The sukuk was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who explained that the retail offering would make it possible for citizens to have a stake in the country's success. Danainfra Nasional Bhd is allocating as much as RM300mil under this issuance. The initial tranche will be used to fund the first phase of the MRT Kajang to Sungai Buloh line.

Syarikat Prasarana Negara plans to sell sukuk worth up to RM6 billion this year in order to fund infrastructure projects. Moreover, it is set to list its rail unit, Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd, on the local bourse by 2018 to mark further expansion in the company. The unit will be listed as soon as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) rail project is completed, which is scheduled for 2017.