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Thursday 29 August 2013

Oman: Islamic banking to aid local bank growth

Muscat: The opening up of Islamic banking sector is credit positive for the local banks, as expansion into Islamic banking has the potential to strengthen their franchises and diversify revenue generation, said Moody's Investors Service in a new report published yesterday. The industry, however, will still need to manage various challenges to deliver the anticipated growth, added Moody's. 

The rating agency released the report, entitled 'Islamic Banking in Oman: Solid Growth Prospects Moderated by Industry Challenges, yesterday 

"We believe that Islamic banking operations in Oman could capture a 6 per cent to 8 per cent share of system assets within the next three to five years. This share will stem primarily from the 'conversion' of customers from conventional to Islamic banking services," said Khalid Howladar, Senior Credit Officer and co-author of the report.

"The balance will come from Islamic operations capturing a disproportionate share of the anticipated total system annual growth of around 8 per cent to 10 per cent over the next three to five years," added Howladar.

Moody's bases its projections on Oman's solid operating environment, which will increase general credit demand; and the appeal of Islamic banking to a largely Muslim population.
The demand for Islamic banking services has been demonstrated clearly in the other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, where Islamic assets currently account for between 15 per cent and 50 per cent of total banking system assets. 

Various challenges
Despite these solid growth prospects, the industry will need to manage various challenges over the next three to five year period to deliver this growth. In particular, Moody's anticipates that Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) will face sizable costs to establish brand new Islamic banking franchises and build operational risk management infrastructures that ensure Sharia-compliance; risks related to the management of potential real-estate concentrations; and constraints in liquidity management given the lack of domestic Islamic instruments. 

Moody's expects that the IFIs will manage to address these challenges over the medium-term and build solid franchises and diversify revenues through the provision of additional services to customers in Oman and regionally. "While we expect that competition will intensify as new Islamic banks come into the market, we do not anticipate any substantial changes in the Omani banking landscape," noted Elena Panayiotou, Assistant Vice President and co-author of the report. "The new Islamic windows of the existing conventional banks will be well-positioned to capture a significant share of the Islamic banking market given their ability to leverage their existing customer bases and infrastructure," explained Panayiotou. 

(Times Of Oman / 27 Aug 2013)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com

Emirates Mulls Sukuk for $4.5 Billion in Planes: Islamic Finance

Emirates, the world’s biggest airline by international passenger traffic, is considering the sale of Islamic bonds as it seeks to raise $4.5 billion in the financial year starting April 2014 to pay for planes.
The Dubai-based carrier will need an average of $5.34 billion a year over the next five years, including 2013, to finance 119 aircraft deliveries, Brian Jeffery, senior vice president for corporate treasury, said in an interview at the airline’s headquarters, which overlook Dubai International Airport. Among financing options the company could tap the sukuk or non-Shariah-compliant bond market early next year, he said.
Emirates last sold $1 billion of Islamic bonds in March, before speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will reduce its bond purchasing program prompted an emerging-market debt selloff and sent yields higher. The state-owned airline is undergoing a period of rapid growth as its home base Dubai recovers from the 2008 global financial crisis. Passenger traffic through Dubai airport jumped 17 percent in the first half to 32.6 million and hotel occupancy reached 84.6 percent.
The debt market is currently volatile, “and that is not ideal for us, but volatility has not stopped us from issuing bonds in the past,” Jeffery said last week. “I’m pretty confident that, given the brand and the credit story of Emirates, sufficient funding will be available.”

Yields Rise

Average yields on global corporate sukuk have risen 46 basis points to 4.62 percent since the Fed said June 19 it might taper its asset-purchase program as early as this year, according to the HSBC/Nasdaq Dubai Corporate US Dollar Sukuk Index. The yield on Emirates’ $1 billion sukuk, which carries a 3.875 percent profit rate, increased 40 basis points, or 0.4 of a percentage point, in the period to 5.1 percent at 4:03 p.m. in Dubai. The so-called amortizing notes have a final maturity date of March 2023 and a weighted average life of five years.
Emirates’ decision on whether to sell bonds will depend “on pricing and an acceptable structure,” Jeffery said. Other options for funding are commercial debt, operating leases and export credits, which are typically restricted to 20 percent of the deliveries, he said.
Cash raised for next year will finance the delivery of 21 aircraft including 10 Airbus SAS A380s, nine Boeing Co. 777-300 ER and two Boeing 777 freighters, Jeffery said.
Emirates is established as a major global carrier, serving 134 destinations in 76 countries. Its fleet of Airbus A380 double-deckers has turned Dubai into an international aviation crossroads, stripping business from veteran carriers such as Air France-KLM Group and Deutsche Lufthansa AG of Germany.

Keeping ‘Awake’

Emirates, which begins its fiscal year on April 1, needed $5.5 billion this year to finance 25 aircraft deliveries, Jeffery said. Of this, it raised $2.9 billion from an enhanced equipment trust certificate issued in June 2013 through Doric, vanilla finance leases and export credits, and pure operating leases for two freighter aircraft. It also issued $750 million in non-Shariah compliant bonds in January.
Of the 25 aircraft, financing for 21 has been arranged. Emirates is now evaluating offers for the remaining four aircraft for U.S. and European export credits, Jeffery said.
“The availability of funding generally, and the factors that influence that, are what keep me awake,” said Jeffery. “If the banks are having their own problems or the bond markets collapse that will affect us.”

IPO

Net income at Emirates soared 34 percent to 3.1 billion dirhams ($845 million) in the last fiscal year. The same year presented the company with its “real test” as it received 35 aircraft and had to raise $7 billion, Jeffery said. On average the airline takes delivery of 24 planes a year.
The carrier’s ability to raise funds proves it has no need for a credit rating, Jeffery said. Emirates boasts a fleet of 201 aircraft and has 192 on order worth more than $71 billion at list prices, according to the airline’s fact sheet.
Jeffery said he is “not too concerned” that runway repairs at Dubai International Airport starting May 2014 would affect the airline’s financing capabilities, and said it is being dealt with at “the commercial and operational level.”
Meanwhile Emirates has no plans for an IPO, as far as Jeffery is aware. The decision rests with the Dubai government, the airline’s owners, he said.

(Bloomberg / 28 Aug 2013)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com

Sunday 25 August 2013

Malaysia exposes Shariah scholars to jail for breaches

The Malaysian law that exposes Shariah scholars to jail terms for rule breaches will ensure tighter compliance, in a market where the regulator has already made progress in unifying standards.

Under the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013, which took effect June 30, scholars may be jailed for up to eight years or fined as much as 25mn ringgit ($7.6mn) if they fail to comply with central bank rules. It is the first time Shariah advisers have been expressly made accountable, according to Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill, a Kuala Lumpur-based law firm.

Malaysia set up a dedicated system in the 1990s to avoid disputes over the financing methods that comply with the Shariah. Goldman Sachs Group was criticised by some advisers in 2011 for not ensuring its debut sukuk, approved by Ireland’s central bank, would be traded at par value as mandated by Islamic law. Some lenders are appointing scholars who don’t have a thorough understanding of financial products due to a shortage of experts, according to consultancy Amanie Advisors in Kuala Lumpur.

“It’s a very good move to stress the accountability of Shariah boards,” Said Bouheraoua, a scholar who advises Affin Islamic Bank Bhd, said in an August 16 interview in Kuala Lumpur. “A doctor who goes against the fundamental rules of medicine is accountable. The same goes for Shariah scholars.”

Religious experts advise companies on whether their products and services comply with Shariah laws. Under Bank Negara Malaysia regulations, a Shariah scholar can only sit on one board for each type of Islamic financial institution, meaning they can only advise one bank or insurer.

In most countries there is no limit to the number of companies an expert can assist. One Syrian scholar was advising 101 financial institutions, standard-setting bodies and other entities, according to a 2011 report by Funds@Work AG, an investment research company based near Frankfurt.

The Malaysian single board rule has led to a shortage of scholars, according to Baiza Bain, the Kuala Lumpur-based managing director at Amanie. Demand for advice has increased as the nation’s Islamic banking assets climbed 6.3% to $162bn in May from the end of last year, figures from the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre show.

“What the liability that’s presented by the Act does is to actually put more emphasis on training or retraining of experts,” Baiza said in an interview yesterday. “Financial institutions would have to put a higher standard of care because they know that the Shariah advisers are not going to just sit there and stamp whatever they have produced.”

Worldwide sales of sukuk, which pay returns on assets to comply with Islam’s ban on interest, have declined 35% to $21bn so far in 2013 from the same period in 2012, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Issuance totalled a record $46.5bn for the whole of last year.

Goldman Sachs set up a sukuk programme based on a so-called commodity Murabaha structure, or a cost plus mark-up transaction, that was approved for listing on the Irish Stock Exchange by the Central Bank of Ireland in October 2011. Goldman declined to provide any more details on the debt, it said in an e-mailed response to Bloomberg.

In 2007, BLOM Development Bank of Lebanon signed a contract with Investment Dar Co to place a Wakalah deposit, where capital is raised to acquire assets that are entrusted to an agent. BLOM sued Investment Dar after the Kuwaiti company missed a payment on its deposit. Investment Dar contradicted its own scholars’ assessment and argued the financing from BLOM breached Shariah principles because Dar “was taking deposits at interest,” according to a court document.

The new Malaysian regulation would raise the standard of advice and level of services dispensed by religious experts, according to Mohamad Akram Laldin, a member of the Malaysian central bank’s Shariah Advisory Council.

“People will be more aware of their duties and responsibilities,” Akram said in an August. 15 interview in Kuala Lumpur. “This means that before they sign off on certain things, they will think twice.

(Gulf Times / 24 Aug 2013)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com

Why Islamic Banking in India is a Good Idea


Whatever benefits Islamic banking may or may not have in its favour, public relations is not one of them. The Reserve Bank of India'srecent nod to sharia-based non-banking financial houses met with resistance from the usual suspects. Objections to Islamic banking in India range from regulatory inertia and concern about the unknown to Islamophobia. This is made worse by the existence of few rigorous analyses of Islamic finance.


The first Islamic bank in the world was founded in Egypt in 1963, and since than, the phenomenon has grown slowly but steadily. Conceptually, an Islamic bank has an equity-based capital structure, composed of shareholders' equity and investment deposits based on profit and loss sharing. Just as supervisory issues such as capital adequacy ratios in conventional banking are regulated by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), Islamic banks follow the standards prescribed by the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).

The most known factoid about Islamic banking is that it prohibits earning of interest, or riba. Muslims believe that profit should be based on effort; moneylenders expend little effort, their earnings accruing while they sit idle. Islamic banking also prohibits investment in activities considered haram, or sinful, according to sharia. Thus, projects involving alcohol, tobacco, pork products, weapons and defence, and pornography are all forbidden. The system also proscribes gambling and speculative activities. It should be mentioned that Islamic banks keep their doors open to all, including non-Muslims.

It should be noted, however, that while riba is prohibited, equity-based returns on investment are not. Islamic finance covers several types of financial contracts that vary in equity and profit-loss sharing. For the simplest accounts, Islamic banks perform a fiduciary role by primarily protecting the principle and sharing the surplus if any; for savvier depositors, the bank serves as an agency and provides administrative support. Modes of financing such as mudaraba (one partner provides the money and the other contributes expertise) and mushakara (investment, labour, expertise, risk is shared among all parties) may be seen as strictly profit-loss sharing, while murabaha (sale of goods in which profit margin is decided upon by both buyer and seller),  ijara (leasing), and bai-us-salam (advance payment on future delivery of goods) are not. There also exist hybrid of these two types. To enlarge the field of operations of Islamic banking, the requisite infrastructure has been slowly put in place. In 1995, the Dow Jones Islamic Markets Index (DJIMI), a listing of sharia-compliant portfolios, was launched. A special Sharia Supervisory Board oversaw the process, and the stocks are widely traded. In general, Islamic banks have performed as efficiently as conventional banks despite their self-imposed restrictions.

There is nothing inherently problematic about this system; investors are free to choose between conventional and Islamic finance, and the pitfalls of conventional investments such as investor knowledge, information asymmetry, and agency problems also apply to Islamic banking. Regulatory mechanisms such as financial cushions and prudent asset-liabilities structures will enhance the banks' fiduciary role. Like conventional banking, Islamic banking also will require periodic audits and stringent rules on transparency.

India's present laws obstruct the establishment of Islamic banking - the Banking Regulation Act (1949) prohibits the operation of banks on a profit-loss basis (5b), forbids murabaha, or, the buying, selling, or barter of goods (8), impedes ijara, or, bars the holding of immovable property for a period greater than seven years (9), and requires the payment of interest (21). However, there is no reason for these regulations not to be amended. The purpose of regulations is to ensure smooth and standardised operations, not vet business models; the market will be the best judge of the efficiency and pitfalls of Islamic banking.

Undoubtedly, beyond the infrastructural issues, Islamic banking faces many difficulties - given the partnership dimension of business, Islamic banks may have to maintain a closer watch on their investors than a typical bank would. furthermore, Egypt's al-Azhar disagrees with the Pakistani Supreme Court's 1973 interpretation of riba - while the former restricts the meaning to usury, the latter accused the country's banks of engaging in "conventional banking sprinkled with holy water" and interpreted it as all forms of interest. Again, these are questions best left to the investor, the bank, and bodies such as the AAOIFI and DJIMI; the regulatory authority's mandate is only to create and maintain a system with maximum transparency and accountability.

Experts argue that Islamic banking will mobilise enormous capital held by devout Muslims who sparingly participate in the conventional market. The Raghuram Rajan Committee on Financial Sector Reform (2008) also considered interest-free banking, and by 2013, the global market for sharia-compliant assets has risen to $1.6 trillion. Specifically for India, this means institutional money from the Middle East and Southeast Asia, as well as private wealth held by Indian Muslims in and out of the country. Given the number of Indian expatriates in these regions, Islamic banking holds an enticing opportunity for fuller market capitalisation. Sharia-compliant schemes have already shown promise in India - Tata Core Sector Equity Fund, launched in 1996, was tailored to assuage Muslim inhibitions on riba. Furthermore, it would be an added bonus if Islamic banking reduces dead-end investments in gold and jewellry.

No matter, Islamic banking is a political and not financial argument in India. In an environment of minority vote-banking and cynical political manipulation, any idea tagged with a religious prefix is doomed. It should be remembered, however, that Islamic banking is not a mandatory methodology imposed on all financial operations in the country, even in Saudi Arabia. It is an additional choice for the investor, and nothing prohibits one from using different systems for different transactions. While Islamic banking is based on a package of ethical values, ethical investments are not a uniquely Islamic phenomenon - we make daily choices about fair trade coffee, blood diamonds, and other products. Consumers may choose not to patronise a store if the company supports a cause they disagree with, something we have seen with the attempted academic boycott of Israel.

Finally, there is canard of terrorism. This is utter nonsense; there is no evidence to show that Islamic banking makes terrorist funding easier than any other financial activity. As long as transparency is maintained and regular audits performed under RBI guidelines, the system will remain viable. Islamic banks have appeared in several countries from the United Kingdom to Japan and Singapore without causing any disruption in either the financial system or in security.

The debate over Islamic banking is motivated by sectarianism in the guise of technical arguments over regulatory concerns, security, or secular society; none of these arguments survive scrutiny. 

Another important economic term to be acquainted with is opportunity cost - by not beginning the process of creating the regulatory infrastructure to also allow Islamic banking, India is losing out on financial opportunities of some consequence.


Jaideep spends most of his time avoiding work; when not married to his books, he likes to cook, sail, and scuba. A great admirer of Hatshepsut, Jaideep refuses to live in the 21st century. He grew up in the Middle East and Europe.When forced into wage slavery, he is a doctoral student in History at Vanderbilt University.

(D.N.A / 20 Aug 2013)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com

Malaysia: Bank Islam confident of over 15% growth in profit before tax, zakat

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23, 2013): Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd is confident of achieving more than 15% growth in profit before tax and zakat this year from RM600.3 million last year.
Managing director Datuk Seri Zukri Samat said consumer banking would continue to be the main contributor to achieve the target.
"We target 70% of the financing portfolio to be contributed by consumer banking and the balance of 30% from corporate and commercial banking.
"For the first quarter of this year, the bank raked in profit before tax and zakat of RM151.5 million, and looking at the achievement for the first-half year, we can achieve more than 15% growth that has been set," he said to reporters after the handing over of fund sponsorship for mosques in Malaysia here yesterday.
Zukri said the economic growth which is somewhat slow currently and the new guidelines on responsible lending might affect the bank's financing growth.
"For the moment, as far as Bank Islam is concerned, we are still able to achieve the target that we have set, that is, a financing growth of 20%-25% this year, better than last year.
"I think the new guidelines will affect most of the banks but for Bank Islam we have not see the effects and at this juncture, we are still confident that we are able to show respectable financing growth for this year," Zukri said.

(The Sun Daily / 23 Aug 2013)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com

PM Najib Launches International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) Islamic City

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak Friday launched the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) Islamic City which is set to reflect the university's success qualities on a multi-faceted scale.

The prime minister said the Islamic City, with its unique design and functions, would propel the university to be among the global league of premier universities in the 21st century.

"I believe the Islamic City will boost the IIUM efforts to become the central player in recapturing the historical and central role that Islam had once played in all fields of knowledge to benefit all of mankind.

"This city will bear witness to the progress of Malaysia as a modern state that truthfully embodies the values of moderate Islam," he said at the launch of the Islamic City in conjunction with IIUM's 30th anniversary at its Gombak Campus, near Kuala Lumpur.

Also present were IIUM president and advisor to the government on social and cultural affairs, Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim, and IIUM rector Prof Datuk Seri Dr Zaleha Kamaruddin.

The Islamic City, to be built on 17.6 acres (7.1 hectares) at an estimated cost of RM800 million, would comprise an Islamic Centre, a medical centre, serviced apartments, a convention centre, a hotel, a shopping mall and a food court.

The project, which would use water as its underlying concept, was expected to be fully completed within five to seven years.

Najib said that with the implementation of the contemporary findings of modern architecture through the model of Madinah Al-Munawarah, Damascus, Baghdad and Cordoba, the prism of the Islamic civilisation model would allow the Islamic City to be set as a new benchmark for excellence in Islamic architecture.

The prime minister noted that the innovative city would be built on the basis of endowment, which would provide for government funds to be saved for the new requirements of IIUM to achieve research university status.

"The Islamic City will be a commercial hub for IIUM and I hope that many will generously contribute towards making this project a success," he said.

On IIUM's anniversary, Najib said he hoped that as a premier international Islamic university, it would play its part as a platform for all Islamic leaders to find solutions to problems in the Islamic world.

"I hope IIUM could provide the intellectual basis or intellectual impetus for world Islamic leaders to come together to resolve conflicts in the Islamic world.

"Do not allow other considerations to separate us in efforts to resolve the ummah's problems," he said.


(National news Agency Of Malaysia / 23 Aug 2013)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Bank Muamalat Malaysia courts merger, Bank Rakyat and MIDF among possible candidates on its list

PETALING JAYA: Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd is said to be revisiting the idea of a merger, but this time possibly with a development financial institution (DFI), sources said.
Among the possible candidates are Bank Rakyat Malaysia Bhd and Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF), the sources added.
Bank Muamalat and Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd – ultimately owned by Lembaga Tabung Haji – are the only two standalone Islamic banks in the country licensed by Bank Negara.
DFIs, meanwhile, are specialised financial institutions established by the Government with the specific mandate to develop and promote key sectors that are considered of strategic importance.
DFIs include Bank Simpanan Nasional, Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Bhd, Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Bhd or SME Bank and Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd as well as Bank Rakyat and MIDF.
To recap, the shareholders of Bank Muamalat had been in negotiations with Affin Holdings Bhd, but talks between the parties were called off at end-March.
It was reported that Affin had sought to acquire a portion of DRB-Hicom Bhd’s 70% stake in Bank Muamalat, but the deal fell through due to pricing issues. Talks between the parties had commenced in August last year. At that time, Affin had said that it expected to conclude the talks by the end of 2012.
DRB-Hicom, whose interests vary from ports to property development, had acquired the 70% block in Bank Muamalat in 2008 on the condition that it eventually reduced this to 40%.
It is learnt that Affin was looking to buy 30% of Bank Muamalat from DRB-Hicom.
Khazanah Nasional Bhd owns the remaining 30% of Bank Muamalat.
Affin’s withdrawal from the talks was seen as putting DRB-Hicom in a tight spot, given that it has to pare down its stake in accordance with Bank Negara regulations.
Industry players have said that the idea of a merger between Bank Muamalat and Bank Rakyat is an attractive proposition, given that both are Islamic concerns, with Bank Rakyat being the country’s largest Islamic cooperative bank.
Bank Rakyat, according to sources, is believed to have ambitions to grow its commercial banking segment and a clear path to this would be via a merger with an Islamic bank.
Industry observers have also noted that it has always been the aspiration of the central bank to create a mega Malaysian Islamic bank, which would cement the country’s status as the world’s largest sukuk market and hub for Islamic finance.
Bank Muamalat has had a tough time courting suitors over the past few years, having failed to strike a merger deal with Bank Islam Malaysia in 2011 and Bahrain-based Islamic lender Al Baraka Banking Group prior to that.
On the positive side, Bank Muamalat has worked to clean up its books and improve its returns over the last few years.
For the financial year (FY) ended March 31, 2013, Bank Muamalat posted a record pre-tax profit of RM236mil, with revenue rising close to 12% to nearly RM1bil. Its asset size stood at RM21.07bil.
The bank began operations in October 1999, with its combined assets and liabilities being brought over from the Islamic banking windows of the-then Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Bhd, Bank of Commerce (M) Bhd and BBMB Kewangan Bhd.
Bank Rakyat, meanwhile, has been enjoying good profitable growth over the years, breaching the RM1bil profitability mark in 2008. For FY2011, it made a profit before tax and zakat of RM2.02bil, with the bulk of its financing income coming from consumer banking.
For the first three months to March 31, 2013, its profit before tax and zakat was RM539.52mil.
(The Star Online / 20 Aug 2013)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com

Tunisia's El Wifack plans to become Islamic bank

Aug 19 (Reuters) - Tunisia's El Wifack Leasing has applied to regulators to become the country's third full-fledged Islamic bank, the company said in a statement.
El Wifack, which has its debt rated BB+ by Fitch Ratings, also said it planned to raise its capital by 5 million dinars ($3.1 million) to 25 million dinars, regardless of whether it received approval to operate as an Islamic bank.
Islamic finance was neglected before Tunisia's 2011 revolution but the Islamist-led government is now promoting it.
Currently, sharia-compliant business accounts for just 2.5 percent of the Tunisian financial sector, according to a Thomson Reuters study this year, and there are only two fully operational Islamic banks, Zitouna Bank and the Tunisian arm of Bahrain's Al Baraka Banking Group.

Last month, parliament approved a law that will allow the state to issue Islamic bonds, or sukuk. The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has offered Tunisia a financial guarantee to issue a sukuk worth $600 million, though the issue could be delayed to 2014 because of political instability and approaching elections. 

(Reuters / 19 Aug 2013)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com

New rules and products lay groundwork for Nigerian Islamic finance

Lagos/Sydney: Nigeria is gradually opening up to Islamic finance, a move that could bring non-interest banking to over 80 million Muslims and develop one of Africa’s fastest-growing consumer and corporate banking sectors.
Home to the largest Muslim population in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria is trying to establish itself as the African hub for Islamic finance, which follows religious principles such as bans on interest and gambling.
In recent months, a string of regulatory initiatives have set the groundwork for products such as Islamic bonds (sukuk), insurance (takaful) and interbank lending products, although there is still only a small number of local market participants.
“The potential is there but the market is negligible in Nigeria because we have only one Islamic bank and one window — but it has potential to grow,” said Bashir Aliyu Umar, special adviser on non-interest banking to the central bank governor.
Islamic banking is currently offered by the Islamic window of Stanbic IBTC, a unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank, and Jaiz Bank, a full-fledged Islamic lender which has operated since 2012.
Abuja-based Jaiz now plans to obtain a national licence to expand operations beyond Nigeria’s north, which has been hit by an Islamist insurgency.
“That was where the security challenges started last year, that really affected the roll-out of the products,” Umar said.
Despite the challenges, Jaiz has grown its branch network to 10 from an initial three, with ambitious expansion plans calling for 100 branches by 2017.
It completed a capital raising in August, attracting investors such as the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank. As of June, it had total assets of 20.6 billion naira ($129 million) and capital of 10 billion naira.
Sterling Bank has been granted approval in principle for an Islamic window, while two more lenders have expressed interest in obtaining licences to operate Islamic windows, according to a central bank official.
The market needs the competition. A November report by Efina, a Lagos-based development organisation, estimated that 34.8 per cent of Nigerian adults who did not use non-interest banking products were likely to take them up if they were available.
But Nigeria’s banking sector remains underdeveloped. The same report found that over 61.6 per cent of adults borrowed from family and friends, while only 5.6 per cent used deposit-taking banks and 9.9 per cent used co-operatives.
To service the demand, Sterling Bank plans to roll out several products including a profit-sharing account and other investment products, Basheer Oshodi, group head of non-interest banking at Sterling, told Reuters.
“We are ready to go live immediately when we get the final licence. We will pilot with 10 branches and will end up using all 165 branches across the country thereafter.
“In reality, we will be having almost all basic Islamic banking products. We have also started to structure a couple of sukuk,” he added.

Rules for sukuk
Sukuk could come to the market soon, after rules for their issuance were approved in March by the Securities Commission; cocoa-producing Osun State plans the country’s first such issuance.
Nigeria’s regulators have taken steps to retain the final say on what Islamic products come to market, a centralised approach which mirrors regulation of the industry in countries such as Malaysia and Oman.
The central bank has set up an advisory committee to regulate sharia compliance, while the insurance regulator issued guidelines for takaful operators in April.
There are currently three takaful windows operating in Nigeria and up to five firms may be considering entry into the market, said Auwalu Ado, internal sharia auditor at Jaiz Bank.
“With a meagre 100 million naira as the minimum capital requirement for either family or general takaful, it is expected that many players will join the train as full-fledged takaful companies,” said Ado.
Takaful would not just give Islamic lenders an opportunity to protect their assets, but also offer an avenue for Islamic banks to invest their funds actively, he added.
Nigeria’s central bank has begun developing lending products to help Islamic banks manage their short-term funding needs; a lack of such products has slowed industry growth in other countries.
“The financial market department is developing instruments that will be used between the central bank and the Islamic banks as well as on an interbank platform,” said Umar.
The central bank is a shareholder in the Malaysia-based International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp (IILM), which aims to provide cross-border options for short-term funding through a planned sukuk programme.
In December, the Nigerian central bank issued guidelines for asset-backed securities that would use IILM certificates as collateral — potentially putting Nigeria ahead of many other Islamic finance centres in developing such complex products.

(Gulfnews.Com / 18 Aug 2013)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com

Monday 19 August 2013

Islamic finance courses create a buzz in Malabar


KOZHIKODE: Islamic finance is yet to take roots in the financial landscape of the country, but several Muslim management-run educational institutions in Malabar have gone a step ahead and have started offering specialized courses anticipating huge requirements for qualified personnel to man the future Sharia-compliant finance sector.

Courses on Islamic finance and banking have found many takers in the region ever since the state government set in motion its plan to start an Islamic financing institution two years ago. The growing student interest has been fuelled by hopes that the niche sector would offer job opportunities for those well versed in Riba-free Islamic financial and economic system.

The Sullamussalam Science College at Areekode, affiliated to the Calicut University, has become the first college in the state to offer a three year degree course in BA Islamic Finance from this academic year onwards.

"With the state government itself leading the state's foray into Islamic finance, the sector is bound to throw open numerous employment opportunities for people who can manage Islamic financial institutions," said Prof N V Abdurahiman, manager of Sullamussalam Science College, adding that the proposal submitted by the college for starting the BA course in Islamic Finance was accepted for funding by the UGC under 'innovative programmes for teaching and research in interdisciplinary and emerging areas'.

The course, which is the first formal degree level programme in the state, has seen over 100 applicants for the 25 seats on offer this year. The formal inauguration of the programme is expected soon.

Dr A I Rahmathullah, chairman of the board of studies in Arabic said that the university, in another first, has also approved the proposal for starting an MA Course in Islamic Economics and Finance.

"Already several institutions had approached the varsity to start PG course in the field that prompted the board to consider the programme. We will draft the syllabus and curriculum as soon as we get the nod from the academic council," he said.

Institutions like Al Jamia Al Islamiya, a religious college, at Santhapuram have also been seeing growing interest for its postgraduate diploma in Islamic economics and finance (PGDIEF) course. It also offers IGNOU diploma courses in Islamic banking, Islamic finance and Islamic insurance.

"Already many graduates in the state have got lucrative job offers at MNCs in the Gulf offering sharia-compliant mutual funds and venture capital funds. Now with the sector taking roots in the state, the students can look forward to opportunities at home," said Mohammed Pallath, coordinator of the course at the institution.

The Elijah Institute of Management Studies in Thrissur is also offering a postgraduate diploma course in Islamic banking and management as an add-on course for their MBA students. There are many other institutions in Malappuram and Kozhikode which have recently started offering similar courses sensing the growing interest in the field.

Kozhikode: Islamic finance is yet to take roots in the financial landscape of the country, but several Muslim management run educational institutions in Malabar have gone a step ahead and have started offering specialized courses anticipating huge requirements for qualified personnel to man the future Sharia compliant finance sector.

Courses on Islamic finance and banking have been finding many takers in the region ever since the state government set in motion its plan to start an Islamic financing institution two years back. The growing student interest has been fuelled by hopes that the niche sector would offer job opportunities for those well versed in Riba-free Islamic financial and economic system.

The Sullamussalam Science College at Areacode, affiliated to the Calicut University, has become the first college in the state to offer a three year degree course in BA Islamic Finance from this academic year onwards.

"With the state government itself leading the state's foray into Islamic finance, the sector is bound to throw open numerous employment opportunities for people who can manage Islamic financial institutions," Prof. N V Abdurahiman, Manager of the Sullamussalam Science College.

He said that the proposal submitted by the college for starting BA in Islamic Finance was accepted for funding by the UGC under the 'innovative programmes for teaching and research in interdisciplinary and emerging areas'.

The course, which is the first formal degree level programme in the state, has seen over 100 applicants for the 25 seats which were on offer this year. The formal inauguration of the programme is expected soon.

Dr. A I Rahmathullah, Chairman of the Board of Studies in Arabic at the Calicut University, said that the university, in another first, has also approved the proposal for starting a MA Course in Islamic Economics and Finance

"Already several institutions have approached the varsity with interest to start PG course in the field which prompted the Board of Studies to consider the programme. We will draft the syllabus and curriculum as soon as we get the nod from the Academic Council," he said.

Institutions like Al Jamia Al Islamiya, a religious college, at Santhapuram have also been seeing growing interest for its postgraduate diploma in Islamic economics and finance (PGDIEF) course. It also offers diploma courses of IGNOU in Islamic banking, Islamic finance and Islamic insurance.

"Already many graduates in the state have got lucrative job offers at MNCs in Gulf offering Shariah-compliant mutual funds and venture capital funds. Now with the sector taking roots in the state, the students can look forward to opportunities in the home front as well," Mohammed Pallath, coordinator of the course at the institution said.

The Elijah Institute of Management Studies in Thrissur is also offering a postgraduate diploma course in Islamic banking and management as an add-on course for their MBA students.

There are many other institutions in Malappuram and Kozhikode which have recently started offering similar courses sensing the growing interest in the field.


(The Times Of India / 19 Aug 2013)

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Australia:Embrace halal growth

HALAL foods will constitute one-third of the world's marketplace in 10 years, Agribusiness Gippsland director Brian Norwood says.
Mr Norwood, who is also a halal consultant, discussed the topic at a forum in Warragul last week. 
He said exporters need to secure accreditation now to share in the demand. 
“While Australia’s Muslim population numbers are around 500,000, there are much greater Muslim populations to Australia’s north,” Mr Norwood said. 
He was addressing a forum attended by 30 people and organised by Agribusiness Gippsland and Export Gippsland.
Adam Moore, who runs Traralgon-based company, Baby Royale, which supplies Malaysia with organic baby food, also spoke at the forum. 
Mr Moore explained the process of accreditation, saying it was easier than gaining organic certification. 
He said there were many advantages in doing business with Malaysia. 
“There’s a lot of commonality that makes it easy for us,” he said. 
Mr Moore listed some of the positives which included a lack of tariffs due to the recent Free Trade Agreement, the use of English on packaging and a government keen to lift Malaysia to first-world status, such as Singapore, in 10 years.
He suggested companies intending to export foods to do customer surveys to establish what the marketplace was seeking. 
He also stressed the advantages in joining State Government export trade missions.
Agribusiness Gippsland and Baby Royale, were participants in the recent State Government trade mission to south-east Asia.
The next mission in October, will be visiting China. 
(Weekly Times Now / 19 Aug 2013)

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Saturday 17 August 2013

India: Islamic banking gets RBI approval


KOCHI: The Kerala government has got the go-ahead from the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) to launch a financial institution following the principles of Islamic finance.
Cheraman Financial Services Limited (CFSL) will be floated by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation to function as a non-banking finance company (NBFC).
A formal announcement on CFSL, the latest incarnation of Al Baraka Financial Services, is expected on Saturday. Counting on the state's traditional Gulf links, the previous government had hoped to raise Rs 40,000 crore.

CFSL will have a paid-up capital of about Rs 100 crore but intends to raise about Rs 250 crore as alternative investment fund.

The Shariah-compliant institution will desist from charging interest on loans or give interests on deposits.

It will target sectors like infrastructure, services and manufacturing sectors and keep off taboo areas including liquor, tobacco and gambling or speculation.

Financing start-up projects is one of its pilot programmes. There are also plans to set up a commercial complex in Kannur and operate seaplane services.

"We've received many concept papers. We will select a feasible few to start with," sources said.



(The Times Of India / 17 Aug 2013)

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Bahrain: Sukuk issue a big success

MANAMA: The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has announced that the monthly issue of the short-term Islamic leasing bonds, Sukuk Al Ijara, has been oversubscribed by 270 per cent.
Subscriptions worth BD54 million were received for the BD20m issue, which carries a maturity of 182 days.
The expected return on the issue, which begins today and matures on February 13, is 0.87pc compared with 0.85pc for the previous issue on July 18.
The Sukuk Al Ijara are issued by the CBB on behalf of the Bahrain government.
(Gulf Daily News / 15 Aug 2013)

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Friday 16 August 2013

Malaysia: Axis REIT issues RM155mil sukuk

KUALA LUMPUR: Axis REIT Sukuk Bhd had on Thursday successfully issued sukuk of RM155mil with a blended annual financing rate of 4.13% and 4.18% per annum for its five-year and seven-year sukuk.
In a Bursa filing, it said the RM155mil sukuk has a total of five tranches, with the first two being rated AAA.
The first tranche of RM70mil would be issued at seven-year tenure while the RM60mil would be issued at five-year tenure.
Axis said the proceed from the second sukuk issue would be used to refinance the fund’s existing financing facilities.
“With this second sukuk issue, Axis Real Estate Investment Trust has successfully increased its weighted average debt maturity to 4.2 years matching the fund’s assets portfolio’s weighted average lease expiry of 4.34 years (by area),” it said.
(Business News / 15 Aug 2013)

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Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com

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