Saudi's Othaim Malls raises 1 bln riyals in debut sukuk -sources

Aug 30 Saudi Arabia's Al Othaim Real Estate and Investment Co, owner of five shopping malls in the kingdom, has raised 1 billion riyals ($267 million) through a debut sukuk issue, two banking sources said on Sunday.

The five-year issue was priced at 170 basis points over the six-month Saudi interbank offered rate, the sources said.

The company, also known as Othaim Malls and part of family owned conglomerate Al Othaim Holding, began marketing the sukuk in early August, earmarking part of the planned proceeds to fund expansion plans.

Othaim Malls is building five shopping centres, three of which are likely to be completed by end of the year, with the rest finalised by the end of 2016.

A company source, who declined to be named, said the sukuk settlement was on Sunday.

The transaction was arranged by the investment banking arms of Banque Saudi Fransi, Gulf International Bank and National Commercial Bank.

(Reuters / 30 August 2015)

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The huge potential in Islamic Finance

SANDTON – Responsible investing is becoming a major theme across the global industry. And one of the most significant areas within this sphere is faith-base dinvesting.

Speaking at the Money Expo 2015 at the Sandton Convention Centre, investment analyst at 27Four Investment Managers Nadir Thokan said that the Islamic Finance industry is still in the early stages of growth, but the potential is significant.

“The conventional financial services industry is more than 400 years old,” Thokan said. “But Islamic finance only dates back 40 years.”

While there has been substantial innovation over that time, the market remains relatively small.

“Currently the global market for Islamic finance is $1.5 trillion and its growing at 30% per annum,” Thokan said. “But penetration levels are still very low. Twenty-six percent of the world’s population is Muslim, but just 1% of banking assets globally are Shari’ah compliant. Given the huge pools of wealth in the Muslim world, this is poised for massive increases over the next few years.”

Thokan believes that the biggest potential for growth is in asset management, which still makes up a very small part of the Islamic finance industry as a whole.

“Of the $1.5 trillion in Shari’ah compliant assets, only $64 billion sits in fund management,” he said. “Only $25 billion of that is in equity mandates. But this is a multi-trillion dollar industry in the conventional asset management space.”

He argued that as penetration of products increases and as more people take a greater interest in Shari’ah compliant finance, this will also be a platform for very attractive returns moving forward. As flows into these products increase, returns will move upward.

In particular, he highlighted the global Sukuk market as one in which 27Four sees huge potential.

In simple terms, Sukuk can be described as a Shari’ah compliant bond product. With a bond, an issuer will receive capital from a pool of investors and in return will pay them an interest coupon over a set period and return their capital to them at the end of it.

Sukuk works in a similar way, but it is structured differently in that it gives ownership in a particular product. It therefore does not pay interest, but rather a share of the issuer’s earnings.

“With a conventional bond you take very little risk because unless the company goes bankrupt you are guaranteed the interest and your money back at the end of the term,” Thokan explained. “With Sukuk, however, you participate in profit and loss of that company. Typically what we’ve seen happening though is that it finances fairly low risk projects where cash flows are reasonably certain.”

Thokan said that there is huge potential in this market as it is tapping into a huge source of potential funding that is looking for good rates of return.

“In the Sukuk market there has always been more demand than supply,” he said. “So people have been willing to pay up. And as the industry grows and more people realise the benefits of issuing Sukuk we are likely to see the depth and liquidity of the market increasing.”

A significant benefit of Sukuk is that it shows very low correlation to other asset classes, including global bonds. It is therefore a great tool for diversification, making it appealing not only to investors looking for Shari’ah compliant products, but any investor looking for alternative sources of return.

The market is already showing signs of expanding out of its traditional base, with increasing numbers of issuers coming from outside of Asia and oil-producing nations. Recently Sukuk has been issued by the likes of investment bank Goldman Sachs, multinational conglomerate General Electric, and the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

“We are going to continue to see rapid rates of growth because it is an attractive avenue for issuers to look at in terms of diversifying their funding base,” Thokan said. “And as the market gets bigger it will attract larger pools of money, bigger issuers and more attractive returns.”

(Money Web / 25 August 2015)

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Oman’s Islamic banking could achieve 17% of total banking asset in 5 years, Bank Nizwa CEO

MUSCAT: Islamic banking in Oman could achieve around 15 to 17 per cent of the total banking asset within the next five years in normal market conditions with recovery and stability in the oil market, says a bank official.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, Dr Jamil El Jaroudi, chief executive officer of Bank Nizwa, said it is ‘difficult’ to estimate the share of Oman’s Islamic banking operations at this juncture due to the volatility in oil prices, which is affecting the country’s growth.

According to the Central Bank of Oman, the combined assets of Islamic banks and window operations surged ahead by 64.08 per cent to OMR1,832.6 million by end-June 2015, from OMR1,116.9 million for the same period last year, while conventional banks’ total assets moved up by 11.22 per cent to OMR27,391.9 million, over the same period of 2014.

“This is an important variable that would determine the nature of the competition for the banking sector going forward,” El Jaroudi noted.

However, assuming a normal market condition and recovery with some stability in the oil price, it is fair to assume that Islamic banking could achieve a level of around 15 to 17 per cent of the total banking asset within the next five years, he added.

“This level would be similar to the other markets in the region including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain,” said the CEO of Bank Nizwa.

Remarkable growth

Commenting on the performance of Islamic banking in Oman, El Jaroudi said, “If you look at the industry reports, both fully-fledged Islamic banks in Oman and Islamic windows combined saw an average growth rate of over 40 per cent year-on-year, in terms of total assets.”

The average growth for conventional banks on the other hand was around nine per cent for the same period, he added.

“In terms of financing portfolio growth, it is even more remarkable, as we have grown by more than 300 per cent on an average during the same period, compared to the conventional banks’ average of approximately 15 per cent,” the official noted.

Other countries

He added that these figures are in line with the other countries in the region which are experiencing the same challenges in growing their Islamic banking industries.

“For example, the five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in Qatar was 31 per cent which is 1.8 times faster than its conventional banking with $54 billion worth of Islamic assets representing 24 per cent market share,” he said.

In the UAE, it is lower at 14 per cent but still three times faster than its conventional banking sector with $83 billion worth of Islamic assets representing 17 per cent market share, El Jaroudi explained.

He added that in some other countries, the Islamic banking sector has experienced more challenges that curtailed its growth altogether, although it could be due to geo-politics or that Muslims are not the majority in those markets.

“So we have to look at the growth of this growing sector in Oman and appreciate its achievements thus far,” the CEO of Bank Nizwa concluded.

(Times Of Oman / 30 August 2015)

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Islamic finance assets to touch $3.2t by 2020

The islamic finance industry will continue to grow strongly as the value of assets is expected to increase by 80 per cent to reach $3.24 trillion over the next five years, according to initial findings of State of the Global Islamic Economy (SGIE) report.

The report, which is commissioned and supported by Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) in partnership with Thomson Reuters, and in collaboration with DinarStandard, will be published ahead of the second Global Islamic Economy Summit (GIES), taking place in Dubai this October.

The 2015 summit, organised by Dubai Chamber, DIEDC and Thomson Reuters, is set to gather over 2,000 policymakers, thinkers and business leaders on October 5 and 6 at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.

Islamic finance is considered the most developed sector within the various pillars of the Islamic economy. The growth in the global Shariah-compliant economy is broadly measured by the value of Islamic finance assets.

In 2014, Islamic finance assets had an estimated value of $1.8 trillion, with Islamic banking representing 74 per cent of total Shariah-compliant assets, followed by 16 per cent in outstanding sukuk, based on ICD Thomson Reuters Islamic Finance Development Indicator (IFDI 2015).

According to Thomson Reuters' projections, Islamic finance is expected to grow to reach $3.2 trillion by 2020, with Islamic banking constituting $2.6 trillion of this figure.

The total number of Islamic financial institutions operating globally has reached 1,143, divided between 436 Islamic banks/windows, 308 takaful institutions and 399 other Islamic financial institutions, such as financing and investment companies.

Most of these Islamic finance institutions are located in GCC countries and Southeast Asia, while the others are distributed between other Mena countries, South Asia and other regions. Most Islamic finance assets are held by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Malaysia and the UAE.

As global acceptance of Islamic finance continues to grow, more corporates and non-Muslim sovereigns are announcing Islamic finance initiatives such as ethical or Shariah-compliant regulations, as well as products such as sukuk issuances. This increased appetite demonstrates that the market is attracted to the benefits surrounding the ethical principles of Islamic finance, linking finance to physical assets, productive fiscal activities and real economic growth.

One of the key sessions at GIES 2015 will discuss the importance of the Islamic economy's broader sectors to Islamic finance. It will feature a debate by Tirad Al Mahmoud, Jamal Bin Ghalaita and Dr Adnan Chilwan, the chief executives of leading Islamic banks Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Emirates Islamic and Dubai Islamic Bank respectively.

The debate will be followed by one of the key sessions of the summit, covering how Islamic financial institutions have moved from niche to mainstream by being part of the global agenda. The session will discuss whether Islamic financial institutions can meet the needs of people who are financially excluded solely for religious reasons, and whether Islamic finance can act as a financial inclusion mechanism for non-Muslims.

The GIES 2015 is taking place under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Featuring more than 60 international speakers across 15 sessions, the summit will offer insights on the seven pillars of Islamic economy: Islamic finance, halal industry, family tourism, Islamic knowledge, Islamic arts and design, Islamic digital economy and Islamic standards.

(Khaleej Times / 30 August 2015)

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Australia's NAB seals maiden Islamic financing deal

Aug 27 National Australia Bank Ltd has closed its first onshore Islamic financing deal, a A$19.9 million ($14.2 million) arrangement to fund a real estate purchase by Sydney-based asset manager Crescent Wealth.

The funding platform designed by NAB, the country's No.4 lender by market value, could help open Australia to Islamic investors from the Gulf and Southeast Asia that seek to adhere to religious principles such as bans on interest and gambling.

Crescent Wealth used the four-year financing for a A$30.75 million commercial property acquisition in South Melbourne, with plans to build a portfolio of commercial assets across the east coast, said Talal Yassine, managing director of Crescent Wealth.

"It marks a significant moment for the industry in Australia as the funding was supported by an Australian retail bank."

Until know, such deals had to be purely funded by equity, but the sharia-compliant structure would help to significantly remove transaction risk, in particular for foreign investors, said Yassine.

"We plan to secure a second asset by year end and again, will be leveraging the existing structure we have with NAB."

Crescent Wealth, established in 2011, currently has over A$100 million in assets under management across five Islamic funds which include cash, real estate and domestic and international equities.

In April, the firm set up an office in Malaysia and is now considering applying for a boutique fund management license.

TAXES

Islamic financing has struggled to gain traction in Australia due in part to tax issues which can penalise the asset-based nature of such transactions.

Structures such as sukuk, or Islamic bonds, can attract double or even triple tax charges because they require multiple transfers of title of the underlying asset.

The Australian Board of Taxation presented an Islamic finance paper to the government in June 2011 aiming to address such issues, but Canberra has yet to give a response or release the final review.

In the meantime, Britain, Luxembourg, South Africa and Hong Kong have all passed tax amendments to facilitate such transactions. All have issued sukuk over the past year.

The NAB used a structure known as wakala, where one party acts as an agent for another to manage a pool of assets. Wakala is widely used overseas, with Hong Kong using the format for its second issuance of sukuk in May, a $1 billion deal.

(Reuters / 27 August 2015)

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Islamic banks need liquidity management tool, skilled workforce

MUSCAT: Islamic banks in Oman need a liquidity management tool, relaxation of certain restrictions and skilled workforce to prosper further, says a senior official at Bank Nizwa, Oman’s first fully-fledged Islamic bank.

“Islamic banks need a liquidity management tool, such as short-term sukuk by the government. This is not necessarily for profitability, but mainly for the proper functioning of a banking system,” DrJamil El Jaroudi, the bank’s chief executive officer, said in an exclusive interview with Times of Oman.

The official believes that the issuance of Oman’s first sovereign sukuk would positively affect the Islamic banking sector.

“The issuance should be well-welcomed, as more products that rely on Islamic investment are required to support the Islamic banking sector in Oman. Given that the government is a major market player and influences the market confidence, this step will increase liquidity levels and provide a pricing benchmark that is still missing in a new market,” El Jaroudi added.

Certain restrictions

“We also need to look into relaxing certain restrictions in light of the need and experience within the sharia-approved schemes and AAIOFI (Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions) standards,” El Jaroudi noted.

According to Bank Nizwa’s CEO, apart from the typical challenges facing Islamic banking as a new industry such as the understanding and acceptance of the concept and products, the main challenge in Oman is finding manpower with the necessary knowledge and skillset in Islamic finance.

Omanisation

“It has also proven more challenging with the Omanisation policy where it would take years for the industry to develop the local talent. With that said, we are overcoming this hurdle by focusing on training programmes for our employees and support of educational institutions that specialise in this field,” he said.

Fledgling industry

El Jaroudi added that other common challenges lie in the fact that the industry is considerably novice in the Oman market so it has been a steep learning curve for all.

“In addition, the local rules and regulations would take time to be adjusted to suit the specific needs to grow the industry. However, Oman, in its short history in Islamic banking, has made tremendous progress in this respect and has benefitted from other markets’ experience,” the official noted.

Remarkable growth

Both fully-fledged Islamic banks in Oman and Islamic windows combined have seen an average growth rate of over 40 per cent year-on-year in terms of total assets, he said, adding thatthe average growth for conventional banks on the other hand was around 9 per cent for the same period.

“In terms of financing portfolio growth, it is even more remarkable, as we have grown by more than 300 per cent on average during the same period compared to the conventional banks’ average of approximately 15 per cent for the same period,” El Jaroudi stated.

Public awareness

In addition, the official said that public awareness about Islamic banking has definitely increased, which can be seen from the growth in its performance on all levels.

“The retail sector has been straight-forward, thus you could see the initial growth mainly stemming from that sector. The corporate and wholesale were more challenging due to the slightly more complex nature of the transactions but has since also seen tremendous growth,” added El Jaroudi.

Educational campaign

Bank Nizwa’s CEO also noted that the bank is doing its best to speed up this process and embarked on a series of lectures and workshops to raise and enhance awareness of the market about Islamic banking.

“The response was excellent and we also believe that being the first Islamic fully-fledged bank in Oman, it is our responsibility to continue leading the way,” said El Jaroudi.

(Times Of Oman / 26 August 2015)

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Malaysia’s Islamic financing sector is under pressure amid market woes

The broad sell-off triggered by the continued stock market slump in China is rattling across Southeast East Asian economies. In particular, the Malaysian bond and sukuk market has been badly hit by selling pressure, causing yields to surge and bonds indexes registering their biggest losses year-to-date.

Malaysia, the world largest sukuk issuer, is under particular and multiple pressures. Not just the weakening economy in China, one of its largest trading partners, is stepping on the brakes of Malaysia’s economic growth, it is also the rapidly falling value of the country’s currency, the ringgit, the tumbling oil price – a major setback for Southeast Asia’s largest oil exporting nation –, heavy capital outflows, as well as Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak being embroiled in controversy over alleged misallocation of funds by state-owned investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad, which has built up some $11bn in debt.

Of Malaysia’s four outstanding dollar-denominated government sukuk only one due 2016 is in the green since April with a meagre 0.3% as per the end of last week, while the others, due 2045, were down between 0.24% and 3.6% in the period. Heavy selling pressure was triggered mainly due to the continuous depreciation of the ringgit against the US dollar. Since April alone, the ringgit dropped 13%. Sukuk sales in Malaysia fell 34% to $6.5bn at current rates so far in 2015 from a year earlier, while the nation’s Islamic banking assets have reached a record of around $150bn in dollar terms – which brings with it an ever-increasing obligation to return profits to investors.

Economists say that this situation – a multitude of negative macroeconomic factors – will show whether the notion is true or not that sukuk and other Shariah-compliant investment instruments are more stable and reliable in times of market turmoil than conventional finance products.

For example, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is actually endorsing Islamic finance as an alternative to conventional finance, it is also sending out warning signs.

“Islamic finance may help promote macroeconomic and financial stability,” argues Christopher Towe, deputy director at the IMF’s monetary and capital markets department, adding that “the principles of risk-sharing and asset-based financing can help promote better risk management by both financial institutions and their customers, as well as discourage credit booms.”

However, the global lender also warns that, with the Islamic finance industry being relatively young, there are also “systemic vulnerabilities” especially in case Islamic finance does not fully fulfil its key criteria to be truly asset-based and the requirements for risk-sharing. Other systemic risks remain liquidity-related, mainly stemming from a shortage of tools for short-term funding of Islamic banks, and with it a limited scope of Shariah-compliant financial safety nets for banks, Towe said.

When problems in the financial markets congregate like they do in Malaysia this year – falling oil prices, falling prices for other export commodities, weakening trade with China, capital outflows as the US prepares to raise interest rates, massive slump of the domestic currency’s value, dwindling currency reserves, a bearish stock market, and on top of that a loss in confidence in the government’s ability to properly manage public finances, then this is a matter of real concern for a country that is heavily reliant on Islamic finance-based debt. Higher borrowing costs – unavoidable at the current state – would make it much more expensive and thus highly risky, if not unaffordable, to finance the government’s ambitious $444bn development plan to build rail, roads and ports as it seeks to become an advanced economy by 2020, a core strategy of the current government.

(Gulf Times / 25 August 2015)

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Kremlin moves to attract Islamic funds to Russia

Russia may amend its financial regulations to allow Islamic banking in abid to attract funds from Muslim countries, as its economy struggles with a recession and Western sanctions.

The move comes as economists, including those at the International Monetary Fund, say U.S. and European sanctions are having a significant negative impact on the Russian economy by blocking important Russian companies from accessing global financial markets.

Officials have created a task force charged with implementing Islamic banking in the country, including amending the country’s banking laws, said Dmitry Savelyev, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets and the leader of the task group, the TASS news agency reported.

Islamic law, known as Sharia, places restrictions on certain types of financial transactions, such as interest payments. Over the years, a sophisticated field of banking practices compliant with Sharia has arisen to facilitate financial activity among pious Muslims, including the issuance of Islamic bonds, known as “sukuk.”

The market for Islamic finance is expanding rapidly and should reach a total size of $2.6 trillion by 2017, according to a report by global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Another estimate by the IMF said totalglobal Islamic assets would reach $3.4 trillion by the end of 2015.

Russia has a significant Muslim minority, estimated at about 15% of the population, which could make the practice attractive here.

Konstantin Baymukhashev, an attorney at UFS IC, said the changes in Russian legislation should help attract investment into the Russian economy from Arab countries.

Attracting Islamic assets

Rustam Minnikhanov, the president of Tatarstan, one of Russia’s predominantly Muslim regions, has been one of the most vocal proponents for bringing Islamic finance to Russia.

“The Muslim countries have not taken part in the attempts to isolate ourcountry on the international stage, and the latest developments in the world economy have shown that Islamic banks can withstand variousglobal crises and complement the global financial system,” Mr. Minnikhanov said in a speech in June at the KazanSummit Economic Forum.

Islamic finance will help Russian companies compensate for the lack of funding caused by the recent deterioration of relations between Russia and the West, he argued.

In July, Mr. Minnikhanov concluded a cooperation agreement with the president of Russia’s largest lender, state-owned retail banking giant Sberbank, involving the development of Islamic banking in Tatarstan.

Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Madani of the Islamic Development Bank, a multilateral Islamic lending organization based in Saudi Arabia, told RIR that Sharia-compliant bonds have also been issued by entities based in non-Muslim countries, including the United Kingdom, and that the worldwide amount of such assets has reached $120 billion.

“The republic of Tatarstan could be promoted as an Islamic finance hub within Russia,” Mr. Al-Madani said. Tatarstan’s largest bank, AK Bark, has already attracted some funds based on Islamic investment. Furthermore, in January 2015, local insurance operator Alliance began selling a specialized insurance product called“Halal Invest” that is compliant with Islamic norms.

“This kind of business is gaining momentum around the world, and by developing it in this country, we will diversify sources of funding and increase confidence in the banking system,” said Semyon Nemtsov, an analyst at Russ-Invest investment company.

However, analysts said Russia is unlikely to see a sudden surge of investment from Islamic countries.

“Islamic banking is first and foremost a religious and ideological concept. Its actual financial significance is secondary. This is why there are in fact a great deal of obstacles that hamper its implementation within Russia’s legal and financial system,” said Konstantin Korishchenko, deputy director of the Department of Capital Markets and Financial Engineering at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.

According to Mr. Korishchenko, there are numerous factors that will significantly complicate the alignment of Islamic finance and standardized Western banking, including the facts that Islamic regulations require that assets be sorted according to their source and deny explicit interest payments or futures transactions.

Moreover, Russia is likely to have more difficulties introducing Islamic finance than do common law countries like the UK. The introduction of Islamic banking will require deep, fundamental changes to Russian law.

According to Mr. Baymukhashev, Islamic and Russian banking systems are radically different from each other. “Islamic banks do not provide their clients with loans in the classical sense, but rather sell actual products or act as partners (co-investors) in some kind of a project, thus bearing all the associated risks with the client,” Mr. Baymukhashev explains, adding that Islamic banking also precludes the financing of companies that produce or sell alcoholic drinks.

“The difference between those two financial systems is significant. Amending the law is only a part of the ground we will have to cover while implementing Islamic banking in Russia,” says Mr. Baymukhashev.

(Russia And India Report / 23 August 2015)

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The huge potential in Islamic Finance

SANDTON – Responsible investing is becoming a major theme across the global industry. And one of the most significant areas within this sphere is faith-basedinvesting.

Speaking at the Money Expo 2015 at the Sandton Convention Centre, investment analyst at 27Four Investment Managers Nadir Thokan said that the Islamic Finance industry is still in the early stages of growth, but the potential is significant.

“The conventional financial services industry is more than 400 years old,” Thokan said. “But Islamic finance only dates back 40 years.”

While there has been substantial innovation over that time, the market remains relatively small.

“Currently the global market for Islamic finance is $1.5 trillion and its growing at 30% per annum,” Thokan said. “But penetration levels are still very low. Twenty-six percent of the world’s population is Muslim, but just 1% of banking assets globally are Shari’ah compliant. Given the huge pools of wealth in the Muslim world, this is poised for massive increases over the next few years.”

Thokan believes that the biggest potential for growth is in asset management, which still makes up a very small part of the Islamic finance industry as a whole.

“Of the $1.5 trillion in Shari’ah compliant assets, only $64 billion sits in fund management,” he said. “Only $25 billion of that is in equity mandates. But this is a multi-trillion dollar industry in the conventional asset management space.”

He argued that as penetration of products increases and as more people take a greater interest in Shari’ah compliant finance, this will also be a platform for very attractive returns moving forward. As flows into these products increase, returns will move upward.

In particular, he highlighted the global Sukuk market as one in which 27Four sees huge potential.

In simple terms, Sukuk can be described as a Shari’ah compliant bond product. With a bond, an issuer will receive capital from a pool of investors and in return will pay them an interest coupon over a set period and return their capital to them at the end of it.

Sukuk works in a similar way, but it is structured differently in that it gives ownership in a particular product. It therefore does not pay interest, but rather a share of the issuer’s earnings.

“With a conventional bond you take very little risk because unless the company goes bankrupt you are guaranteed the interest and your money back at the end of the term,” Thokan explained. “With Sukuk, however, you participate in profit and loss of that company. Typically what we’ve seen happening though is that it finances fairly low risk projects where cash flows are reasonably certain.”

Thokan said that there is huge potential in this market as it is tapping into a huge source of potential funding that is looking for good rates of return.

“In the Sukuk market there has always been more demand than supply,” he said. “So people have been willing to pay up. And as the industry grows and more people realise the benefits of issuing Sukuk we are likely to see the depth and liquidity of the market increasing.”

A significant benefit of Sukuk is that it shows very low correlation to other asset classes, including global bonds. It is therefore a great tool for diversification, making it appealing not only to investors looking for Shari’ah compliant products, but any investor looking for alternative sources of return.

The market is already showing signs of expanding out of its traditional base, with increasing numbers of issuers coming from outside of Asia and oil-producing nations. Recently Sukuk has been issued by the likes of investment bank Goldman Sachs, multinational conglomerate General Electric, and the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

“We are going to continue to see rapid rates of growth because it is an attractive avenue for issuers to look at in terms of diversifying their funding base,” Thokan said. “And as the market gets bigger it will attract larger pools of money, bigger issuers and more attractive returns.

(Money Web / 25 August 2015)

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‘Zakat’ brings hope for poor kids who want to study

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Zakat Foundation (CZF), is focusing on educational support for families in need and has created corpus fund from the obligatory charity money 'zakat' to extend assistance for the academic needs of children. 

'Zakat' is paid at the rate of 2.5% on assets, on which one year has lapsed. Take the case of Afsha Bano, who lost her father when she was a child. She was all smiles after her hope to accomplish her studies was rekindled by the foundation. Bano is now a student of Pandit Ravi Shankar university. 

Another recipient Abdul Haque, who is a labourer and resident of Chirmiri, felt reassured by zakat assistance which will help in shaping the destiny of his two sons. "It was tough for me to support my son who is doing engineering and another who is aspiring to become a doctor," he said. 

As many as 149 students received the zakat amount through cheques for their school fee and books at a simple function organised at G N Pandey government school auditorium in Raipur on Tuesday. Syed Akil and Mohammed Tahir of the CZF said that the selection and short-listing process of students was judiciously undertaken to ensure only deserving students remain beneficiaries. About Rs 7 lakh zakat fund was given away as scholarship to 149 students, most of them girls. 

(The Times Of India / 20 August 2015)

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Saudi Arabia’s Almarai to issue 2 bln riyal sukuk

Saudi Arabian dairy producer Almarai will issue a senior sukuk of up to 2 billion riyals ($533 million) to help finance investment plans, it said on Tuesday in a statement published on the bourse website.

The sukuk will be offered to local investors and is subject to market conditions, it said in its statement, adding it had mandated HSBC Saudi Arabia and Samba Capital and Investment Management Co to act as joint lead managers.

(Al-Arabiya News / 18 August 2015)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com