PAKISTAN: VIS assigns final rating of ‘A-1+’ to K-Electric’s PKR5 billion (US$17.61 million) short-term Sukuk
MALAYSIA: RAM assigns ‘AA1/Stable’ rating to UOB Malaysia’s proposed Islamic medium-term notes
SAUDI ARABIA: Moody’s assigns ‘(P)A1’ rating to Saudi Electricity Company’s Sukuk program
GLOBAL: Saudi EXIM Bank signs new credit line agreement with Iraqi Islamic Bank for Investment and Development worth SAR75 million (US$19.97 million)
MALAYSIA: Bank Negara Malaysia standardizes housing loan and home financing agreement for retail borrowers
UK: Neill Gibson retires as partner at Trowers & Hamlins
MALAYSIA: WCT Holdings issues Sukuk Murabahah worth RM100 million (US$22.6 million) with one-year tenor
SAUDI ARABIA: Al Kathiri Holding Co concludes Series 1 offering of Sukuk issuance program
MALAYSIA: Public transportation company Perak Transit issues Sukuk Murabahah worth RM250 million (US$56.5 million)
MALAYSIA: Waste management company Cenviro issues Islamic medium-term note worth RM22 million (US$4.97 million)
MALAYSIA: Bank Negara Malaysia issues Islamic facilities worth RM32.25 billion (US$7.29 billion) in total
MALAYSIA: BGRB Venture issues Islamic medium-term note worth RM4 million (US$903,940) with one-year tenor
GLOBAL: IFSB issues Exposure Draft of the Conduct of Business Supervision in Takaful Undertakings for 60-day public consultation period
SAUDI ARABIA: Aljazira Takaful Taawuni Co to increase capital by 20% to SAR660 million (US$175.75 million) through granting bonus shares
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi AZM for Communication and Information Technology Co signs non-binding MoU to fully acquire AZM FinTech
BAHRAIN: Central Bank of Bahrain issues regulatory amendments to include digital token offerings in framework for regulated crypto-asset activities
GLOBAL: IFSB celebrates 20th anniversary, growing from nine to 187 members around the world across 57 jurisdictions
SAUDI ARABIA: Al Rajhi Bank completes US$1 billion senior unsecured sustainable Sukuk offering; settlement on the 5th April 2023
GLOBAL: IsDB’s trade finance arm signs agreements worth US$725,000 with Egypt and Palestine to support agro-food and handicraft sectors
EGYPT: Egyptian Exchange and Financial Regulatory Authority confirm imminent launch of sustainable Sukuk and Islamic index
MALAYSIA: Gobi Partners onboards senior care service provider into Gobi Dana Impak Ventures fund
UAE: Ahmad Mohammad Khaleel Alseksek resigns as independent non-executive member of Takaful Emarat Insurance’s board of directors
MALAYSIA: Cagamas concludes issuance of Islamic and conventional facilities worth RM1.4 billion (US$317 million) in total
BANGLADESH: Shariah compliant wealth management platform Wholesum records consistent returns of more than 10%
MALAYSIA: YTL Power International issues Islamic facilities worth RM215 million (US$48.69 million) in total
SAUDI ARABIA: Rawabi Holding upsizes Sukuk issuance to SAR875 million (US$233.01 million)
MALAYSIA: Bank Negara Malaysia issues Islamic facility worth RM26.84 billion (US$6.08 billion)
UAE: IFN welcomes new correspondent for UAE
GLOBAL: International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation to auction US$740 million Sukuk facility in three tranches
SAUDI ARABIA: Al Rajhi Bank commences offering period of US dollar-denominated sustainable Sukuk
MALAYSIA: PETRONAS Dagangan proposes establishment of Sukuk Wakalah programs with combined limit of up to RM10 billion (US$2.26 billion)
UK: UK government launches Islamic finance working group
INDONESIA: Islamic digital bank Hijra Bank partners with mortgage solution provider IDEAL Indonesia to launch HijraHome
UAE: SALAMA to reduce capital by 22.35% for the purpose of writing off accumulated losses amounting to AED270.41 million (US$73.58 million)
SAUDI ARABIA: Gulf Union Al Ahlia announces firm intention to make an offer to Al Sagr’s shareholders to proceed with merger
TUNISIA: Banque Zitouna renews term of Nabil El Madani as CEO for another three years
YEMEN: Al Busairi Bank for Microfinance adopts ICS BANKS Islamic Banking solution from ICS Financial Systems
MALAYSIA: Swift Haulage invests RM19.16 million (US$4.34 million) to increase equity stake in Global Vision Logistics to 42.5%
UAE: Dar Al Takaful changes trade name to Watania International Holding
MALAYSIA: Bank Negara Malaysia seeks feedback on exposure draft of Financial Technology Regulatory Sandbox Framework
SAUDI ARABIA: Martin Rueegg resigns as acting CEO of Al Alamiya for Cooperative Insurance Co
MALAYSIA: TNB Power Generation issues Islamic medium-term notes worth RM2 billion (US$452.96 million) in total
KUWAIT: Central Bank of Kuwait issues bonds and related Tawarruq papers worth KWD240 million (US$781.81 million) in total
MALAYSIA: Bank Negara Malaysia issues Islamic facilities worth RM27.51 billion (US$6.23 billion) in total
MALAYSIA: Principal Malaysia launches Principal Islamic Global Responsible Equity Fund
GLOBAL: Hassan Radhi & Associates supports World Islamic Finance Dialogues 2023 as partner
INDONESIA: Mandala Finance to seek approval to issue bonds, Sukuk or other debt securities to support financing distribution, Kontan reports
GAMBIA: Central Bank of Gambia’s three-month, six-month and one-year Sukuk Salam facilities oversubscribed
MALAYSIA: Fitch affirms Sime Darby Plantation Global’s Sukuk program at ‘BBB’
UAE: Omar Saeed Alhemeiri resigns as independent non-executive director of Takaful Emarat for personal reasons
Turkiye and Uzbekistan separately met with IsDB Institute officials to discuss Islamic banking regulations and capacity-building. The Philippines is promoting Islamic finance certification for industry players, Malaysia made enhancements to the requirements for offering Islamic REITs and ETFs with Waqf...
Investors are pumping serious money into the metaverse, and the Islamic finance industry is paying close attention; some are even advocating for a Halal metaverse. But how does Islamic finance stand to benefit from this...
The metaverse opens a whole new world of possibilities and opportunities. In less than a decade, the metaverse is expected to be worth some US$5 trillion and pundits are expecting this new iteration of the...
Independent power producer and multi-utility group YTL Power International, whose key businesses are power generation and retail; water supply and wastewater services, and communications, has issued five Islamic papers worth a total of RM1.51 billion...
Saudi Arabia closed its March 2023 offerings under the government’s Saudi riyal-denominated Sukuk program, while Indonesia’s sovereign Shariah securities series received total bids of IDR23.51 trillion (US$1.53 billion)....
A leading member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, or the Ivory Coast, with its 38.6% Muslim population, holds potential for having a thriving Islamic finance industry....
The global Islamic banking sector has experienced continuous growth over the years, and is expected to occupy an even bigger share of the global Islamic financial services industry assets in the coming years. EMIR ZAINUL...
Egypt's long-awaited Sukuk have finally been issued and received overwhelming demand; Russia started implementing an Islamic finance experimental pilot project to test the waters; and Ethiopia looks into a Sukuk framework. Meanwhile, two US corporates have announced plans to each issue a Sukuk paper and...
The Islamic Finance news Awards honor the best in the Islamic financial industry and are one of the most prestigious awards highly recognized by the global Islamic capital markets. These awards continue to be an apt representation of the current Islamic financial market landscape.
Saudi Arabia closed its March 2023 offerings under the government’s Saudi riyal-denominated Sukuk program, while Indonesia’s sovereign Shariah securities series received total bids of IDR23.51 trillion (US$1.53 billion). EMIR ZAINUL rounds up notable Shariah sovereign...
AmanahRaya Investment Management (ARIM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amanah Raya which is a trustee company wholly owned by the government of Malaysia, has on the 2nd March 2023 officially launched its seventh unit trust fund,...
Xanderia, a Malaysian Islamic fintech company whose digital platform offers Shariah personal financing for civil servants, has expanded its business into Indonesia. NESSREEN TAMANO has the story. The company has partnered with several business and...
The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) is inching closer to fully launching its central bank digital currency (CBDC) — the digital dirham — for domestic and cross-border transactions with the commencement of the CBUAE...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is working with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to facilitate and support the individual Islamic finance certification of 55 members of its partner-agencies. NESSREEN TAMANO reports on yet another...
The Islamic finance industry is expected to thrive further in Uzbekistan, as the Central Asian nation may soon introduce a legal and regulatory framework for Islamic banking, among other new regulatory initiatives, following a series...
Islamic digital bank Nomo announced its plans to expand into Saudi Arabia and the UAE while D360 Bank, a Saudi Islamic neobank, said it will also be officially launching “very soon”. In Egypt, Kaf Insurance...
The IsDB Group today has launched the inaugural Private Sector Forum Awards (PSF 2023 Awards) to recognize and honor exceptional achievements, groundbreaking innovations and impactful initiatives by market practitioners driving positive change through Shariah compliant...
Iraq Islamic Bank (IIB), the country's first Islamic bank established in 1992, has partnered with global investment company MSA Novo to support Iraqi start-ups and contribute to the development of Iraq's digital landscape. NESSREEN TAMANO...
Qatar makes the occasional appearance in the sovereign securities market, while other usual issuers continue to tap the market to raise funds for their respective countries. EMIR ZAINUL rounds up notable Shariah sovereign securities developments...
The multidimensional Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030) is based on a comprehensive approach of human development with four societal pillars: economy, people, culture and environment. The country’s environmental and climatic features present a difficult...
The US is among the most advanced and highly developed free-market economies in the world (Zgheib, 2018). It is a culturally rich country taking pride in its history, culture and religious liberty (Tubadji et al.,...
In February 2023, the Pakistani government launched a one-year Sukuk Ijarah facility after receiving a lot of demand from Islamic financial institutions for short-maturity instruments. The Shariah Advisory Committee of the State Bank of Pakistan...
Being one of the early pioneers and proponents of Islamic finance, the Islamic financial industry in the UAE continues to grow from strength to strength. Since the establishment of the world’s first fully-fledged Islamic commercial...
The Islamic insurance model, Takaful, was introduced as an alternative to conventional insurance which is considered forbidden under Islamic law or Shariah law by Muslim jurists, and operates on the principles of risk-sharing, solidarity and...
No poverty In this piece, I shall endeavor to share my thoughts on how the Bait Al Maal concept could be adopted in the restricted sense to support SDG No 1 by using modern technology to first reduce and finally achieve zero poverty in 57 Islamic countries to start with. For the sake of clarity, I borrow the following definition of poor and extremely poor from the UN website: “Nearly half of the world’s population currently lives in poverty, defined as income of less than US$2 per day, including one billion children. Of those living in poverty, over 800 million...
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in Nigeria has taken the risk management policy in Takaful undertakings into its consideration. The Shariah non-compliance risk is unique to Takaful undertakings as compared with their conventional counterparts. It can be defined as a breach of Shariah rules and principles that may render contracts invalid under Shariah law, deprive...
While Russia is preparing to adopt a law starting with an experiment on the introduction of Islamic finance in four Muslim regions, more challenges and problems arise that need to be solved urgently. The first unresolved issue is Shariah control. Which state body will be responsible in Russia for the development of standards and procedures...
The new coalition government, which was formed after Malaysia experienced its first-ever hung parliament in an election deadlock in November 2022, tabled the revised Budget 2023 (Budget Madani) on the 24th February. Of the RM388.1 billion (US$87.9 billion) allocated, a sum of RM289.1 billion (US$65.48 billion) was designated for operating expenditure and RM99 billion (US$22.42...
Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT no longer requires any introduction. Its ability to provide detailed long-form responses to virtually any prompt represents significant triumphs of natural language processing and machine learning. This AI milestone leads to the question: in which areas of Islamic finance can the application of AI create the most benefit? Three practical...
Indonesia is the country that issued the first two green Sukuk in the world. Firstly, sovereign green Sukuk with a value of US$1.25 billion in 2018, and secondly, green retail Sukuk with a value of IDR1.46 trillion (US$96.32 million) in 2019. Both products were issued by the Indonesian government. The sovereign green Sukuk were for...
Islamic banking activity has recently become relevant, although the emergence of such a financial institution in its modern sense has a short history. To date, there are various factors that serve as the reason for...
Starting their activities in 2017, Islamic banks in Morocco, as a subset of the Islamic finance industry, reached a total credit supply of MAD21.5 billion (US$2.06 billion) at the end of July 2022. Eighty percent...
The use of privately held shares as a Wakalah asset in a Wakalah–Murabahah Sukuk structure has been demonstrated for the first time as a viable and commercially successful structure by the recent US$1.5 billion amortizing...
The failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has not gone unnoticed in Islamic finance circles. As with the financial crisis of 2008, a strong fever has spread among some researchers, analysts and practitioners in the...
The multiplicity of products and services and the complexity of processes in a competitive world are requirements for knowledge-based businesses. In this regard, information and communication technology, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and intelligent...
In a conversation with IFN Managing Editor Vineeta Tan, global finance pundit Andrew Sheng expounds on the ways we could move toward a more equitable and sustainable future including by investing in social enterprises and exploring Shariah compliant equity-based financial models as the current debt-based system is not sustainable.
