DEALS

Ooredoo mulls fundraising options to refinance existing facility, including issuing Islamic debt in 2016
Sunway Treasury Sukuk auctions RM100 million (US$23.94 million) short-term Sukuk
Malaysia plans second dollar-denominated Sukuk issuance; invites banks to submit proposals
Government of Indonesia to raise up to IDR30 trillion (US$2.22 billion) via retail Sukuk issuance to plug budget deficit
International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation completes sale of US$1.34 billion short-term Sukuk 
Syarikat Prasarana issues RM3 billion (US$718.06 million) Sukuk; oversubscribed 2.6 times
Vallianz Holdings taps Saudi Arabian market with issuance of SAR1 billion (US$266.53 million) Sukuk 
Central Bank of Bahrain’s Sukuk Salam fully subscribed
Khazanah Nasional begins book-building process of its US dollar Sukuk
Qatar Islamic Bank may issue Sukuk for acquisition purpose, says chairman

NEWS

Ecobank targeting Muslim population with Islamic savings account via Cameroonian subsidiary
Nigeria inaugurates committee for its first sovereign Sukuk 
Guyana to join the IDB by mid-2016; IDB plans office in CARICOM country
Kenya preparing to put Islamic finance law in place by year-end

ASSET MANAGEMENT

Employees Provident Fund declares dividend rate of 6.4% for 2015; exposure to Shariah investments exceeds 40% of total assets
UBL Fund Managers rolls out Al-Ameen Islamic Active Allocation Plan-IV, signs distribution agreement with Samba Bank
Manulife Aset Manajemen Indonesia launches US dollar offshore Shariah mutual funds under new regulations
Schroder Investment Management Indonesia launches Shariah compliant global mutual fund

TAKAFUL

Takaful sector expands 6.2% in 2015 outperforming conventional insurance growth, says Fitch

RATINGS

S&P revises outlook on Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam to negative
RAM downgrades Golden Assets International Finance’s Islamic notes rating
Perdana Petroleum plans to issue Sukuk Murabahah worth RM650 million (US$154.47 million); wins preliminary rating of ‘AAA(fg)/Stable’ 
Qatar secures stable ‘AA/A-1+’ ratings 
S&P confirms Kuwait’s ratings at ‘AA/A-1+’
S&P lowers Brazil’s rating to ‘BB’
Cahya Mata Sarawak’s proposed Sukuk wins ‘AA3/Stable’ rating
Malta maintains ‘A’ rating with a stable outlook
Oman’s ratings lowered to ‘BBB-/A-3’ 
Bahrain’s ratings downgraded to ‘BB/B’ on lower oil price assumption
Kuwait’s ratings affirmed at ‘AA/A-1+’ despite lower oil price assumptions
S&P downgrades ratings on Saudi Arabia to ‘A-/A-2’ as oil price plunges further
National Takaful Company sees ratings slide as underwriting performance weakens
RAM assigns preliminary ratings on Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank’s proposed Sukuk; maintains ‘AAA/Stable/P1’ ratings on bank
S&P downgrades Kazakhstan’s ratings to ‘BBB-/A-3’
S&P revises outlook on Al Khaleej Takaful Group to positive; affirms ‘BBB’ ratings

MOVES

Yasir Qadri named as CEO of UBL Fund Managers 
Emirates REIT’s executive deputy chairman expands role following departure of senior executive officer
David Morley to retire as senior partner of Allen & Overy in April; global managing partner Wim Dejonghe succeeds Morley
Christine Lagarde to head IMF for another five years
Jamal Al Kishi to head Deutsche Bank’s business in the Middle East and Africa