Islamic Banks Miss out on Saudi Sukuk The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has issued two sovereign Sukuk in its debut international hard currency Sharia compliant debt issuance. Issued in two tranches of $4.5 billion each, the issuances represent the largest sukuk ever issued beating Indonesia’s previous record issuances of $2 billion in March of this year, as well as from May 2015. Both of the Saudi suk... »
Report by IMF highlights key challenges facing the Islamic Financial Industry. Islamic Banking (IB) has grown rapidly in value and geographical reach, and has become an important and integral part of the financial systems in many countries. Though IB accounts for less than 2 percent of global finance, IBs currently operate in more than 60 countries and the industry has become systemically importan... »
Sovereigns, Banks and Corporates in the Gulf will Boost Sukuk Sales in 2017 Sukuk issuances are expected to be flat at around $70 billion for 2016, but are expected to pick up in 2017 as issuers ranging from sovereigns, banks and corporates in the Gulf look to issue to meet their financing needs. $40bn of sukuk was issued in the first half of the year with the marketing slowing in the summer and t... »
Earnings of Islamic Insurers to Remain Weak Two recent reports from rating agencies highlighted the challenges facing the Takaful industry. S&P said in a report looking at the GCC region, earnings of Islamic insurers will remain relatively weak and unevenly distributed as their small size, short track records, and retail focus work against them. Most takaful players in the region are still rel... »
Aberdeen Islamic – More Client Queries The decision by JPMorgan to include Sukuk in its indexes will draw more global investors to the Sukuk market and boost trading of the financial instrument. Barclays made a similar decision last year in a move which at the time was stated would boost international demand by attracting more non-Islamic investors to Malaysian sukuk. Barclays Global Aggrega... »
Report by Asian Development Bank – Asia Bond Monitor September 2016, Review of Islamic Finance and Sukuk market in South East Asia. Sukuk represented 11.8% share vs. conventional in Indonesia and 54.6% in Malaysia Emerging East Asia’s G3 currency bond issuance declined 2.5% y-o-y in January–July In Southeast Asia, total G3 currency bond issues (bonds issued in US dollars, yen and euros) were... »
Commentary by RHB Global Sukuk Markets Research, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Saudi Banking Sector Gets SAR20bn Injection The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) injected SAR20bn (USD5.3bn) into the banking system via time deposits, and also introduced 7 day and 28 day repurchase agreements in support of more monetary policy tools to support the economy. This comes after the 3 month Saudi Interbank Off... »
Retail Demand and Government Support is Helping Boost Growth Strong retail demand and proactive government support is assisting Islamic banks to grow at a faster pace when compared with their conventional peers. Khalid Howladar, Global Head of Islamic Finance at rating agency stated “Growth in the Islamic banking sector continues to broadly outpace that of conventional banks in most systems ... »
G20 and OECD Highlight use of Islamic Financing Instruments for Infrastructure Development In a recent joint G20 and OECD paper, the use of Islamic financing instruments such as Sukuk was highlighted and a number of successful case studies referenced as a means of advancing the global investment agenda, with a focus on infrastructure development, both in terms of quantity and quality. Mapping of i... »
Following on from KT Bank opening the first retail Islamic bank in Germany, Peter Kruschel, director of banking supervision at the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, discussed Germany’s interest in Islamic banking in an interview with Bloomberg at the Global Islamic Finance forum held in Kuala Lumpur recently. He stated Germany is aware of the potential of the Islamic banking se... »
