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GLOBAL: Exciting
developments in Russia and Africa unfold this week as we see a draft law
removing barriers for Islamic banking being submitted to the lower house
of the Federal Assembly of Russia, according to Islamic-Finance.Ru; while
Morocco’s central bank announces plans to introduce an Islamic interbank
market to stimulate the country’s economy and attract foreign investment,
reported Reuters. The central bank according to Morocco World News
confirmed that it is evaluating requests from 15 foreign financial
institutions and three domestic entities to invest in the country’s
Shariah banking sector. It has also been clarified that the Kingdom will
likely welcome its first fully-fledged Islamic bank next year instead of
this year. Egypt is also on track to embracing a new Islamic leasing
company as the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private
Sector this week formalized an agreement with Arab Investment Bank to
establish Enmaa Leasing Company, slated to open its doors in the third
quarter.
In the same third quarter, it is also expected for the Dubai Islamic
Economy Development Center to launch a federal Shariah board to regulate
Islamic banks, Takaful operators and Islamic windows, reported Bloomberg.
The UAE also had a strong showing in the Sukuk landscape this week as
Emirates Airline and Sharjah opened books for their respective Islamic
debt programs worth US$913 million and US$1 billion respectively,
according to Reuters. Other notable Sukuk activities include HSBC Amanah
Malaysia issuing the third tranche of its RM3 billion (US$816.03 million)
multi-currency Sukuk program today while regular issuers Central Bank of
Bahrain and the government of Brunei tapped the market this week with
their respective BHD36 million (US$94.79 million) Sukuk Salam and Sukuk
Ijarah facilities. Indonesia, whose latest Sukuk auction this week raised
IDR1.97 trillion (US$151.3 million) following an orderbook of IDR3.25
trillion (US$249.6 million), will see its national airline carrier begin
a roadshow for its planned US$500 million global Sukuk on the 1st
May, according to the news portal Bisnis.
In the world of Islamic funds, investment holding firm Valuecap is
looking to introduce a new Islamic exchange-traded fund, the MyETF MSCI
SEA Islamic Dividend, to the Malaysian market. To be managed by
subsidiary i-VCap Management, initial subscription for the fund will be
open next month. In the UK, we see London Central Portfolio extending
further subscriptions for its Shariah compliant property fund, the LCA
II, driven by the growing demand from Muslim consumers, both in the UK
and abroad, for Shariah compliant property investment opportunities. It
has also been revealed that London-based Ashmore Group plans to launch a
series of Islamic funds via its Saudi Arabian unit as it seeks to
strengthen its presence in the Middle East. The firm has collaborated with
Bahrain’s Shariyah Review Bureau for the latter to manage and oversee the
Shariah compliance aspects of Ashmore’s investment and debt propositions.
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