INDONESIA - BANKING - Indonesia lures Mideast Shariah lenders

www.gulf-times.com - Indonesia’s Islamic finance industry is luring investment from Middle Eastern and European banks as regulator seeks to double Shariah-compliant assets to 10% of the total this decade.
Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s largest, is chasing investment banking business in Indonesia and may open branches “at the right time,” Mudassir Amray, the head of wholesale banking in Kuala Lumpur, said in a February 2 interview. Standard Chartered Saadiq will add more outlets, said Wasim Saifi, the Singapore-based global head of Islamic and consumer banking.
“We are on the lookout for any good Indonesian acquisition, if the price is right,” Mohamed Azahari Kamil, the Kuala Lumpur-based chief executive of Asian Finance Bank Bhd, the Malaysian unit of Qatar Islamic Bank, said in an interview on Monday. “We have to be quick as the Indonesian market is becoming more competitive.”  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Jakarta Becomes Magnet of Shari`ah Assets

www.onislam.net - CAIRO – Taking a share of the booming Islamic finance industry, Indonesia is becoming a magnet of Shari`ah-compliant assets from all around the globe.

“We are on the lookout for any good Indonesian acquisition, if the price is right,” Mohamed Azahari Kamil, the Kuala Lumpur-based chief executive of Asian Finance Bank Bhd, the Malaysian unit of Qatar Islamic Bank, told the Gulf Times on Thursday, February 9. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Qatar Islamic Bank Q4 earnings slip 33 pct, miss views

Jan 18 (Reuters) - Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) , the Gulf state's second largest lender by market value, posted a 32.6 percent dip in fourth-quarter net profit on Wednesday, missing analysts' forecasts.

QIB made a net profit of 265 million riyals ($72.8 million), according to Reuters calculations, compared with 393 million riyals a year earlier and below analysts' average forecast of 394.2 million riyals. (source)

SOUTH KOREA - BANKING - QIB inks deal with Korean bank

Doha : Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the largest Islamic bank in Qatar and one of the leading Islamic banks in the world, yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), reflecting the growing trade and investment flows between Qatar and South Korea.

The MoU was signed on Tuesday Abdullatif bin Abdulla Al Mahmoud, Managing Director,QIB and Ki-Sub Nam, Executive Director and Board Member, the Export-Import Bank of Korea. The signing ceremony was attended by senior QIB executives and KEXIM delegation. (source)

MALAYSIA - APPOINTMENTS - Asian Finance Bank AFB appoints Salah as new chairman (also active in Indonesia)

KUALA LUMPUR: Asian Finance Bank (AFB) has appointed Salah Mohd I Al Jaidah as its new chairman, effective, Sept 15.

AFB in a statement yesterday said Salah was one of the earliest directors to be appointed to the AFB board and had been instrumental in steering the growth and development of the finance house. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - IDB to postpone selling Muamalat shares

JAKARTA: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) officially submitted a letter to Bank Indonesia (BI) last week stating that it would postpone selling its shares of PT Bank Muamalat Tbk, a central bank official says.

BI Islamic Banking Directorate director Mulya E. Siregar said Friday that the postponement was due to a disagreement between IDB and potential investors over the stock price. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Bank Muamalat Says Major Shareholders Drop Stake Sale Plan

Jakarta. Major shareholders of Bank Muamalat, Indonesia's second largest shariah lender, have decided to postpone a plan to sell down their stake in the bank, partly due to disagreement over pricing, said a bank executive on Monday.

Muamalat's top three shareholders - Islamic Development Bank, Boubyan Bank Kuwait , and Saudi Arabia's Atwill Holdings Ltd - collectively control 75.7 percent of the lender and were trying to offload some or all of their holdings. (source)

WORLD - CAPITAL MARKETS - $47 bln Sukuk issued during first half: KFH

KFH Researches monthly report about the developments in the global sukuk market revealed that the issuance of sukuk in global markets increased during the aforementioned period by 34.7%. The report noted that the value of sukuk issued during the First Half is USD 47 billion, which is more than last year’s record USD 45 billion — Editor (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Chairul Tanjung Withdraws from Betting on Bank Muamalat

Theindonesiatoday.com - Chairul Tanjung, owner of Trans Corporation/TransCorp), member of Para Group, has reportedly withdrawn from betting on acquiring PT Bank Muamalat Tbk, Detikfinance.com reported.

"From the result of due diligence, we consider to have a high risk (for acquiring Bank Muamalat)," he said but declined to comment on whether the price offer is expensive. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Eight investors lining up for Bank Muamalat

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Three investors have expressed its seriousness to Bank Indonesia to buy Bank Muamalat. Until now recorded eight investors who target a pioneer Islamic bank in his homeland.
Director of the Directorate of Islamic Banking, Mulya Siregar, said there are three local investors and foreign investors who are interested in five woo Muamalat. Three local investors that is Saratoga's Sandiaga Uno, The Group, led Chairul Tanjung, and Bank Mandiri. Meanwhile, five foreign investors is the Qatar Islamic Bank, OCBC Overseas, Standard Chartered, Bearing Bank, and Overseas Chinese Banking. "But until now the Muamalat has not dropped the option," he said on Wednesday (13 / 7). (source - google translate)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Chairul Tanjung and Sandiaga Uno Bet on Bank Muamalat

Theindonesiatoday.com - Two businessmen Chairul Tanjung and Sandiaga Uno are betting on acquiring PT Bank Muamalat Tbk. Also competing are PT Bank Mandiri Tbk (BMRI) and five foreign banks, Detikfinance.com reported.

Chairul Tanjung will bid Bank Muamalat through Para Group while Sandiaga Uno uses his investment arm PT Saratoga Investment Sedaya.

Mulya Siregar, director of syariah banking directorate, said those among five foreign banks interested to acquire Bank Muamalat are Qatar Islamic Bank, OCBC, Standard Chartered and ING Barings Bank. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - 8 investors express interest in Bank Muamalat shares

At least eight investors, including five foreign ones, have expressed their interest in purchasing 50 percent shares of Bank Muamalat, a major sharia bank in Indonesia.

Bank Indonesia deputy director for sharia banking Mulya Siregar said the interested investors included local-based Para Group, which belongs to business tycoon Chairul Tanjung; Saratoga Investama Sedaya, headed by noted businessman Sandiaga Uno; and the country's largest lender by assets, Bank Mandiri. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Bidders Pulled Out From Bank Muamalat Stake Sale

JAKARTA -(Dow Jones)- Bidders have pulled out of negotiations to buy a stake in Indonesian Shariah lender PT Bank Muamalat, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.

"All bidders are out now. They don't agree with the terms and conditions, which also include the price," said the person, who declined to be named. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - QIB quits Bank Muamalat bid, StanChart left-sources

* StanChart only bidder left in race - sources

* PT Bank, Bank Mandri, OCBC also backed out from deal

By Janeman Latul and Dinesh Nair

JAKARTA/DUBAI, July 4 (Reuters) - Qatar Islamic Bank has pulled out of the bidding for a majority stake in Indonesian Islamic lender PT Bank Muamalat, banking sources said, leaving Standard Chartered Plc as the sole remaining bidder.(source)

BANKING - Race is on (Bank Muamalat)

Race is on It looks like the race to acquire a chunk of Indonesia’s Bank Muamalat is narrowing, with British
bank Standard Chartered apparently in pole position.  

Bank Muamalat was Indonesia’s first Shari’ah compliant bank, starting operations in 1992. It now serves about three million customers in Indonesia and Malaysia and had piqued the interest of Qatar’s largest Islamic bank, Qatar Islamic Bank and local operator Bank Mega, as well as Standard Chartered because of its strategic positioning in what many analysts regard as one of the most significant Islamic banking markets of the future. (source)

BANKING - StanChart Reported to Have Eye on 15% Stake in Bank Muamalat

British-based Standard Chartered is planning to bid for a stake in Bank Muamalat, the oldest Islamic bank in Indonesia, after its local affiliate, Bank Permata, withdrew from the race, sources with direct knowledge of the matter have said.

Qatar Islamic Bank and Bank Mega were among suitors that submitted second-round bids ahead of last week’s deadline. (source)

BANKING - StanChart considers bid for Indonesia Islamic lender Bank Muamalat

HONG KONG/JAKARTA, June 20 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered Plc is planning to bid for a controlling stake in Indonesia's PT Bank Muamalat alone as StanChart's affiliate has dropped out of the race, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday. 

Qatar Islamic Bank and Bank Mega TBK were among suitors that submitted second-round bids ahead of last week's deadline, sources added.(source)

MALAYSIA - Malaysia's Zarinah Anwar calls for greater GCC-Asian connectivity

LONDON: Zarinah Anwar, chairman of the Securities Commission of Malaysia, the securities and capital market regulator, has called on Middle Eastern and Asian countries to spearhead the further expansion of Islamic finance, which in the process would also deepen business and investment linkages between the two regions where the phenomenon is already being practiced on a significant scale. (source)

BANKING - Gulf banks tackling Shariah disputes to boost investment

Arabian Gulf banks say they are more ready to accept Asian Islamic debt as Shariah-compliant, allowing them to invest in a market that has issued twice as much sukuk as the Middle East this year.

Institutions from the two regions are working to overcome differences over whether southeast Asian notes comply with Islam’s ban on interest, according to Albaraka Banking Group, Bahrain’s biggest publicly traded lender, and Asian Finance Bank, the Malaysian arm of Qatar Islamic Bank. Last year, Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Group helped Cagamas Bhd, Malaysia’s largest mortgage holder, structure a sukuk after Gulf investors balked at debt sold by the same issuer in 2009. (source)

BANKING - StanChart, Qatar Islamic to bid for Indonesia's Muamalat

A Standard Chartered Plc affiliate, Qatar Islamic Bank SAQ and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. are among bidders for a controlling stake in PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia, the country’s oldest Islamic bank, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Shareholders of Bank Muamalat plan to sell more than 50 per cent of the lender in a deal that may value it at as much as $600 million, one of the people said, declining to be identified because the talks are private. Second-round bids are due in mid- June, the people said. PT Bank Permata, an Indonesian lender 45 per cent owned by Standard Chartered, is bidding for the stake, one person said. (full story - alrroya)