INDONESIA - IDB - Islamic Development Bank approves $1 billion in projects across 20 countries

www.cpifinancial.net - The 284th meeting of the Board of Executive Directors of the Islamic Development Bank, which convened at IDB headquarters starting Sunday 16 July, under the chairmanship of Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President, IDB Group, approved more than $ 1,158 million towards development projects financing for IDB member countries and Muslim communities in non-member countries.
This is the largest amount of approvals by a single IDB board meeting since the Bank’s inception in 1975. The approvals covered a large number of strategically important development projects comprising: (source)

KOREA - FINANCE - Islamic Development Bank signs $2bn deal with Korea Development Bank

www.cpifinancial.net - The Islamic Development Bank ( IDB ) has signed a Framework Co-financing Agreement (FCA) with Korea Development Bank (KDB) in which each bank will earmark $1 billion to co-finance public private partnership (PPP) projects in IDB member countries over the next three years.
 

The common pipeline of projects for co-financing would be based on the two institutions' shared understanding of the development needs of the target countries and best practice concepts on development financing. The agreement aims to target projects in infrastructure, agriculture, human development and development of the private sector.  (source)

MALAYSIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Malaysia revises Shari’ah screening methodology

www.cpifinancial.net  - The Shari’ah Advisory Council (SAC) of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has announced the adoption of a revised screening methodology to determine the Shari’ah-compliant status of listed companies.

In view of the developments and growing sophistication of the Islamic finance industry since the introduction of the current screening methodology in 1995, the SAC has revised the methodology by adopting a two-tier quantitative approach which applies the business activity benchmarks and the newly-introduced financial ratio benchmarks. The outcome of the revised methodology will be reflected in the List of Shari’ah-compliant Securities by the SC's SAC effective from November 2013.  (source)

MALAYSIA - BANKING - Maybank Islamic reports 50/50 split of Muslim/non Muslim customers

www.cpifinancial.net  - Product innovation and knowledge of local market wins over customers of any religion, according to Maybank Islamic’s CEO, Muzaffar Hisham.

The demographic of Maybank Islamic’s customers is a 50/50 split of Muslims/non Muslims, Hisham revealed to Islamic Business & Finance on the sidelines of the 3^rd World Islamic Banking Conference Asia Summit.
“One of the reasons is because we are able to price our products to be more competitive, secondly we have some advantages from the Government including tax incentives – not big ones, but small ones but that helps,” said Hisham. (source)

INDONESIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Indonesia details Sukuk auction for 12 June

www.cpifinancial.net -The Ministry will be selling six-month Shari’ah T-bills and project-based Sukuk across a range of maturities: six, 10, 15 and 25 years (respectively, 2018, 2022, 2027 and 2037).

Indonesia’s most recent Sukuk auction on 22 May also had an indicative target of IDR 1 trillion but only raised IDR 550 billion despite receiving bids totalling IDR 1.42 trillion. Thee country has a fund-raising target of IDR 46.5 trillion in both conventional and Shari’ah bonds for Q2 2011. (source)

MALAYSIA - OPINION - Lost in translation ?

www.cpifinancial.com - It ought to be the Editor of Islamic Business & Finance’s dream to be sent to Kuala Lumpur, a city whose space-age skyscrapers house the institutions responsible for developing the world’s most sophisticated Islamic finance market. However, as I walked its bustling streets I soon learned that the wonders of Malaysia’s Islamic banking industry have yet to translate down to its banking consumers…
Boasting a 20 per cent market share, which the country’s Central Bank wants to double within the next five years, its Islamic banks are spoiled with a supportive Government, advanced Islamic capital market and a ready-made consumer market from the country’s majority-Muslim population. Malaysia’s population, however, seem a bit nonplussed by the concept. (source)

INDONESIA - FINANCE - ICIEC and IIGF sign an MOU to support investors in Indonesia

www.cpifinancial.net - The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) and the Indonesia Infrastructure Guarantee Fund (IIGF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) during the 2012 Asia Finance and Risk Mitigation Forum in Makati City, Philippines on 30 April 2012.

Dr. Abdel Rahman El-Tayeb Taha, the Chief Executive Officer of ICIEC and Ms. Sinthya Roesly, Chief Executive Officer of IIGF signed the MOU. The MOU aims at establishing – consistent with their respective operational policies – a lasting relationship between the two entities in furtherance of their desire to co-ordinate their activities and seek mutual cooperation in promoting infrastructure investments into Indonesia. The ICIEC is 67 per cent-owned by the Islamic Development Bank. (source)

HONG KONG - CAPITAL MARKETS - Hong Kong consults on Islamic bonds

www.cpifinancial.net - The Financial Services & the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) launched a consultation on 29 March 2012 on the proposed amendments to the Inland Revenue Ordinance and Stamp Duty Ordinance to promote Islamic bond, market development in Hong Kong SAR.

Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Professor KC Chan said the amendments seek to level the playing field for common types of Sukuk (Ijarah, Musharaka, Mudaraba and Murabaha) vis-a-vis their conventional counterparts in terms of profits tax, property tax and stamp duty liabilities. (source)