INDONESIA - BANKING - Indonesia to Allow Currency Hedging for Banks: Islamic Finance

www.thejakartaglobe.com - Indonesia will let Shariah-compliant banks hedge against exchange-rate movements to spur growth in Islamic financial assets and narrow the gap with Malaysia’s industry, which is seven times larger.    

Bank Indonesia, the National Shariah Board and the Indonesia Institute of Accountants have approved the instruments, available in Malaysia since 2006, Adiwarman Azwar Karim, Jakarta-based vice chairman of the board’s Islamic capital market working committee, said in an Aug. 3 interview. The central bank said it is working on regulations, declining to say when they would be finished.     (source)

INDONESIA - FINANCE - HSBC to Pioneer Islamic Forex Products in Indonesia

www.bloomberg.com -HSBC Amanah will offer Islamic foreign exchange forwards and cross-currency hedging instruments in Indonesia starting next month to help Shariah-compliant banks manage risks arising from currency fluctuations. “For these two products, we are the first to receive approval from the central bank,” Herwin Bustaman, HSBC Amanah’s Indonesia head, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “Right now Islamic banks are exposed to market risk. This will help the capital markets.” (source)

INDONESIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Indonesia set to see record Sukuk issuance in 2012: HSBC

asianbankingandfinance.net - The government has already sold US$1.5 billion of local Sukuk in March this year, says HSBC Amanah head Herwin Bustaman.
In a recent teleconference,  HSBC shared its update and outlook for Asia's Sukuk market. According to Herwin Bustaman, head of HSBC Amanah, HSBC Indonesia, Indonesia is very likely to see record Sukuk issuance in 2012; in fact, the government has already sold US$1.5 billion of local Sukuk in March this year. Bustaman estimates another US$1-1.5 billion of global government Sukuk, most likely in the second half of this year.  (source)

INDONESIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Lower Yields Breathe New Life Into Indonesia’s Islamic Lending

www.thejakartabglobe.com - A year long drought in the sales of corporate sukuk in Indonesia is ending as falling yields spur offers by Bank Muamalat Indonesia and Mayora Indah.

Bank Muamalat, the nation’s second-largest Islamic lender, will offer as much as Rp 800 billion ($87.2 million) of Shariah-compliant notes in June, finance director Hendiarto said on April 4.

Mayora Indah, a biscuit maker, will sell Rp 250 billion of debt in May, a company statement said on Monday. The average yield on Indonesian corporate dollar-denominated debt has fallen 34 basis points to 4.87 percent since Jan. 17, the day before Moody’s Investors Service gave the country an investment-grade rating. (source)

INDONESIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Record sukuk issuance in Indonesia in 2012

www.theasset.com - Indonesia is very likely to see a record sukuk issuance in 2012, including the offering of the country’s first US dollar corporate sukuk.


Herwin Bustaman, head of HSBC Amanah in Indonesia, notes that the Indonesian government has already sold USD1.5 billion of local sukuk in March this year and that another USD1 billion to USD1.5 billion of global government sukuk is likely to be sold in the second half of the year.  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Islamic Commercial Banking in Indonesia and Malaysia

www.livetradingnews.com - CIMB Islamic, HSBC Amanah and OCBC Al-Amin said the biggest challenge to the growth of Islamic commercial banking is a lack of awareness and the need to explain the advantages of Shariah-compliant financing from an economic perspective.
Islamic trade financing isn’t competitive, Mohamad Nedal, former secretary-general of the Accounting & Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions in Bahrain, said in an interview last year.
“Having a multinational corporation convert to Islamic financing would need a majority of management to believe in Islam,” said Fares Mourad, head of Islamic finance at Bank Sarasin & CIE, the Swiss wealth manager controlled by Rabobank Groep, said. (source)

INDONESIA - VIDEOS - Islamic Banking Market, HSBC's Strategy (Indonesia)

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Yakub Bobat, Dubai-based global head of HSBC Amanah Commercial Banking, talks about the global Islamic banking market. He spoke with Bloomberg Television's Haslinda Amin on Nov. 30. (Source: Bloomberg) (source)

INDONESIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - JFX set target of IDR 5 billion/day from syariah commodity transactions

pkesinteraktif.com - Jakarta (14/10)- Jakara Future Exchange (JFX)  or Bursa Berjangka Jakarta set target to have IDR 5 billion transaction daily in the first 3 months, as explained by JFX Director, M. Bihar Sakti Wibowo, During the launching ceremony, last Thursday, (13/10).  (source)

INDONESIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - JFX set target of IDR 5 billion/day from syariah commodity transactions

Jakarta (14/10)- Jakara Future Exchange (JFX)  or Bursa Berjangka Jakarta set target to have IDR 5 billion transaction daily in the first 3 months, as explained by JFX Director, M. Bihar Sakti Wibowo, During the launching ceremony, last Thursday, (13/10). (source)

INDONESIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - JFX Target Commodity Transaction Achieving Sharia Rp 5 M

Jakarta (14/10) - Jakara Futures Exchange (JFX) or targeting the Jakarta Futures Exchange at an early stage in the last 3 months of this year, Islamic commodity transactions could reach USD 5 billion per day. This was said by M. Bihar Sakti Wibowo, Director JFX on the sidelines of the launch of Islamic commodity in Jakarta, Thursday (13/10).  (source)

INDONESIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Jakarta Futures Exchange to start Sharia-backed commodity products

thepeninsulaqatar.com - JAKARTA: The Jakarta Futures Exchange (JFX) will launch sharia-compliant commodity contracts next week, one month behind schedule, a director at the exchange said yesterday.

The exchange will launch contracts for five agricultural products of which Indonesia is a major exporter, including coffee, cocoa and raw cashew nuts, Bihar Sakti Wibowo, a director at the exchange told reporters.

The contracts were expected to be kicked off in mid-September. (source)

WORLD - TRADE FINANCE - ITFC signs up HSBC as key trade finance partner

CPF FINANCIAL  - International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) and HSBS sign MoU to implement Shari’ah-compliant trade financing

Dr Waleed Al-Wohaib, Chief Executive Officer, International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation

HSBC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Islamic Development Bank’s ITFC on trade finance and to provide help on various treasury activities such as joint trade financing and investment of liquidity. The MoU means ITFC customers will be able to use HSBC’s services to facilitate the issuance of Letters of Credit on behalf of ITFC for customers who import or export goods.

HSBC Amanah, the bank’s global Islamic finance business, is present in seven countries, four of which contribute more than 50 per cent to the GDP of Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member countries. (source)

MALAYSIA - BANKING - HSBC Bank Malaysia to open more Islamic branches

KUALA LUMPUR: HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd, the country's largest foreign lender, plans to open six more branches, mostly Islamic, before the year-end.

 

"I think we'll probably have another six or so, and they'll be largely Islamic branches. All of it is subject to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)'s approval," Jon Addis, the bank's executive director and deputy chief executive officer, told repor-ters when asked about its branch expansion plans at an HSBC event here yesterday. (source)

SINGAPORE - Singapore to Draw Islamic Investments With Sabana, HSBC Says

Singapore will attract more Islamic investments from the Middle East following the share sale of Sabana Shari’ah Compliant Industrial REIT, the world’s largest Islamic property trust, HSBC Holdings Plc said.

Sabana raised as much as S$664.4 million ($503 million) in the sale. The 458 million shares offered, which exclude reserved stock or those for key investors, were 2.5 times subscribed, the trust said in a statement yesterday. The shares for retail investors drew 12 times more demand, said Rafe Haneef, managing director of global markets for HSBC Amanah, the Shariah-compliant unit of Europe’s largest bank.