THAILAND - BANKING - Islamic Bank seeks another soft loan for flood victims.

www.nationmultimedia.com - Islamic Bank of Thailand has asked the central bank to provide it with an additional Bt800 million in soft loans for re-lending to flood victims, president Thirasak Suwanayos said yesterday.
The bank also plans to lend more to support those wanting to do business in Asean.
Flood victims have already applied for loans worth Bt800 million, which is the amount previously made available to the bank under the flood-recovery scheme, he said.
His institution therefore intends asking for another Bt800 million from the Bank of Thailand because of high demand. Borrowers pay a fee of only 3 per cent annually to Islamic Bank for flood-related loans, he said.
The bank also plans to provide more loans to Thai enterprises wanting to do business in the region under the Asean Economic Community, which comes into effect in 2015.  (source)

THAILAND - BANKING - IBank Thailand sets sights on halal export loans

www.bangkokpost.com -The Islamic Bank of Thailand (IBank) plans to increase its focus on halal food exports, with a target of 3 billion baht in loans for the industry this year, says bank president Dheerasak Suwannayos.
The target is a 50% increase from last year, he said. IBank expects to extend 20 billion baht in credit to all sectors this year.
Mr Dheerasak said of Asean's 601 million people, Muslims account for 260 million.
The planned market integration called the Asean Economic Community in 2015 will result in new business opportunities for the Thai halal food industry across the region, he said.  (source)

THAILAND - CAPITAL MARKETS - Islamic Bank of Thailand sends out RFP for sukuk

www.financeasia.com -The Islamic Bank of Thailand has asked a group of banks to submit proposals for a baht-denominated sukuk by this Friday. However, the formal request for proposals (RFP) has come as a surprise because the deal has been in the works for the past few years and Malaysian bank CIMB has already been working on it.
“I’m not sure why they sent out an RFP. I’m not sure if CIMB has been formally appointed, but they’ve been working on it for a long time,” said one Bangkok-based banker.
Some speculate that Islamic Bank of Thailand wants to go through a formal selection process and that it may also be planning to add more banks to broaden the distribution of the bonds. (source)

THAILAND - CAPITAL MARKETS - Thailand Islamic Bank Sukuk Issue 5 Billion Baht

WWW.REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANGKOK - State-owned Bank, Islamic Bank of Thailand, plans to issue Islamic bonds (sukuk) early in the next two months. The value of sukuk issuance has reached 5 billion baht or equivalent to 162.6 million U.S. dollars.

Tenor sukuk issuance is planned for up to five years. Bank CIMB Islamic Bank was appointed as the underwriter. Sukuk issuance market segmentation targeting domestic and corporate investors in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Thailand plans to build the sukuk market to grow the Islamic financial sector. It follows the issuance of tax regulations in May 2011. Sukuk issuance will be used to finance infrastructure projects. (source)

THAILAND - BANKING - Islamic Bank has ambitious growth plans

www.nationmultimedia.com - The Islamic Bank of Thailand plans to issue bonds worth Bt5 billion in the second quarter, launch a property fund for Bt1.5 billion in the third quarter and expand its retail borrower base, Dheerasak Suwannayos, president of the bank, said yesterday.  (source)

THAILAND - BANKING - IBank aims to break into Asia's top three

www.bangkokpost.com - The state-run Islamic Bank of Thailand has set a goal to be among the top three Islamic banks in Asia with asset size of 300 billion baht within the next five years, said president Dheerasak Suwanyos.

The target is ambitious considering it has been in business for only 10 years. At present, Maybank Group is the largest Islamic bank in Asia with assets of 200 billion baht, followed by CIMB Bank and RHB Bank. All three are based in Malaysia.  (source)

ASEAN - CAPITAL MARKETS - Islamic Bond Alert

PT BANK SYARIAH BRI: The Islamic banking arm of Indonesia’s second-largest lender by assets may sell sukuk in the next one to two years to support expansion, President Director Ventje Rahardjo told reporters in Jakarta. 

PT BANK MUAMALAT INDONESIA: Indonesia’s second-largest Islamic bank will sell $50 million of dollar-denominated sukuk with a maturity of not more than five years in 2011, Hendiarto, chief financial officer at the bank, told reporters on July 21. The lender is also planning to sell 800 billion rupiah ($89 million) of local-currency Islamic bonds in 2012, Hendiarto said.  (source)

INDONESIA - MALASYA - THAILAND - Market Review

INDONESIA: The government will likely sell a global sukuk later than September, Rahmat Waluyanto, director general at the finance ministry’s debt management office, said in Jakarta. Indonesia doesn’t have urgent funding needs and is looking for the right timing for the sale because of global market conditions, Waluyanto said. The government will sell a “maximum” of $1 billion of Islamic bonds, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said Aug. 23.  (source)

THAILAND - FINANCE - Thailand could gain once rules on IslamIc fInancIng are finalised

Thailand could be increasingly driven by cross-border trade and investment through Islamic financing while its corporations could opt for Shariah-compliant bonds, or sukuk, for fund-raising in the international market once all laws and regulations are ready, according to Standard Chartered Bank.

"If the governing rules and regulations for Islamic financing like sukuk are put in place [in Thailand], then investors from the Middle East or Malaysia who want to invest according to Islamic principles may come and look at Thailand as a potential investment opportunity," Ahsan Ali, Dubai-based global head of Islamic origination, said last week. (source)

THAILAND - Islamic finance eyes Thai infrastructure funding

BANGKOK, June 29 (Reuters) - The Islamic finance industry is interested in tapping Middle Eastern oil money to help fund Thai infrastructure projects, which could help it gain a foothold in a market with only a small Muslim population, bankers said on Wednesday.

The fledgling Islamic finance industry was propelled into the global spotlight in the aftermath of the financial crisis as it was seen as a more ethical, less leveraged way of banking. (source)