INDONESIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Bank Muamalat Indonesia to sell $50m of Islamic notes

PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia, the nation’s oldest shariah-compliant lender, said it will offer $50 million of dollar-denominated Shariah-compliant bonds in the fourth quarter of this year.

“The medium-term note sale will be a bilateral arrangement with a foreign bank in Malaysia,” Chief Financial Officer Hendiarto said at a press briefing in Jakarta today. The sukuk will have a tenor of not more than five years, he said in May. (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)

BANKING - Indonesia's Bank Muamalat eyes Jeddah branch opening

Bank Muamalat, Indonesia's second-biggest Islamic lender, sees more firms issuing global sukuk this year to benefit from lower yields on dollar-denominated bonds and a strengthening rupiah.

"The sukuk issuance potential is very good this year given the recent appreciation of the rupiah to the dollar," Hendiarto, Muamalat's finance director said on Monday. (full story)