INDONESIA - TAKAFUL - Allianz Life premium income up 44% of Sharia

www.kontan.co.id - JAKARTA. During the first half of 2012, the performance of PT Allianz Life Syariah bright. This insurance company had a premium of Rp 269 billion or an increase of 44% over the same period last year. Nearly 97% of premium income derived from products unitlink.

While the contribution of agency lines reached 89% of total premium Sharia. The number of agents certified Sharia Allianz Life 6300 people. Until late 6600 the number of agents targeted Islamic people.

Kiswiati Soeryoko, Chief of Sharia and Corporate Communications Officer of Allianz Life Indonesia confirms, the contribution of bancassurance also showed an increase. Throughout the first half, bancassurance contributes 9%.  (source)

AUSTRALIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - NAB in talks for potential Australian debut sukuk

www.reuters.com - SYDNEY, April 5 (IFR) - Australia is on the road towards establishing a local Islamic bond market although the country's first sukuk issuance may be several months away, IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication, reported.

National Australia Bank (Aa2/AA-/AA-) is understood to be in talks with regulators on a potential debut Sharia-compliant bond offering as the issuer seeks to marry local regulations with such deals' Islamic requirements.

Any sukuk must secure prior approval from Australian regulators, particularly the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). (source)

BANKING - CIMB Niaga can become larger than Mandiri by 2016 - BRI might surpass Mandiri this year

JAKARTA (IFT) - According to the IFT Research Department, in the next five years, state-owned banks may face tough competition from private banks, whose majority stakes are controlled by foreign investors.

Assets growth in PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk (BNGA) and PT Bank Pan Indonesia Tbk (PNBN) in 2016 will surpass PT Bank Mandiri Tbk (BMRI) and PT Bank Central Asia Tbk (BBCA). This is reasonable as CIMB Niaga and Panin Bank recorded the highest average annual asset growth among ten largest banks in Indonesia. (full story - indonesia finance today)