INDONESIA - FOREIGN - Affin up on Bank Muamalat Malaysia stake buy talks

www.btimes.com.my -KUALA LUMPUR: Affin Holdings Bhd, Malaysia’s smallest banking group by market value, rallied the most in a month after obtaining central bank approval to start talks to buy a stake in the country’s second-oldest Islamic bank.

The stock advanced as much as 2.3 per cent in Kuala Lumpur trading to RM3.56. It pared gains to RM3.54 at 11:50am, poised for its steepest increase since July 18. It was the second-biggest increase in the Bursa Malaysia Finance Index, which climbed 0.3 per cent.

Acquiring a stake in Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd may increase Affin’s scale and help strengthen its position in the Southeast Asian nation’s Islamic banking industry, according to a brokerage report by Alliance Financial Group Bhd today. Bank Muamalat was formed in 1999, the second full-fledged Islamic bank set up in the country after Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd.  (source)

MALAYSIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Bank Muamalat Malaysia Redeems Subordinated Bonds, Says RAM

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 (Bernama) -- Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd has fully redeemed its RM250 million Islamic Subordinated Bonds (2006/2016), RAM Ratings says.

Following this, the rating agency said it had withdrawn the A3 rating assigned to the bonds and would no longer have any rating obligations on the debt facility. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Limbo in Indonesia (Affin breaking up Ina Perdana deal)

KUALA LUMPUR: The brewing uncertainty over changes to the rules governing Indonesia’s bank ownership limits has claimed its first casualty. Affin Holdings Bhd announced yesterday it has shelved plans to acquire a controlling stake in one of Indonesia’s smallest banks, PT Bank Ina Perdana (Bank Ina). (source)

INDONESIA - TRADE FINANCE - The ITFC signed a with MoU with Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad and two $1 million Murabaha financing agreements with Indonesian coffee exporting companies, CV Arvis Sanada and CV Ujang Jaya.

Jakarta, May, 2011: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, signed a memorandum of understanding with Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad and two $1 million Murabaha financing agreements with Indonesian coffee exporting companies, CV Arvis Sanada and CV Ujang Jaya.

The signing took place during the “IDB Day” in Indonesia which was held by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Islamic Development Bank in Ritz Carlton Hotel in Jakarta.(source)

MALAYSIA - BANKING - Uncertainty, disparity in Islamic finance pose challenges

The uncertainty and disparity in some areas of Islamic finance can at times be an added cost for industry players or turn them away from it, said a senior Securities Commission (SC) director.

Zainal Izlan Zainal Abidin, the SC executive director, said the legal, regulatory and tax frameworks for Islamic finance sometimes differ from one market jurisdiction to another, and this poses a challenge when one goes into cross border situations. (source)

MALAYSIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Bank Negara launches landmark Islamic note as Malaysia starts road show for sukuk

LONDON: The global Islamic capital market is once again focused on Malaysia with the recent launch by Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank, of its new Islamic monetary management instrument, the Bank Negara Monetary Notes-Istithmar (BNMN-Istithmar). (source)

MALAYSIA - Malaysia's Zarinah Anwar calls for greater GCC-Asian connectivity

LONDON: Zarinah Anwar, chairman of the Securities Commission of Malaysia, the securities and capital market regulator, has called on Middle Eastern and Asian countries to spearhead the further expansion of Islamic finance, which in the process would also deepen business and investment linkages between the two regions where the phenomenon is already being practiced on a significant scale. (source)

MALAYSIA - 'Islamic banks in Malaysia should start merging'

KUALA LUMPUR: Islamic banks in Malaysia should start merging to form stronger entities, says the chief of Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, the country's oldest Islamic lender.

 

There are currently 16 Islamic banks in the country, of which 10 are local, the largest being Maybank Islamic Bank Bhd.

Maybank Islamic, with an asset size of RM59.6 bil lion, is also the region's biggest. Bank Islam has some RM31 billion in assets. (source)

OPINION - MALAYSIA - Where is Malaysia's mega Islamic bank?

Industry executives agree in private that there are too many Islamic banks in Malaysia with a population of 27 million. This means that local Islamic banks, ideally, can merge and become bigger entities that can grow across borders.

 

IT LOOKS like we probably have to wait a little bit longer to find out who will win the two licences to set up mega Islamic banks in Malaysia. With a requirement of at least US$1 billion (RM3 billion) in capital, the announcement has been delayed since last year.

The two are set to be foreign-owned. News reports have talked about Bahrain's Al Baraka Banking Group's plan to head a group that will launch a US$10 billion (RM30 billion) Islamic bank.(full story)