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 - BANKING - Distributes Donation Fund, HSBC Attract Duafa Wallet

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Indonesia Republika Dhuafa Wallet hook to channel donations of funds. Through a number of branch offices in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and Medan, during Ramadan, a foreign bank is trying to give a donation through Ramadan box whose results will be distributed at the institute amil zakat.

HSBC Indonesia CEO, Michael Young, said Ramadan is a perfect moment to share. "We hope this spirit can be passed on employees, customers and the younger generation," he said on the activities of the HSBC Share Happiness. Besides Wallet Dhuafa, HSBC also hook a number of other charities, such as Zakat and Heading Home Care Keadian Ummat (PKPU). In the group, HSBC also channel donations through the HSBC Foundation. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - HSBC Amanah Focuses on Asset Increase

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Sharia The Hongkong Shanghai Bank Corp (HSBC) Indonesia, HSBC Amanah, focus its activities in 2011 to improve the asset. Head of HSBC Amanah, Herwin Bustaman, said that since the double tax on the commodity murabaha 2010 and then abolished, HSBC Amanah find the confidence to release new products to spur growth. (source)