MALAYSIA - PUBLICATIONS - ISRA Research Papers 25 and 26

Analysis Of Legal Disputes In Islamic Finance And The Way Forward: With Special Reference To A Study Conducted At Muamalat Court, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Hakimah Yaacob	Pioneering Thoughts On Commodity Hawalah: Facilitating The Trading Of Debt?  Prof. Dr. Ashraf Md Hashim & Eqhwan Mokhzanee Muhammad
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INDONESIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Indonesia may delay global sukuk issuance to Nov

Aug 23 (Reuters) - Indonesia may push back the issuance of a planned global sukuk to November, Rahmat Waluyanto, the chief of debt office at the finance ministry said on Tuesday, from an earlier timeframe of September or October. (source)

MALAYSIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Sukuk success due to rarity

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's success in attracting US$9bil of orders for a US$2bil sale of sukuk reflects a one-year drought in global issuance by sovereign borrowers.

The nation's record dollar-denominated offering of US$1.2bil of five-year notes and US$800mil of 10-year debt was snapped up by more than 320 investors in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the United States, the Government said in a statement yesterday. (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Indonesia Rating Bets Drive New Sukuk Demand: Islamic Finance

Speculation Indonesia’s credit rating will be raised to investment grade may drive demand for the government’s second sale of global Islamic bonds.

I’d be interested because there’s the possibility of an investment-grade rating,” Mohd Noor Hj A Rahman, chief executive officer at Kuala Lumpur-based OSK-UOB Islamic Fund Management Bhd., said in an interview May 12. “Indonesia is a big market with potential for economic growth.” (full story)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Indonesia Dollar-Denominated Bonds Drop to Six-Week Low

Yields on Indonesia’s Shariah- compliant dollar-denominated bonds dropped to a six-week low as Southeast Asia’s largest economy moved a step closer toward winning an investment-grade rating.

The rate on the benchmark 8.8 percent Islamic note due April 2014 fell 7 basis points, or 0.07 of a percentage point, this week to 3.47 percent and reached 3.4 percent, the lowest level since Jan. 20, according to the Royal Bank of Scotland Group prices. (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Govt plans to introduce sukuk, sharia T-bills

The Finance Ministry’s debt management office plans to introduce new sharia-compliant debt instruments, an official says.

Those instruments include Islamic bonds (sukuk) designated for infrastructure projects and sharia short-term Treasury bills. (source)

FINANCIAL MARKETS - Bank Muamalat Indonesia Aims to Quadruple Its Sukuk Holdings

PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia, the country’s oldest Islamic bank, plans to quadruple its holdings of Shariah-compliant debt this year.

“Currently, we have about 500 billion ($55.4 million) rupiah invested in sukuk and we hope to increase that to more than 2 trillion rupiah this year,” Chief Financial Officer Hendiarto, said yesterday in an interview.  (source)

FINANCIAL MARKETS - Indonesian Sukuk Extends Record Loss on Food, Fuel Prices: Islamic Finance

Indonesia’s dollar Islamic bonds fell for a second week, after a record decline last quarter, as concern inflation will quicken outstripped optimism the nation will win an investment-grade rating.

FINANCIAL MARKETS - Indonesia aims to delay global sukuk issue to H2

JAKARTA, Jan 14 - Indonesia aims to issue global sukuk in the second half of this year, a further delay to the planned Islamic bond offering, as it needs parliamentary approval to use 30 trillion rupiah of underlying assets for the issue, an official said.

Southeast Asia's largest economy currently has 10.8 trillion rupiah worth of underlying assets for sukuk issuance, Dahlan Siamat, a sharia debt director at the finance ministry, told Reuters on Friday.

FINANCE - Tax incentives, sovereign and corporate sukuk, streamlining approval procedure for new products

Indonesia Cuts Taxes After Trailing Malaysia: Islamic Finance

Indonesia’s plan to offer tax incentives for Islamic finance may spur sukuk issuance, which was 32 percent that of Malaysia last year.

FINANCE - BRUNEI - Have a brighter future without debt

THE Ministry of Finance's (MoF) regulations on credit card which were implemented in July, are definitely giving Brunei a rosier future as the government "nips the situation in the bud". This statement came from Tareq Muhmood, chief executive officer of HSBC Brunei. He said that although the regulations are harsh, their intentions are good and (the regulations) will put the Sultanate in "very strong" positions in three years time.

SUKUK - Asian Dollar Sukuk Relative Yield Slumps on U.S. Slowdown: Islamic Finance

Yields on Asia’s dollar Islamic bonds have slumped to the lowest levels in three months relative to local-currency debt on evidence that the U.S. economic recovery is flagging as growth accelerates across the region. 

The difference between the yield on the Malaysian government’s 3.928 percent five-year dollar sukuk and the similar-maturity 3.86 percent ringgit Islamic note widened five basis points this month to 67, prices from Bursa Malaysia and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc show. The gap grew 52 basis points in July and reached 76 on Aug. 19, the most since the dollar bonds were sold in May. 

SUKUK - Govt optimistic to break sukuk issuance target

JAKARTA: Directorate General of Debt Management is optimistic to reach the target of Islamic bonds issuance this year by issuing the Indonesian hajj funds sukuk (SDHI) amounting IDR4.85 trillion. The sukuk issuance was to substitute the global sukuk whose issuance was canceled in second quarter 2010.

Director General of Debt Management Rahmat Waluyanto explained the regular sukuk auction by the end of this year will still be held by issuing SDHI.