INDONESIA - BANKING - Banks plan Shariah assets for Asian millionaires (StanChart - CIMB)

www.gulfnews.com - Kuala Lumpur/Hong Kong: Standard Chartered Plc will start Islamic private banking services in Asia and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. plans to roll out new products for the wealthy as they target rich Muslims who have limited investment options.
The UK’s second-largest lender by market value will offer Shariah-compliant products tailored to meet the needs of people who have at least $2 million (Dh7.35 million), Wasim Saifi, the Kuala Lumpur-based global head for Islamic consumer banking, said in a July 6 interview.
Malaysia’s CIMB will market more instruments in the fourth quarter for clients with a minimum of 1 million ringgit (Dh1.15 million), Badlisyah Abdul Gani, chief executive officer of CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd., said in a July 10 interview. (source)

WORLD - CAPITAL MARKETS - Sharia investing leans to West

Islamic benchmarks have consistently outperformed conventional ones

To some observers of Islamic equity investing, Islamic or Sharia-compliant equity indexes seem to imply investing in publicly-listed companies in Muslim countries.

The end results contradict the assumptions. This also rebuts allegations by many from the anti-Sharia movement that Islamic investing is about investing in companies linked to terrorism or financing terrorism. The largest companies in the S&P Global BMI Sharia include ExxonMobil, IBM, Chevron, Nestle and Microsoft.

Today, there is a large stock count and market capitalisation weighting bias towards the non-Muslim G20 countries in all global Islamic equity indexes. We will look at country exposure of Sharia-compliant companies, the economic sector exposure and selected Muslim country Islamic indexes, and how to increase number of Sharia-compliant companies. (source)

INDONESIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Volatility hits Indonesia sukuk sale as rally ends

Kuala Lumpur: Islamic bonds halted a three-week rally as increased volatility in global markets undermined plans by Indonesia to sell sukuk. "Given this volatility, you don't know when you'll get the deal done," Zayed Ayer, chief investment officer at Kuala Lumpur-based CIMB-Principal Islamic Management Bhd. who helps oversee $700 million (Dh2.56 billion) of assets, said in an interview on Wednesday. "I am not selling or buying because sukuk had a good run recently." 

Indonesia said on Thursday it was assessing market movements before selling a dollar sukuk, after delaying the offering in September because of wider price swings in global markets. (source)

MALAYSIA - OPINION - TAKAFUL - Time to move to takaful 2.0

A conference on the future and expansion of takaful, called Takaful Rendezvous 2011, took place in Malaysia under the banner of Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum (KLIFF) from October 4 to 6. Although the industry has come far in a short period of time, more needs to be done.

Much like the $640-billion (Dh2.35 trillion) halal industry, takaful needs to rise and address some of the challenges on size, representative industry body, and perception.  (source)

WORLD - TAKAFUL - Global takaful premiums to touch $25b by 2015 - Indonesia top grower with 67 %

Dubai: Global takaful (Islamic insurance) contributions are expected to reach $12 billion (Dh44.04 billion) by the end of this year and reach $25 billion by 2015, according to Ernst & Young's World Takaful Report 2011 released yesterday.

Total takaful premiums amounted to $9.15 billion last year. "The takaful industry and its core markets have experienced another challenging year, where positive signs of economic recovery and improved business sentiment were shaken by the socio-political uncertainty witnessed across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region in the first quarter of 2011," said Ashar Nazim, Executive Director & Islamic Financial Services Leader, Ernst and Young. (source)
The original press brief from Ernst and Young can be accessed at their website : here
The 2011 World Takaful Report can be downloaded at the Ernst and Young Website :  here

BANKING - Gulf lenders eye Indonesia acquisitions (ABG - QIB - AFB - StanChart saadiq)

Dubai: Albaraka Banking Group and Qatar Islamic Bank aim to acquire Sharia-compliant lenders in Indonesia as the central bank estimates the nation's Islamic assets will increase by as much as 55 per cent this year.

Albaraka, Bahrain's biggest publicly traded bank, plans to spend $100 million on an acquisition, Chief Executive Officer Adnan Ahmad Yousuf said in a March 28 interview in Istanbul. (full story)

BANKING - Arqaam to help Indonesian banks find buyers

About five conventional and three Islamic lenders may be looking to help raise money for growth

Dubai : Arqaam Capital Ltd, a Dubai-based investment bank, wants to help other Indonesian lenders find investors in the Gulf region after advising PT Bank Kesawan on the sale of a stake in itself to Qatar National Bank SAQ. (full story)

BANKING - ABG Albaraka to spend US 50 million in Indonesia

Albaraka cuts size of March sukuk

Albaraka Banking Group reduced the size of a March sukuk programme to $250 million.

Dubai:  Albaraka Banking Group reduced the size of a March sukuk programme to $250 million (Dh918 million)-$300 million from the planned $500 million, Chief Executive Officer Adnan Ahmad Yousuf said. (source)