INDONESIA - BANKING - Danamon Announces Sale of Shares by FFH to DBS (press release)

www.danamon.co.id - press release - PT Bank Danamon Indonesia, Tbk, (‘Danamon’ or the “Company”) has been informed by Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte. Ltd. (“FFH”), that it has entered into a share purchase agreement with DBS Group Holdings (“DBS”) to sell its interest in the whole of the issued share capital of Asia Financial (Indonesia) Pte. Ltd. (“AFI”) to DBS. AFI holds approximately 67.37% of the total issued shares of the Company. The transaction is subject to the approvals, among others, of DBS shareholders and regulators, including Bank Indonesia.

Danamon shareholders should refer to the DBS announcement dated 2 April 2012 that DBS will launch a Mandatory Tender Offer (MTO) to acquire the remaining listed shares from the other Shareholders of Danamon for a cash offer price of IDR 7,000, - per share. (source)

MALAYSIA - BANKING - Press Statement : Financial Sector Blueprint 2011 - 2020

Bank Negara Malaysia today released the new Financial Sector Blueprint. Themed "Strengthening Our Future", the Blueprint charts the future direction of the financial system over the next ten years.

As the country transitions towards a high value-added and high-income economy, the role of the financial sector is envisioned to grow beyond its role as an enabler of growth to be a key driver and catalyst of economic growth. Towards this end, the aim is for the financial sector to be more competitive, dynamic, inclusive, diversified and integrated, with the ability to offer world class financial services, in terms of breadth, depth and quality to serve the needs of Malaysia. The growth of the financial system should be ultimately anchored to the growth in the real sector. Based on the rate of growth of the economy projected for the next decade, the financial sector is envisaged to expand to six times of GDP in 2020 from 4.3 times of GDP currently. Meanwhile, the contribution of the financial services sector to nominal GDP is expected to grow from 8.6% of nominal GDP to between 10 and 12% by 2020.   (source)

JAPAN - CAPITAL MARKETS - Tokyo Bay Traders-Japanese Show Growing Interest in Islamic Financing

OPENPR.COM - (Press Release) - Japanese institutions are showing increasing interest in Islamic financing to diversify capital raising avenues.

Tokyo, Japan, September 26, 2011 -- Japanese institutions are showing increasing interest in Islamic financing to diversify capital raising avenues.

As the global financial markets recover from the financial crisis, Islamic finance is appealing as an alternative to conventional financial instruments. Sukuk share many features of conventional bonds, such as standardized transactions structures and documents, and similar trading, listing and ratings characteristics.

Issuers do not need to be Islamic entities, nor is the market restricted to the Middle East. Indeed there is anecdotal evidence which suggests that most sales of sukuk in 2012 will be generated from Asia. Malaysia continues to dominate the sukuk market today with an 80% market share in the global Islamic bonds market, but 2010 also saw other sovereigns such as Indonesia, with its successful Sukuk treble, make their way into the market. Singapore also made a relatively small but significant debut. (source)