MALAYSIA - FINANCE - Public Mutual launching new Islamic fund tomorrow - Indonesia on the list for investments

KUALA LUMPUR: Public Mutual, Malaysia's largest private unit trust company with 91 funds under management, is launching a new Islamic fund, Public Islamic Savings Fund, tomorrow.

"As the fund focuses its investments mainly in the domestic market, it offers investors an opportunity to capitalise on Malaysia's resilient economic growth prospects in the medium to long-term," said its chief executive officer Yeoh Kim Hong in a statement today.  (source)

SOUTH KOREA - BANKING - QIB inks deal with Korean bank

Doha : Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the largest Islamic bank in Qatar and one of the leading Islamic banks in the world, yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), reflecting the growing trade and investment flows between Qatar and South Korea.

The MoU was signed on Tuesday Abdullatif bin Abdulla Al Mahmoud, Managing Director,QIB and Ki-Sub Nam, Executive Director and Board Member, the Export-Import Bank of Korea. The signing ceremony was attended by senior QIB executives and KEXIM delegation. (source)

ASEAN - CAPITAL MARKETS - Islamic Bond Alert

PT BANK SYARIAH BRI: The Islamic banking arm of Indonesia’s second-largest lender by assets may sell sukuk in the next one to two years to support expansion, President Director Ventje Rahardjo told reporters in Jakarta. 

PT BANK MUAMALAT INDONESIA: Indonesia’s second-largest Islamic bank will sell $50 million of dollar-denominated sukuk with a maturity of not more than five years in 2011, Hendiarto, chief financial officer at the bank, told reporters on July 21. The lender is also planning to sell 800 billion rupiah ($89 million) of local-currency Islamic bonds in 2012, Hendiarto said.  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - First Gulf Bank plans four Asia offices to boost financing role - private banking top priority - not concrete plans for Islamic banking yet - Indonesia on the list

Singapore: Abu Dhabi-based First Gulf Bank (FGB) plans to set up four more representative branches in southeast Asia in a push to play a bigger role in financing energy and commodities projects in the fast-growing region, the head of the lender's Singapore office said. (source)

INDONESIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Indonesia Eyes Middle East Buyers for Fresh Round of Sukuk Bond Sales

Indonesia plans to sell dollar-denominated Islamic bonds by the end of December, the second sale of the securities in two years, and it is looking to Persian Gulf investors to purchase the debt.

“We are targeting Middle East investors to buy our global [Islamic bonds],” said Rahmat Waluyanto, director general of the debt management office at the Ministry of Finance, in a text message to the Jakarta Globe .

“Investors from other parts of Asia, Europe and the United States are also welcome.’’  (source)

MALAYSIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Public Bank To Launch Three New Funds

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 (Bernama) -- Public Bank will be launching three news funds on Tuesday, namely PB Asia Emerging Growth Fund, PB Bond Fund and PB Sukuk Fund, which will be managed by its wholly owned subsidiary, Public Mutual.

Public Mutual's Chief Executive Officer Yeoh Kim Hong, in a statement today, said the growth prospects for Asia were supported by resilient consumption expenditure amid sustained income levels, rising urbanisation rates and favourable demographic trends. (source)

KOREA - Islamic finance to be filibustered out of Korea

There does not look like there's much hope for Islamic finance breaking through in South Korea anytime soon, according to Min Kyung Kim senior manager of the Korean Deposit Insurance Corporation. (source)

BANKING - BNI Intends to Cooperate with Korea's Hanwha Group (BNI Syariah)

Theindonesiatoday.com - PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk (BBNI) intends to propose a strategic cooperation with Hanwha Group, a business conglomerate from South Korea, Investor Daily reported this morning.

The cooperation will focus on some lines of business, including the prospect to become a strategic partner for BNI. (source)

ASEAN - High oil prices to hand Islamic finance a temporary lifeline

(Reuters) - Strong oil prices will spark renewed interest in Islamic finance but the $1 trillion industry is unlikely to garner broad acceptance in the long term, eclipsed by the products and pricing offered by conventional banks.

With oil at over $100 a barrel, investors are expected to flock to Islamic finance in hopes of another Gulf petrodollar boom, similar to 2008 when record energy prices propelled the industry into the global spotlight.

During the last boom, the credit crisis and the collapse of Lehman Brothers and bailout of banks such as Citigroup and Bank of America reinforced the case for non-Muslim governments from France to South Korea to consider Islamic finance.(source)

THAILAND - Islamic Bank sees market potential in Upper South

The Islamic Bank of Thailand (IBank) plans to expand its financial services to the upper southern provinces to support Muslim communities affected by recent flooding, according to president Dheerasak Suwannayos.

The bank will focus on Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung and Trang provinces for its business expansion, which is scheduled for the second quarter this year after the flooding eases. (full story)