MALAYSIA - BANKING - Stanchart to make KL its Islamic banking hub

www.btimes.com.my - UPBEAT MOOD: Lender seeks to capitalise on Malaysia’s long-standing experience and expertise in the sector

MALAYSIA'S efforts to become an international Islamic finance centre have received a boost as the country's oldest bank, Standard Chartered Bank, (StanChart) is making Kuala Lumpur its global hub for Islamic consumer banking.

The bank's new global hub will be led by Wasim Saifi, the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Standard Chartered Saadiq Bhd (Saadiq Malaysia). Wasim is also StanChart global head of Islamic consumer banking.  (source)

SINGAPORE - EVENTS - Islamic banks 'can fill funding gap': S’pore Monetary Authority

www.thejakartaglobe.com -Islamic banks are priming themselves to capture a larger share of the global trade and project financing market, as European banks pull back funds to mend balance sheets back home.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon noted on Tuesday that trade and infrastructure development is naturally compatible with Islamic finance, which has a focus on supporting real productive activities.
At the World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit in Singapore, he urged Islamic bankers to diversify into this space.  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Indonesia lures Mideast Shariah lenders

www.gulf-times.com - Indonesia’s Islamic finance industry is luring investment from Middle Eastern and European banks as regulator seeks to double Shariah-compliant assets to 10% of the total this decade.
Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s largest, is chasing investment banking business in Indonesia and may open branches “at the right time,” Mudassir Amray, the head of wholesale banking in Kuala Lumpur, said in a February 2 interview. Standard Chartered Saadiq will add more outlets, said Wasim Saifi, the Singapore-based global head of Islamic and consumer banking.
“We are on the lookout for any good Indonesian acquisition, if the price is right,” Mohamed Azahari Kamil, the Kuala Lumpur-based chief executive of Asian Finance Bank Bhd, the Malaysian unit of Qatar Islamic Bank, said in an interview on Monday. “We have to be quick as the Indonesian market is becoming more competitive.”  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Indonesia Shariah Assets Rise Most Since 2003

www.bisnis.com - JAKARTA: The fastest growth in Indonesia's Shariah-compliant banking assets since 2003 is bolstering speculation that the government will meet its target for the industry next year.

Islamic holdings increased 49 percent to 145.5 trillion rupiah ($16.1 billion) in 2011, compared with an average 38 percent expansion over the previous five years, central bank data released on Feb. 15 showed.

That's less than Malaysia, a global Shariah finance hub, where assets total 389.3 billion ringgit ($129 billion), government data show.

Bank Indonesia has said it wants the industry to account for 5 percent of the country's total banking assets by 2013, from less than 4 percent now, and 10 percent by 2015 to 2020.  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Jakarta Becomes Magnet of Shari`ah Assets

www.onislam.net - CAIRO – Taking a share of the booming Islamic finance industry, Indonesia is becoming a magnet of Shari`ah-compliant assets from all around the globe.

“We are on the lookout for any good Indonesian acquisition, if the price is right,” Mohamed Azahari Kamil, the Kuala Lumpur-based chief executive of Asian Finance Bank Bhd, the Malaysian unit of Qatar Islamic Bank, told the Gulf Times on Thursday, February 9. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Indonesia lures Mideast Shariah lenders

www.gulftimes.com - Indonesia’s Islamic finance industry is luring investment from Middle Eastern and European banks as regulator seeks to double Shariah-compliant assets to 10% of the total this decade.
Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s largest, is chasing investment banking business in Indonesia and may open branches “at the right time,” Mudassir Amray, the head of wholesale banking in Kuala Lumpur, said in a February 2 interview. Standard Chartered Saadiq will add more outlets, said Wasim Saifi, the Singapore-based global head of Islamic and consumer banking.  (source)

BANKING - Race is on (Bank Muamalat)

Race is on It looks like the race to acquire a chunk of Indonesia’s Bank Muamalat is narrowing, with British
bank Standard Chartered apparently in pole position.  

Bank Muamalat was Indonesia’s first Shari’ah compliant bank, starting operations in 1992. It now serves about three million customers in Indonesia and Malaysia and had piqued the interest of Qatar’s largest Islamic bank, Qatar Islamic Bank and local operator Bank Mega, as well as Standard Chartered because of its strategic positioning in what many analysts regard as one of the most significant Islamic banking markets of the future. (source)

TRADE FINANCE - Islamic trade finance seen lifting growth of sector

DUBAI, June 9 (Reuters) - Islamic trade finance has benefitted from shifting preferences towards Sharia-compliant banking and could serve as one of the key growth drivers to help the nearly $1 trillion Islamic finance industry double in size.\

The global Islamic finance industry, which has been growing between 15 to 20 percent a year, is widely expected to reach $2 trillion in the next three to five years. (source)

BANKING - StanChart, Qatar Islamic to bid for Indonesia's Muamalat

A Standard Chartered Plc affiliate, Qatar Islamic Bank SAQ and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. are among bidders for a controlling stake in PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia, the country’s oldest Islamic bank, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Shareholders of Bank Muamalat plan to sell more than 50 per cent of the lender in a deal that may value it at as much as $600 million, one of the people said, declining to be identified because the talks are private. Second-round bids are due in mid- June, the people said. PT Bank Permata, an Indonesian lender 45 per cent owned by Standard Chartered, is bidding for the stake, one person said. (full story - alrroya)

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)