SINGAPORE - SPEECHES - WIBC Singapore 2012

The Next Phase in Islamic Finance  

Ravi Menon

Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore

Opening Address at the 3rd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit

Grant Hyatt Singapore

5 June 2012

Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-Madani, President, Islamic Development Bank,
Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.
And to all our foreign guests, a warm welcome to Singapore.

An Increasingly Difficult Conjuncture

We are meeting here for the 3rd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference Asia Summit, at a time of increasing stress in the global economy and financial system.  (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)

WORLD - FINANCE - Thomson Reuters Launches World's First Islamic Interbank Rate

Thomson Reuters works with leading Islamic finance institutions and banks to provide objective and dedicated benchmark for Shariah-compliant short-term interbank funding in Islamic finance industry

New York, London, Bahrain — Thomson Reuters today launched the world's first Islamic finance benchmark rate, designed to provide an objective and dedicated indicator for the average expected return on Shariah-compliant short-term interbank funding. The Islamic Interbank Benchmark Rate (IIBR), announced at the 18th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference in Bahrain, uses the contributed rates of 16 Islamic banks and the Islamic sections of conventional banks to provide a reliable and much-needed alternative for pricing Islamic instruments to the conventional interest-based benchmarks used for mainstream finance. (source)

MALAYSIA - Malaysia's Zarinah Anwar calls for greater GCC-Asian connectivity

LONDON: Zarinah Anwar, chairman of the Securities Commission of Malaysia, the securities and capital market regulator, has called on Middle Eastern and Asian countries to spearhead the further expansion of Islamic finance, which in the process would also deepen business and investment linkages between the two regions where the phenomenon is already being practiced on a significant scale. (source)

EVENTS - WIBC - Islamic finance dev't linked to broader economic agenda

BRUNEI'S Islamic finance strategy is linked to a broader economic agenda of "participating in enhanced intra-OIC (Organisation of the Islamic Conference) trade flows", said the Managing Director of Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) at a conference on Islamic banking in Singapore yesterday.

Giving a speech at the 2nd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference (Asia Summit) held at the Pan Pacific Hotel, Hj Mohd Rosli Hj Sabtu said, one major area being actively pursued by the Sultanate is in the manufacturing of halal products, "including food and pharmaceutical". (source)

GENERAL - Islamic finance industry growing at 20 percent

MANAMA: Islamic finance is growing at an average annual rate of 20 per cent and is one of the fastest growing sections of the finance industry. That was the claim by World Islamic Banking Conference managing director David McLean at the opening of the two-day Second Annual World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit (WIBC Asia 2011) in Singapore yesterday.

"Today there are more than 600 financial institutions operating in more than 75 countries," he said.

"The increasing presence of Islamic financial institutions in new jurisdictions and the increased international interest in Islamic financial markets represents a tremendous opportunity for cross-border flows that are Sharia-compliant. (source)

SPEECH - SINGAPORE - Opening Address by Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry and Deputy Chairman, Monetary Authority of Singapore at the 2nd World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit 2011

 Opening Address by Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry and Deputy Chairman, Monetary Authority of Singapore at the 2nd World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit 2011 -8 June 2011 at Pan Pacific Hotel Singapore

“Towards a New Era of Growing Connectivity between Asia and the Middle East”

Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Introduction

1   I am honoured to be invited to deliver the opening address at the 2nd World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit (WIBC Asia).  I would like to extend a warm welcome to our overseas guests, especially our distinguished speakers who will be sharing their insights during this conference. (Source - or read hereunder)

SINGAPORE - New tax rules for Islamic finance

The Government will issue new income tax rules for Islamic finance products, said deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Mr Lim Hng Kiang.

The new regulations, to be issued by the Ministry of Finance, will cover financing agreements based on financing through partnership agreement, project financing and the interbank placement of funds, Mr Lim said.

This is so that syariah-compliant products are not at a disadvantage compared with conventional products in terms of tax treatment, in order to encourage more such products in Singapore.(source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Indonesia's global sukuk offering on track-official

(Reuters) - Indonesia is on track for a global sukuk offering in July to August, said an official with the country's finance ministry on Wednesday.

Langgeng Basuki, deputy director of sukuk market development, confirmed earlier reports that Indonesia planned to issue the global sukuk bond in the second half of this year. 

He was speaking to reporters at the sidelines of an Islamic finance conference in Singapore. (Reporting by Liau Y-Sing, writing by Razak Ahmad: Editing by Niluksi Koswanage) (source)

SINGAPORE - Islamic finance to play a pivotal role in trade and investment flows (WIBC)

HE Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry Republic of Singapore & Deputy Chairman Monetary Authority of Singapore delivering the keynote address at WIBC Asia 2011

HE Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry Republic of Singapore & Deputy Chairman Monetary Authority of Singapore

The 2nd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit (WIBC Asia 2011) opened today at the Pan Pacific Hotel, Singapore. Though Islamic banking assets have grown significantly over the past few years, they still only represent less than one per cent of total global banking assets – with more than 50 per cent concentration in the Middle East region.

The two-day WIBC Asia event, held under the official support of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, kicked off today with an inaugural address by HE Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry Republic of Singapore & Deputy Chairman Monetary Authority of Singapore. This was followed by an opening keynote session which featured HE Mohd Rosli Sabtu, Managing Director of Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD); HE Halim Alamsyah, Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia; and Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, Chairman of Securities Commission Malaysia. (source)

SINGAPORE - Islamic Finance Moves Towards a New Era of Growing Global Connectivity

The 2nd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit to gather more than 450 industry leaders for discussions on enhancing cross-border connectivity and driving growth of significant international transactions in Islamic finance

 Singapore - More than 450 key players and thought leaders in the global and regional Islamic finance industry will be gathering on the 8^th and 9^th of June 2011 in Singapore for the 2^nd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit, which is convened with the support of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. (source)

EVENTS - 2nd Annual WIBC (Singapore - June 8-9)

SINGAPORE - EVENTS - SPEECH - MAS Singapore calls for Islamic improvements

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has called for stricter standards of risk management and corporate governance at Sharia-compliant financial institutions.

Ng Nam Sin, assistant managing director at the authority, told the 17th annual World Islamic Banking Conference in Bahrain on Wednesday that banks need to ensure that their businesses can be "sustainable in the long-term".

SINGAPORE - EVENTS - SPEECH - The new financial landscape - catalysing the growth of Islamic finance in the Asian markets

Opening Keynote Address by Mr Ng Nam Sin, Assistant Managing Director (Development), Monetary Authority of Singapore, at the 17th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference, Bahrain, 24 November 2010, 9.15am, Bahrain time (2.15pm Singapore time)

THE NEW FINANCIAL LANDSCAPE: CATALYSING THE GROWTH OF ISLAMIC FINANCE IN THE ASIAN MARKETS