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KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 (Reuters) - State-owned Islamic Bank of Thailand will issue the country's first Islamic bond in a plan to raise funds for expansion, its president said on Friday.
The bank will sell 200 million ringgit ($55.42 million) of mudaraba bonds in neighbouring Malaysia, Dheerasak Suwannayos said.
"It is just to test the market," Dheerasak told Reuters by telephone. "Thailand has never issued anything in Islamic bonds before. I think we will start to work on it after April."
Mudaraba is a structure where a bank will provide capital for a project while the entrepreneur will manage the deal. Profits are split according to a pre-determined ratio and the bank will bear any monetary losses that arise.
The bank has appointed Zaid Ibrahim, a Malaysian law firm, as its legal adviser for the deal but has yet to select a bank, Dheerasak said.
He said Islamic Bank of Thailand may pick Malaysia's second largest lender CIMB Bank, the world's top arranger of Islamic bonds, to handle the deal.
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KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Reuters) - Unicorn International Islamic Bank Malaysia expects to do $400-500 million of transactions this year, with a strong market projected for medium-sized deals, the lender said on Thursday.
The bank, a subsidiary of Bahrain's Unicorn Investment Bank, is working on two financing deals each worth under $50 million, its chief executive Khalid Bhaimia said.
Unicorn Malaysia has a licence to do non-ringgit Islamic deals.
"We are very much focusing on some of the medium-sized issues, it could be a sukuk issue or cross-border transaction, which are not large but a $50-$100 million type of transaction," Unicorn Malaysia chairman Vaseehar Hassan Abdul Razack told reporters.
"There's plenty of demand for these kind of transactions from small- and medium-sized corporations."
Like conventional lenders, Islamic banks are bracing for a tough year ahead as a sharp global economic downturn hits corporate and consumer spending.
Falling property prices in the Gulf are expected to depress the Islamic financial industry.
Dubai Islamic Bank DISB.DU made a net loss of about 3.5 million dirhams ($952,900) in the fourth quarter, compared with a net profit of 605 million dirhams a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations.
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He moved to Dubai in 1993 to establish HSBC’s regional investment banking business there. He advised the government of Dubai on the establishment of the Dubai Financial Market and served as a director of the Dubai International Financial Exchange from 2005 to 2007.
The Jakarta Globe spoke with him on March 3 on the sidelines of the World Islamic Economic Forum. He talked about global Shariah banking, as well as the challenges and prospects for Islamic finance in this country.
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He stressed that this kind of banking was relatively young in Indonesia, and thus there was a great deal of potential for growth. He also said that Shariah banking was a “natural bridge between the Middle East and Indonesia,” that could draw the two regions closer together.
The following are excerpts from the interview, including comments by Mahmoud Abushamma, the head of HSBC Amanah Syariah in Jakarta:
What do you think about the growth of Shariah banking in Indonesia?
We see Islamic banking continuing to be a major growth component in the financial services world. Historically, this is a business that has been growing by 15 percent to 20 percent per annum. Obviously, given the economic environment we have today, that growth will slow. But it will exceed the growth of the conventional sector and will continue to grow into the future.
Compared to the conventional sector, just how big is Shariah banking worldwide?
The comparison is a difficult one to make, because in reality the Islamic financial services market is still relatively small compared with the conventional industry. But, of course, we need to acknowledge that the conventional industry has developed over two centuries, whereas the Islamic financial services industry is probably only 40 years old. So it’s a young industry that’s growing quickly, but it’s still relatively small in proportion to the overall financial services industry.
What are the most promising markets for Shariah banking?
The logical places for growth are clearly those countries and regions with large Muslim populations, where it has a natural home. But I think that even in other parts of the world, there is growing interest in ethical banking. So, whether it’s Europe or the United States or elsewhere, I think the industry will continue to grow, because people like principles-based banking and Islamic banking is exactly that. We see the trajectory of growth being concentrated in Asia and the Middle East, with potential for growth in Europe and elsewhere.
Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said that Islamic banking has proven that it can weather the global crisis. What do you think?
I agree with that. There is inherent discipline in Islamic banking, given the fact that it focuses on the real economy. It focuses on real, asset-based financing, which means that you know it is less involved in speculative activity. I also think that Islamic banking has very clear criteria on the amount of leverage that can be made available in transactions. Therefore it doesn’t promote the use of high leverage — this being one of the reasons the conventional banks have encountered the problems they have. The other reason is that conventional banks invested heavily in toxic assets. Many of those assets would not have been permissible in Shariah banking.
What do you think about the potential for Shariah banking in Indonesia?
We are very excited by the potential in Indonesia. This is obviously one of the biggest Muslim countries. There is a coherent approach, being led by the government in Indonesia, in terms of developing a framework for the growth of Shariah-based financing. The president has stated very clearly that Indonesia sees itself as a leader in this case and it has a natural role to play, given the consumer base you have here. I would be delighted to assist those efforts.
But Shariah banks in Indonesia only control 3 percent of the market in terms of assets.
Well, I wouldn’t call that a problem. Three percent to me represents plenty of potential for growth, and, secondly, in every industry you start small and you scale up. I think perhaps that in time to come you will see our market share hit double digits in Indonesia. That should happen over the course of time, as more Islamic banks start up and consumers become more aware of the products and the choices they offer. And that’s the right way for the industry to grow, because it’s consumer-led. Shariah banking in Indonesia is very young. You can’t compare it to Malaysia or the Middle East.
Does Indonesian law support the growth of Shariah banking here?
I think a lot has happened in the last few years. And if you looked last year, we have the sukuk law being issued by the House of Representatives. We have the Shariah banking law being issued as well. So a lot has happened in the last few years. You know, you shouldn’t look at Shariah banking as being too small in Indonesia. You should look at it as still being young and still not developed, still not matured to the level where we can actually compete with conventional banking. The regulations are getting better. The government realizes the potential, realizes the fact that it is a huge need in Indonesia. That was shown by the success of the retail sukuk [Islamic bond] sold by the government recently. There is demand and the demand needs to be satisfied. So, this should be a cooperative effort between government, market players, the regulators. In this way, we will be able to develop the next generation of products.
Will Shariah banking help Indonesia access financial resources from the Middle East?
[Mahmoud Abushamma]: It already has. Indonesia already has Middle Eastern funds to invest. HSBC has arranged a large syndicated finance package for Pertamina, totaling over $500 million, and has arranged more than $90 million for Krakatau Steel. As you know the Republic of Indonesia is now working to issue a global sukuk which is also aimed at Middle Eastern investors.
[Mukhtar Hussain] : I think Islamic finance provides a natural bridge between the Middle East and Indonesia. It is an area of commonality that should draw these two partners together. There is already evidence of traffic over the bridge. I think as time goes on the issue is for Indonesia to become increasingly aware of these issues both at the governmental level as well corporate levels. People will become more familiar with the risks, they will see opportunities to invest. But it takes time. Volumes will take time to develop. But most importantly, the first journey, the first transactions are already evident and have been successful. And the Middle East would like to see more of it’s capital being directed to and deployed in Asia, and Indonesia should be one of the primary recipients.
(Roffie Kurniawan/Jakarta Globe)
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In addition, there are many Islamic banks outside the United States, like al-Ansar Co-operative Housing Corporation Ltd (1981) in Toronto, Canada, Islamic Bank of Britain (2004) and European Islamic Investment Bank (2005) in the United Kingdom, Faisal Private Bank (2006) in Switzerland, and many more throughout the world. Apart from these full-fledged Islamic financial institutions, an increasing number of conventional financial institutions offer Shariah compliant financial products and services such UBS Switzerland, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas Bank. In the aftermath of the sub-prime crisis, it is most likely that the demand for Islamic banking products and services to increase. Moreover, the number of the Islamic financial institutions offering more innovative products and services is most likely to increase. The Asian Development Bank estimates that Islamic assets globally have a combined value of about $1 trillion, with annual growth of 10 percent to 15 percent a year by 2010. Despite this, it is important to highlight that even though the ideals of Islamic banking and finance lead to countless merits and virtues, the actual implementation and practices by the financial institutions is a whole different issue. Thus, it would be beneficial that the Islamic financial institutions could learn from the current crisis that the expansion driven by stiff competition without being guided by the ideals proposed by Shariah and the true objectives of the Islamic economy could be devastating. |
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Islamic Financial Planning and Wealth Management by Ahmad Sanusi Husain from Ahmad Sanusi Husain on Vimeo.