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Level playing field
The Foreign Investment Committee allowed 100% ownership in Islamic financial institutions to foreigners conducting business in international currencies.
BNM signs MoU
Bank Negara Malaysia signed two memoranda of understanding: one with the Qatar Financial Center Regulatory Authority (QCFRA) and one with the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
Sino–foreign JV
Kuwait Finance House Malaysia entered into an Islamic funding arrangement with Belanie on the Sino–foreign joint venture with Risun Group.
Are we doing back-flips?
The commodity Murabahah program (CMP) is a new addition to BNM’s bid to boost Islamic finance in Malaysia.
Hisham Youssef from CIMB-Kanoo in Bahrain, questioned Malaysian banks’ decision to opt for CMP, stating: “The Middle Eastern scholars are unhappy with Commodity Murabahah and Tawarruq, and we want to position ourselves where Malaysia was at the start of its Islamic finance industry.”
Looking beyond ringgit
Hong Leong Islamic Bank (HLIB) signed a distribution agreement with UBS that would allow HLIB to distribute Shariah compliant, non-ringgit structured products to qualified customers.
OCBC’s Islamic profits up 16%
OCBC Bank’s Islamic banking income increased by 16% to RM52 million (US$14.8 million) as at 31st December 2006.
The bank’s total Islamic banking assets grew by 35% to RM3.2 billion (US$913 million), and total Islamic banking customer deposits increased to RM2.6 billion (US$741.8 million).
Developing the capital market
The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) planned to roll out a master agreement for Islamic derivatives to establish an alliance with the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA).
INCEIF appoints service provider
Emirates Institute of Banking and Financial Studies (EIBFS) was appointed as educational service provider for the International Center for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF).
Tapping petrodollars
Citigroup was set to launch its Market Linked Structured Investment-I (iSI) and Islamic Hedging Undertaking-I (iHU) products.
Cash influx for the Middle East
The Securities Commission and the DFSA signed an agreement allowing cross-border marketing of Islamic funds.
The tiger prowls
Maybank received approval from BNM to establish a stand-alone Islamic subsidiary.
Jump in Islamic banking for HSBC
HSBC’s Islamic banking income saw a 65.7% hike to RM179 million (US$51 million) due to its expanded loan base.
Microlink bags one
Malaysia’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry recognized Microlink’s services in the industry at the recent Industry Excellence Awards 2006 with the “Export Excellence Award (Services) 2006”.
High net worth niche
CIMB Group revealed plans to launch the country’s first fully fledged Shariah compliant private banking service for high net worth individuals.
Citibank plans consistent rollout
Citibank launched its Home Partner-I scheme, expected to account for half of new business under Citibank’s mortgage segment for 2007.
ANZ and AmBank partnership
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) successfully partnered with Malaysia’s AmBank Group to acquire an equity stake of 24.95% of AMMB.
RHB Capital’s pre-tax profit hike
RHB Capital’s pre-tax profit rose to RM940.3 million (US$268.1 million) as at 31st December 2006.
Brush up on your Arabic
Malaysia’s deputy prime minister Najib Razak was confident that improved proficiency in Arabic would further propel Malaysia’s ambition to become an Islamic finance hub.
Sukuk count rising
Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) revealed plans to issue up to RM500 million (US$144.37 million) in Sukuk Ijarah.
Islamic financing for all
Bank Negara Malaysia governor Dr Zeti Akhtar called for Islamic financial institutions to expand their reach internationally.
ABN Amro’s Islamic banking drive
ABN Amro received approval from Bank Negara Malaysia to set up its Islamic arm.
Fitch Roadshow
Fitch Ratings kicked off its inaugural Asia Insurance Roadshow in Kuala Lumpur on 9th March 2007, where Fitch’s insurance analysts focused on credit rating methodologies for Takaful companies.
Injaz abides by Shariah guidelines
Injaz Mena Investment Co abided by Shariah principles for the asset collection of its US$142 million Malaysian investments.
Aseambankers arrange gold
Tomei Consolidated mandated Aseambankers Malaysia as lead arrangers and principal adviser for its RM100 million (US$28.5 million) Sukuk.
Overseas Islamic fund size balloons
Public Mutual obtained approval to increase the fund size of its overseas Public Asia Ittikal Fund (PAIF) to five billion units.
South China acquisition?
The Bank of East Asia (BEA), Hong Kong’s third-largest bank, began acquisition talks with Affin Holdings.
Islamic arm mobilized
Public Bank’s Islamic banking subsidiary was set to commence operations by the end of 2007 or early 2008.
TAKAFUL
AmIslamic still awaiting license
AmIslamic Bank was to distribute Takaful investment-linked plans via AmBank and AmIslamic Bank, having signed a tri-partite agreement with Takaful Ikhlas, FWU and AmIslamic. AmIslamic was, however, still awaiting its Takaful license.
Banking on family
BEST Reinsurance’s new family re-Takaful business was expected to generate between US$5 million and US$7 million in turnover by 2009.
Lloyd’s re-Takaful
London-based Lloyd’s planned to offer re-Takaful from its newly incorporated offshore reinsurance unit in Labuan.
Bahrain’s petrochemical interest
Takaful International of Bahrain expressed interest in investing in petrochemical and real estate developments in Sabah.
Increase in Takaful Nasional premiums
Takaful Nasional was set to achieve over RM1 billion (US$284.8 million) in premiums by the 30th June 2007, a RM200 million (US$56.9 million) increase from 2006.
Takaful Ikhlas housing
Takaful Ikhlas aimed to rake in RM40 million (US$11.4 million) from its subscribers by the 31st March 2008. The company would be counting on its housing loan scheme customers to achive.
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