Global Ethical Fund Australia’s Hejaz Financial Services intends to launch a Global Ethical Fund, its first fund offering retail investors exposure to Australian equities, international equities, REITs, Sukuk, gold and Islamic term deposits in a Shariah compliant manner. In doing so, it will join Crescent Wealth and First Guardian in providing an Islamic retirement fund to the Australian market. T... »

IMF Highlights Islamic Finance Instrument Development in UAE The IMF has highlighted the development of Islamic finance instruments in the UAE, stating the UAE is a major hub for Sukuk issuances. During 2001–15, $53.8 billion or 36 percent of all global sukuk issuances originated in the UAE. Report highlights are presented below. UAE Banking System Challenges The UAE has come a long way in the dev... »

UK Islamic Banks are expanding services to cater for London based property financing demand. QIB UK, part of the Qatar Islamic Bank group, and Al Rayan bank a UK subsidiary of Qatar based Masraf Al Rayan have both recently expanded offices and services to meet demand. QIB Begins offering Murabaha Facilities QIB-UK, has begun providing Sharia-compliant Murabaha Facilities for London properties. The... »

5 March 2018 leading luminaries from Islamic finance gathered at the London stock exchange. Dr Bandar Hajjar, President of the Islamic Development Bank highlighted the need for London with its world class financial services expertise to be at the heart of the “Islamic finance revolution” and for it to leverage its global marketplace to help realise the potential of Islamic finance. »

 Securitization of Sharia-compliant home purchase plans On 22 February, UK-based Al Rayan Bank PLC (ARB, Aa3 negative, baa21) issued the UK’s first asset-backed Sukuk through a special-purpose vehicle, Tolkien Funding Sukuk No. 1. The issuance, a £250 million securitization of Sharia-compliant home purchase plans (HPPs), widens the issuer base for Sukuk outside the core Islamic markets of Gulf Coo... »

Islamic Finance Week in Review – 24 Feb 2018 Corporate Sukuk Market The sovereign and corporate sukuk market surged this week, with the stand out corporate issuance coming from Turkey where Al Baraka Turk’s issued a first for Turkey with a Tier 1 perpetual Sukuk facility which is also the first Basel III-compliant publicly-listed Tier 1 issuance. The profit rate was 10%. In Oman, Golden Grou... »

Blacklist Could Curtail Free Flow of Islamic Financial Funds to UAE and Bahrain The global Islamic finance centre credentials of the UAE and Bahrain took a hit as EU finance ministers added them to a list of “blacklist” tax havens, which could mean they lose access to EU funds and face other sanctions. EU finance ministers have listed 17 countries for failing to meet agreed tax good governance sta... »

Bashar Al Natoor, Global Head of Islamic Finance at Fitch Rating looks at the historical evolution of Islamic Finance in the UK. Mr Al Natoor highlights the central role the UK plays in the global Islamic finance industry covering three areas. Firstly the role of English law in underpinning global sukuk contracts and Islamic financial contracts, secondly the London Stock Exchange being a global hu... »

Canada has helped to establish a template for other sovereigns in embracing alternative and socially conscious forms of investing according to a Fitch Ratings report by Bashar Al Natoor, Global Head of Islamic Finance at Fitch. The overarching reason is that Canada can deepen its pool of investors; the belief being that the more people have a personal stake in an investment, the more public accept... »

The Shariah-compliant refinancing of high value office accommodation in Aberdeen has been completed using a commodity Murabaha structure. Gatehouse Bank, a wholesale Shariah-compliant investment bank based in London, advised Youngberry on the investment and financing aspects of the deal. The funding was completed by way of a commodity murabaha facility from an established international bank. A mur... »