KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- Deloitte has set up an Islamic finance centre of excellence in Malaysia to provide consultation on Islamic finance for the Asia Pacific region.
This is the professional services firm's only such centre in the region and one of its three globally together with London and Dubai.
Deloitte's Asia Pacific chief executive officer Chaly Mah Chee Kheong said the company had started to build a team of between eight and 10 professionals to be based in the Kuala Lumpur office and would continue to recruit more.
"The concept of a centre of excellence will be a core of people to understand Islamic finance and all the complexities around this product," Mah said at a media conference here today.
"We have similar teams in the Middle East and London as well," he said.
Deloitte's Islamic finance specialist Daud Vicary Abdullah said the centre of excellence was complementary to Islamic banking services.
"We are not a training centre although we are prepared to train. We do business directly with clients at our level of expertise," Daud said.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Deloitte Chooses Malaysia For Islamic Finance Hub: Bernama
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Islamic banks not unduly challenged by oil price drop and crisis, Moody's reports: AmeInfo
According to Moody's, the drop in oil prices poses two key challenges for the Islamic finance industry.
Anouar Hassoune, a Moody's Vice-President/Senior Credit Officer and co-author of the report, says:
However, Moody's believes such concerns are not unduly significant given that, in previous benign periods, Islamic banks have accumulated asset liquidity and capital on their balance sheets. They are currently also using their core asset liquidity to continue to grow their credit portfolios, despite scarcer funding sources. Moreover, large capital bases are helping to buffer asset price declines and possibly also higher delinquency rates in credit portfolios.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Islamic banks not unduly challenged by oil price drop and crisis, Moody's reports: AmeInfo
Anouar Hassoune, a Moody's Vice-President/Senior Credit Officer and co-author of the report, says:
'Firstly, there is still a vital link between oil prices and Islamic banks as most of the latter operate in hydrocarbon-exporting economies. As they face increasingly limited funding sources, Islamic banks will find it more difficult to grow going forward. Secondly, oil liquidity has been a major driver of the disintermediation process in the Islamic finance industry. With reduced oil liquidity, not only have sukuk issuances been slowing sharply, thereby depriving Islamic banks of much-needed long-term funding, but pricing on such instruments has been distorted.'
However, Moody's believes such concerns are not unduly significant given that, in previous benign periods, Islamic banks have accumulated asset liquidity and capital on their balance sheets. They are currently also using their core asset liquidity to continue to grow their credit portfolios, despite scarcer funding sources. Moreover, large capital bases are helping to buffer asset price declines and possibly also higher delinquency rates in credit portfolios.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Islamic banks not unduly challenged by oil price drop and crisis, Moody's reports: AmeInfo
Oil Liquidity Crunch Likely to Retard Islamic Banking Growth: Khaleej Times
| Rocel Felix |
DUBAI - Growth in Islamic banking is likely to slow because falling oil prices are squeezing long-term sources of funds in many Muslim countries, Moody’s Investors Service
said on Thursday. “There is still a vital link between oil prices and Islamic banks, as most operate in hydrocarbon-exporting economies,” said Anouar Hassoune, a Moody’s vice-president. “As they face increasingly limited funding sources, Islamic banks will find it more difficult to grow moving forward.” Due to decreasing revenues for oil-exporting nations, banks have issued far fewer Sukuks, and the pricing on these instruments has become distorted, Hassoune said in a report. Until crude prices took their drastic plunge in prices last July, revenue from oil exports fuelled a rapid growth in Islamic banking, which is now estimated to be worth $17 billion worldwide. “Oil liquidity is a key driver of Islamic banks’ growth because Islamic banks contribute to the recycling of such liquidity in the economy,” Hassoune said. “Less oil revenue will mean less appetite for banks to issue and carry Sukuks, at a time when the Sukuk market needs more issuances to itself become more liquid and suffer less from price distortion.” Limited long-term funding will also make it more difficult for Islamic banks to properly match the maturities of their asset and liabilities, and they will likely be forced to hold more assets with shorter maturities. |
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Dubai Islamic Bank to accept Air Arabia payments through e-channels: The Paypers
United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based financial service provider Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has partnered with airlines company Air Arabia to launch a ticketing service aimed at Air Arabia in the UAE.
Following the deal, Air Arabia customers are allowed to pay for airplane tickets anywhere in the UAE through DIB's Cash Deposit Machines (CDM).
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Dubai Islamic Bank to accept Air Arabia payments through e-channels: The Paypers
Dubai Islamic Bank posts $471m profit for 2008: Arabian Business
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has reported AED1.73 billion ($471m) in net profit for 2008, a small decline compared to 2007.
DIB’s total assets as of December 31, 2008, stood at AED84.6 billion, up slightly compared to the end of the same period in 2007.
Financing activity registered strong growth, bank bosses said, with total financing assets reaching AED52.7 billion in 2008 compared to AED 40.4 billion in 2007, an increase of 30 per cent.
Customer deposits increased two percent to reach AED66.4 billion in the 12 months ending December 31, 2008.
The bank said it maintained a financing-to-deposit ratio of 79 percent as of December 31, 2008, which bank chiefs said was a clear indication of DIB’s healthy liquidity position.
DIB’s full-year results reflected total impairment provisions of AED521 million (including writedowns on its investment portfolio) and mark-to-market losses on equity investments of AED277 million.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Dubai Islamic Bank posts $471m profit for 2008: Arabian Business
DIB’s total assets as of December 31, 2008, stood at AED84.6 billion, up slightly compared to the end of the same period in 2007.
Financing activity registered strong growth, bank bosses said, with total financing assets reaching AED52.7 billion in 2008 compared to AED 40.4 billion in 2007, an increase of 30 per cent.
Customer deposits increased two percent to reach AED66.4 billion in the 12 months ending December 31, 2008.
The bank said it maintained a financing-to-deposit ratio of 79 percent as of December 31, 2008, which bank chiefs said was a clear indication of DIB’s healthy liquidity position.
DIB’s full-year results reflected total impairment provisions of AED521 million (including writedowns on its investment portfolio) and mark-to-market losses on equity investments of AED277 million.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Dubai Islamic Bank posts $471m profit for 2008: Arabian Business
Monday, February 23, 2009
Progress of Islamic banking highlighted: The News
KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan in collaboration with the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) has organised a three-day workshop (from Feb 23 to Feb 25, 2009), as a part of its capacity building initiative for the Islamic banking industry.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the workshop held at the Learning Resource Centre of SBP here on Monday, Khawla Al-Nobani, Assistant Secretary General of the IFSB, said that she felt encouraged at the healthy growth of the Islamic banking industry of Pakistan.
She appreciated SBP’s role in providing an enabling environment to the industry through the provision of suitable regulatory and supervisory framework. She expressed confidence that the workshop would prove to be very beneficial for the industry players and the supervisory agency in adoption/adaptation of the standards in the country, said an SBP release here.
While inaugurating the workshop, Pervez Said, Director Islamic Banking Department of the State Bank, appreciated the significant role that the IFSB is playing as an international standard setting body thereby helping the Islamic financial services industry to grow worldwide on a sound and stable footing.
He also praised IFSB for the hard work being put in for preparing various standards wherein best international practices are followed through an exhaustive process involving thorough research, discussions, public hearings, workshops/seminars etc. In Pakistan, he pointed out, SBP’s five-year strategy for the development of Islamic banking industry, envisaged rolling out of various international prudential standards developed by IFSB as an important pillar.
SBP has accordingly seized the opportunity by capitalising on IFSB’s expertise through holding such workshops at this juncture, he added. Participants from the local Islamic banking industry and various regulatory and supervisory departments of the State Bank are attending the workshop which is focusing on issues like risk management, corporate governance and supervisory review process.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Progress of Islamic banking highlighted: The News
Speaking at the inaugural session of the workshop held at the Learning Resource Centre of SBP here on Monday, Khawla Al-Nobani, Assistant Secretary General of the IFSB, said that she felt encouraged at the healthy growth of the Islamic banking industry of Pakistan.
She appreciated SBP’s role in providing an enabling environment to the industry through the provision of suitable regulatory and supervisory framework. She expressed confidence that the workshop would prove to be very beneficial for the industry players and the supervisory agency in adoption/adaptation of the standards in the country, said an SBP release here.
While inaugurating the workshop, Pervez Said, Director Islamic Banking Department of the State Bank, appreciated the significant role that the IFSB is playing as an international standard setting body thereby helping the Islamic financial services industry to grow worldwide on a sound and stable footing.
He also praised IFSB for the hard work being put in for preparing various standards wherein best international practices are followed through an exhaustive process involving thorough research, discussions, public hearings, workshops/seminars etc. In Pakistan, he pointed out, SBP’s five-year strategy for the development of Islamic banking industry, envisaged rolling out of various international prudential standards developed by IFSB as an important pillar.
SBP has accordingly seized the opportunity by capitalising on IFSB’s expertise through holding such workshops at this juncture, he added. Participants from the local Islamic banking industry and various regulatory and supervisory departments of the State Bank are attending the workshop which is focusing on issues like risk management, corporate governance and supervisory review process.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Progress of Islamic banking highlighted: The News
How Islamic banks make money: The Standard
Rudi Prenzlin
A young man makes his career choice and decides to become a successful banker, just like his father.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: How Islamic banks make money: The Standard
A young man makes his career choice and decides to become a successful banker, just like his father.
He wants to prepare for the role and asks his father: "What must I do to become a successful banker, just like you?"
"Son," says the father, "you must follow these three simple rules: first, don't lend money to those who don't have any; second, don't lend money to those who need it badly; and third, the most important, don't lend your own money."
Sound advice in these troubled times. It is a shame that many of today's bankers either never received this sound advice, or ignored it!
In last week's article, "Credit crunch opens doors for other possibilities" I argued that Islamic banking institutions were weathering the present financial crisis comparatively well as they are insulated from the disasters in the interbank market and the mess in the derivatives markets.
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