The Government of Indonesia has raised IDR 9.5 trillion through the auction of State Shariah Securities (SBSN), also known as State Sukuk, on the 1st of September 2020. The amount raised was higher than the initial target of IDR 8 trillion.  According to a statement released by the Directorate General of Financing and Risk Management, Ministry of Finance, the total incoming bids received from the State Sukuk auction amounted to IDR 38.3 trillion.  The SBSN Series auctioned included five tranches of the State Treasury &nd...

Chief Executive Officer of Halal Development Corporation (HDC), Hairol Ariffein Sahari, has invited Japanese companies moving manufacturing processes out of China to consider Malaysia as a preferred investment destination, according to media reports. The USD 8.9 billion in foreign direct investment Malaysia had recorded in the January - September 2019 period included USD 800 million contributed by Japan, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority revealed. In an interview with The Japan Times, Hairol Ariffein stated that Malaysia offers opportunities for even further growt...

The Emirate of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is prepping for a return to the global debt market for the first time since 2014, according to media reports, in a move to help bolster Dubai's services-oriented economy which still recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Dubai's Department of Finance said it had tasked banks with making investor calls across Asia to Europe from the 31st of August 2020, prior to the up-coming issuances of ten to thirty-year debt, including both Sukuk and conventional de...

Bank Central Asia (BCA) announced plans to merge its newly acquired Rabobank Indonesia with BCA Syariah, its Shariah-financing arm, in 2021. The planned merger is aimed at capturing bigger opportunities in Indonesia's Islamic finance market. Finance Director of BCA, Vera Eve Lim, stated that BCA would go forward with the merger once the acquisition of Rabobank Indonesia was completed. In December 2019, BCA acquired all 3.72 million shares of Rabobank Indonesia, for a total sum of USD 20.5 million. ...

Banque Nationale d’Algérie (BNA), a commercial bank in Algeria, has announced its intention to expand its recently launched Islamic finance activities to its nationwide network of 217 branches by the end of 2020, according to media reports.  BNA's current offering comprises a range of nine Shariah-compliant finance products, including Ijara materials, Murabahah services as well as Islamic savings, current and checking accounts, among others. Secretary of BNA, General Samir Tamrabet stated that 16 of BNA's agencies offer the new Islamic finance services so far, and...

The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), Saudi Arabia’s main electricity producer, has secured a SAR 9 billion (USD 2.4 billion) syndicated Islamic financing agreement with seven major local banks, according to media reports.  The financing is a seven-year medium-term facility with a Murabahah structure, which is a cost-plus-profit arrangement that is compliant with Islamic finance standards.  Arranged and financed by the National Commercial Bank, Bank Albilad, Al-Rajhi Bank, Riyad Bank, Samba Financial Group, Banque Saudi Frans...

Egypt's Ministry of Finance (MoF) signed its first conventional and Islamic financing facility on the 31st of August 2020, valued at USD 2 billion, it released in a statement. The facility was approved by Parliament to finance the state general budget and support its economy through the prevailing fluctuation of the global markets.  The MoF added that Emirates NBD's investment banking subsidiary Emirates NBD Capital acted as a documentation bank, with First Abu Dhabi Bank serving as a global agent as we...

Turkey’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 9.9% year-on-year (YoY) in the second quarter of the year (2Q 2020), as reported by the Turkish Statistical Institute, the country’s Government statistical agency, recently.  The decline in GDP, which is the largest contraction seen in over a decade, was attributed to Turkey’s lockdown measures to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought its economic activity to a near standstill. Despite this, the decline was slightly lower than the average 11.8% YoY contraction estimated by economi...

AM Best, a US-based credit rating agency, has affirmed Bahrain Kuwait Insurance’s (gig-Bahrain) Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and its Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of ‘a-‘, as well as its subsidiary, Takaful International Company (gig-Bahrain Takaful), both of which are based in Bahrain, with a Stable Outlook.  The ratings reflect the robust strength of gig-Bahrain’s balance sheet, its sturdy operating performance, neutral business profile as well as appropriate enterprise risk management, which was underpinned by a strong risk-adju...

Egypt’s EFG Hermes and GB Auto have announced the completion of their 75% stake acquisition of Tokio Marine Egypt Family Takaful (TMFT), according to local media reports. The transaction is worth a total of EGP 84.75 million and was conducted via EFG Hermes’ non-bank financial institution (NBFI) arm EFG Hermes Finance Holding and GB Auto’s NBFI arm GB Capital. Both NBFIs will each hold a 37.5% stake of TMFT. Meanwhile, the remaining 25% stake of TMFT’s Egypt operations will be owned by its Japan-based parent company Tokio Marine...