Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB), headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and part of the Emirates NDB Group, is providing Business Banking debit cards free of charge to eligible small and medium-sized (SME) clients. According to the Government of Dubai’s Media Office, EIB supports 46,000 UAE-based SMEs.  This is part of EIB’s on-going efforts to support businesses in the UAE during the COVID-19 crisis. According to Wasim Saifi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at EIB, the bank remains committed to supporting SME business in the UAE and...

Etiqa, the insurance and Takaful arm of Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank), launched its first Bancatakaful legacy solution ‘Smart Waris’ for Maybank clients on the 12th of June 2020. Aimed at leveraging ‘Hibah’ (meaning ‘gift’ in Arabic), this Takaful investment-linked legacy plan claims to protect the future and financial well-being of the client’s family members, by distributing assets without complicated inheritance dealings. According to a statement released in local media, Smart Waris is...

Addressing the opening session of the virtual workshop on the concept of a post-COVID-19 development programme for Al-Madinah, the Chairman of Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB), Dr Bandar bin Muhammad Hamza Hajjar, has stated that the IsDB is eager to support development projects in Al-Madinah through all available mechanisms.  This would include the Awqaf Property Investment Fund (APIF), which will support the Al-Bayan Charitable Foundation for Education in Al-Madinah and plans to provide the Foundation with regular revenue by contributing to the construction of...

According to information from the prospectus, the Government of Indonesia will make a global Sukuk issuance not exceeding USD 25 billion, using Ijarah and time contracts.  The issuance will be made via the Government’s special purpose vehicle, Perusahaan Penerbit SBSN Indonesia III (PPSI III). PPSI III has been established by the Government to issue Shariah-compliant securities in foreign currency denominations across international markets. BNP Paribas, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC, Maybank, and Standard Chartered will serve as...

The World Bank has stated that the value proposition of Islamic Capital Markets (ICM) must be distinct in order to prove that the ICM concept is on par or even better than the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment schemes.   Speaking at a panel discussion during the Shariah Investment Virtual Conference organised by Bursa Malaysia-i and CGS-CIMB Securities on the 17th of June 2020, World Bank Financial Sector Specialist Consultant, Dr Mohamed Eskandar Shah specified that ESG’s valu...

The Islamic finance sector in Malaysia is anticipated to maintain double-digit growth and hit approximately MYR 3 trillion in 2020 under the second Capital Market Masterplan, according to Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Chairman of Bursa Malaysia (Bursa). Delivering the keynote address at the Shariah Investing Virtual Conference 2020 held on 17th June 2020, Abdul Wahid stated that Malaysia’s Islamic funds industry had shown impressive growth. As of March 2020, Shariah funds stood at MYR 170 billion and represented 23% of total industry asset under management (AUM). Meanwhile,...

Saudi Arabia's Shariah-based, real estate financing firm Amlak International (Amlak), has stated that it will float 30% of its shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), marking the first initial public offering (IPO) on Tadawul since the emergence of the COVID-19 crisis. The offering will comprise 27,180,000 of ordinary shares whilst the net proceeds from the offering will be used towards making payments to the selling shareholders of Amlak on a pro-rata basis. Meanwhile, Amlak stated that the final offer price would be announce...

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Al Baraka Bank (ABB) in Tunisia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expedite the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined in the Agenda 2030 that all United Nations Member States (UNMS) agreed to in 2015.  The General Director of ABB, Mohamed EL Moncer and Steve Utterwulghe, the Resident Representative of the UNDP in Tunisia, assured that both organizations will work towards supporting Tunisian efforts to end poverty, promote good health and wellbeing, ensure inclusive and equitable qualit...

Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) has issued USD 500 million in US Dollar-denominated Sukuk on the 16th of June 2020, according to details provided in a document by one of the arranging banks involved in the transaction. The five-year Sukuk, which carries a profit rate of 2.85%, was over-subscribed, with SIB receiving over USD 3.4 billion in orders.  Following an initial price guidance of between 285-290 basis points over mid-swaps for the Sukuk, SIB tightened the spread.  The following institutions were the arrangers for SIB’s issuance an...

Alizz Islamic Bank (AIB) is set to become a wholly-owned Islamic banking subsidiary of Oman Arab Bank (OAB), through the sale of its entire issued share capital to OAB, creating a lender with assets worth over OMR 3.2 billion. These details were provided in a statement made by AIB to the Muscat Securities Market on the 16th of June 2020.  Once the acquisition is complete, AIB will be converted into a closed joint-stock company and the assets and liabilities of Al Yusr, OAB’s own Islamic brand, will be transferred to AIB as part of the merger...