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Islamic Banking
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Islamic Financial System Has Opportunity To Grow
The Islamic financial system has opportunity to grow and expand while the global community is faced with challenges from the upheavals in the conventional financial system.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom said to meet that target three aspects had to be given attention.
Firstly, developing an Islamic financial industry that was truly sound, strong and established to face any crisis and challenge.
"Second, to encourage growth of the Islamic financial landscape based on instruments that can compete, were creative and innovative, and thirdly solidify monitoring and legal aspects to face the global financial environment that is getting more challenging," he said while officiating the 5th Muzakarah of Members of the Council of Syariah Advisors to Financial Institutions in Malaysia here Thursday.
He said the Islamic financial industry had begun to get a place and attention from the non-Islamic community when countries whose majorities were not Muslim like Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, France and Japan showed interest in promoting Islamic finance.
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Islamic Banks To Adopt Standardised Master Agreements
KUALA LUMPUR -- The Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) has adopted two standardised interbank master agreements for deposit-taking and placement transactions.
Its president, Datuk Zukri Samat, said the standardised agreements were Interbank Murabahah Master Agreement (IMMA) and Master Agency Agreement (MAA).
He said just like any other money market products, the success of commodity murabahah-based instruments would depend a lot on the existence of a standardised document as well as universally-acceptable structure and widely recognised by the market.
"Understanding this prerequisite, AIBIM, at the request of and driven by its members, has developed common and standardised documents, comprising the MAA and the IMMA, which can be used by Islamic banking institutions for their interbank transactions involving deposit-taking and placement," he said.
Zukri said this in his speech at the launch of the master agreements by Bank Negara Malaysia governor, Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, here today.
The MAA and IMMA are bilateral agreements between the deposit-placing entity (DPE) or the principal and the deposit-taking entity or the bank.
As an agent, the bank will receive instructions from the principal to buy commodities from suppliers.
He said the purchase by the DTE or the bank would be effected upon spot payment and immediate delivery by suppliers.
"Upon conclusion of the commodity purchase by the bank on behalf of the principal, the bank may subsequently offer to purchase the commodities from the principal on a deferred cash payment basis, at an agreed sale price that takes into consideration the initial purchase price and the profit amount," he said.
Zukri said the sale would then be effected upon acceptance of the offer by the principal.
"Eventually, the adoption of both IMMA and MAA should help set the stage for a critical mass of Commodity Murabahah-based financial transactions ahead of the anticipated launch in July 2009 of Bursa Malaysia's Commodity Murabahah House, an international spot commodity platform," he said.
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CIMB Islamic Dali Equity Growth Fund awarde best Malaysian Fund by Failaka Advisors
KUALA LUMPUR, 14 APRIL 2009 - CIMB-Principal Asset Management Berhad (CIMB-Principal) Recently Won The Best Malaysian Equity Fund Award For The Outstanding Performance Of Its CIMB Islamic DALI Equity Growth Fund. The Award, Presented By Failaka Advisors At The 4th Annual Failaka Islamic Fund Awards, Recognises CIMB Islamic DALI Equity Growth Fund As The Best Malaysian Equity Fund (Three-Year) Based On Its Performance As At 31 December 2008.
Failaka Advisors is the recognised leader in Islamic fund research, offering institutions and private investors access to a wealth of information on Shariah-compliant investment funds. Established in 1996, Failaka was the first company to monitor the performance of Shariah-compliant funds worldwide. It has then expanded its products and services to include advisory services and an online database and guide for Shariah scholars.
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Islamic finance slows as global crisis impacts hubs in Malaysia, Gulf
DUBAI: Islamic finance is slowing as the global financial crisis hits its hubs in Malaysia and the Gulf, but the sector now has a chance to move on to Western economies seeking to boost their financial centers. Regulatory differences still plague efforts to build cross-border Islamic banking, and harmonization among different schools of thought is one of the nascent industry's main obstacles as it looks to grow in European countries with large Muslim communities.
"There is a need for petrodollars in the West so more countries will be pandering to the rhetoric of Islamic finance to try to recycle petrodollars to their own financial capitals, be that London, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur," said Mahmoud al-Gamal, chair of Islamic Economics at Rice University.
In a sign that cultural barriers may be coming down, some experts see sovereign wealth funds injecting cash into global financial centers with the aim of advocating Islamic finance.
As the industry expands into non-Muslim or secular states, the need to educate others about the sector has become greater.
With much high-flying banking talent available after the collapse of the Western banking system, a shortage of staff with Islamic finance knowledge may no longer be a challenge.
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A stronger player
 If there is one player that has the potential to shake the way Islamic finance is done in Malaysia, it could be HSBC. The bank’s Islamic finance operation gained a boost when it opened a separate Islamic subsidiary named HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad. The new bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad, was incorporated in February 2008 and began operating on August 24.
HSBC Amanah Malaysia opened two standalone branches in November. With the opening of these additional touchpoints, customers of both HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad and HSBC Bank Malaysia can conduct their banking transactions at these new branches in addition to HSBC’s existing 40 branches nationwide and can enjoy use of the Internet banking and call centre.
HSBC has been operating conventional banking in the country for years and since 1994 has offered Islamic financial services as well. In late 2007, HSBC Bank became the first locally-incorporated foreign bank in Malaysia to be awarded a licence by Bank Negara Malaysia to set up an Islamic banking subsidiary.
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Malaysia, London Islamic finance alliance
MALAYSIA and London can pave the way towards bridging Islamic financial markets between the East and the West, according to Bank Negara Malaysia's governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
She said the global financial crisis had highlighted several structural weaknesses and imbalances in the international financial system.
"Whilst Islamic finance is not insulated from the effects of the current environment, the Syariah principles and values that underlies Islamic finance provides an important underlying foundation," Zeti said at the two-day Euromoney 8th Annual Islamic Finance Summit on "Islamic Finance and Global Financial Stability" which began yesterday in London.
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Foreign Islamic fund managers given Malaysia go-ahead
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's market regulator on Thursday approved three new foreign fund managers to start Islamic operations in the country.
The Securities Commission gave its nod to Aberdeen Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd, BNP Paribas Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd and Nomura Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd, the agency said in a statement.
The companies are already active in the conventional asset management market in Malaysia, the commission said.
Islamic finance shuns products related to pornography, alcohol or tobacco and is based on Muslim law.
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Japanese bank to promote Islamic finance
BANK of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (Malaysia) Bhd (BTMU) has embarked on an initiative to take a leadership role in promoting Islamic financing to its clientele across the globe.
It aims to not only attract such transactions to Malaysia but also to pro-actively participate in the transactions originating from the Middle East and other region.
In a statement in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, the bank said the move follows the introduction of the Malaysian International Islamic Financial Centre and in support of Bank Negara Malaysia's initiative to enhance Malaysia's position as a centre of origination, distribution and trading of Islamic financial instruments.
"In line with our aim to be the first Japanese bank to aggressively promote Islamic finance, our initiative is supported fully by the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd and the parent bank and head office in Tokyo has also established a high-level standing committee to promote Islamic banking and further support all Islamic financing activities of the group," the bank said.
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Japan investors interested in Islamic products-report
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 - Japanese investors have expressed interest in developing Islamic capital market products, a local newspaper quoted Aseambankers Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Rashdan Mohammed Yusof as saying on Tuesday.
Yusof did not name the interested Japanese companies or provide a timeframe of the proposed deal but said Aseambankers, the investment banking arm of Malaysia's state-controlled top lender Maybank , plans to develop the sukuk market in Japan.
"We are seriously looking into this market," the Business Times newspaper quoted Yusof as saying.
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Aseambankers deals
A few financial conglomerates from Japan have expressed interest to work with Aseambankers Malaysia Bhd in developing Islamic capital market products, its chief executive officer Mohammed Rashdan Mohammed Yusof said.
Without naming the conglomerates because of confidentiality requirements, he said that they were seeking two-way cooperation with Aseambankers.
While Aseambankers plans to enhance the sukuk market in Japan, the conglomerates, through the Malaysia Inter-national Islamic Finance Centre (MIFC), are keen to invest in the region.
"We are seriously looking into this (Japanese) market," Mohammed Rashdan said in an interview with Business Times in Kuala Lumpur.
He did not specify when the deals would be sealed since "the global financial market is still highly volatile and stressed (so) that even the most optimistic of these investors would really want to pick the best time".
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Islamic Finance