REAL ESTATE - QInvest advises Turkey REIT on $50mn ‘murabaha’ finance facility

www.gulf-times.com - QInvest has advised a Turkey-based Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) on the latter’s $50mn syndicated ‘murabaha’ finance facility.
QInvest acted as sole book runner and structuring advisor to İş Gayrimenkul Yatırım Ortaklığı (İş REIT), which entered into a financing agreement with a syndicate of banks from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The finance facility carries tenure of two years and a profit rate of Libor +250 basis points.  (source)

EVENTS - IFSB SUMMIT - Industry Leaders Discuss the Impact of Global Regulatory Reforms on the Islamic Financial Services Industry

www.ifsb.org -  Industry Leaders Discuss the Impact of Global Regulatory Reforms on the Islamic Financial Services Industry  Istanbul, 17 May 2012 - There is a need to find the remedy to the challenges facing the global financial services industry. Islamic finance provides a solution but legal and regulatory challenges facing the industry need to be addressed.

This was the consensus of the distinguished speakers at the first day of the 9^th IFSB Summit themed as “Global Financial Reforms: The Changing Regulatory Model and Islamic Finance” that is hosted by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - İMKB celebrates the trading of “Kuveyt Türk Participation Bank B Type Silverplus ETF”

www.ise.org - On the occasion of the first trading day of “Kuveyt Türk Participation Bank B Type Silverplus ETF”, the executives and guests of the relevant bank will visit İMKB (İstanbul Menkul Kıymetler Borsası) and ring the opening bell of the Stock Market on May 21, 2012.
Mr. İbrahim TURHAN, İMKB Chairman & CEO, Mr. Mohammed Al OMAR, Chairman of the Board of Kuveyt Turk, Mr. Abdullah TIVNIKLI, Vice Chairman and Member of the Board of Kuveyt Turk, Mr. Ufuk UYAN, CEO of Kuveyt Turk and Mr. Murat ÇETİNKAYA, Vice President of Kuveyt Turk will deliver speeches, following which the officials will ring the opening bell and start the session at 09:30. (source)

OPINION - İstanbul on track to become an international financial center

www.todayszaman.com - Mustafa Baltici - Of late, the term “financial center” has become a buzzword for emerging markets gearing themselves towards undertaking hefty projects in financial industries and real estate.

Tax incentives, legal system overhauls, rebates for businesses and labor market reforms are at the top of the to-do list for these emerging market countries in an effort to entice foreign institutions to divert funds in their direction. Another tool, the so-called investment promoters, usually funded by governments, utilize their significant budgets to liaise with key CEOs, bank officials and fund managers in order to secure long-term resources for their clients. These efforts seem to be producing results. Shored up by foreign investors, private equity markets in these countries are building up momentum. Local banking is enjoying an influx of capital, and securities markets as a result take on both diversity and liquidity. From the heights of virtual reality the outlook appears to be quite favorable. The flipside, however, points to economic ups and downs as well as rivalry and stiff competition among peers in the not so distant future.  (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Turkey set to launch sukuk push with 2012 sale

http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com.ANKARA, April 17 (Reuters) - The Turkish government will press ahead with its first issue of Islamic bonds this year and the planned sale should encourage private companies to do likewise and boost Istanbul's role as a financial centre, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said on Tuesday.

The government had said previously it could issue a sukuk in 2012, overcoming sensitivities about Islamic finance in the secular republic as it seeks to tap a rich pool of investors flush with oil money.  (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - The Turkish Treasury close to launch Islamic rent certificates

www.hurriyetdailynews.com - The Turkish Treasury will soon issue rent certificates, says Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan. Introducing sharia compliant investment tools will encourage private sector, he adds.

Turkey should assume its place in the fast-growing market of rent certificates that are compliant with Islamic law, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said yesterday.

“We find [developing the sukuk market] important in terms of the diversification of financial sources and investment options for both national and international investors. The Turkish Treasury’s move to issue rent certificates will encourage the private sector as well. We have completed regulations on rent certificate issuance,” he said at a joint press conference with Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek.  (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Turkey ready for joint bourse index with Gulf

www.hurriyetdailynews.com - Istanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB) Head İbrahim Turhan said Turkey, Dubai and Abu Dhabi had agreed in principle to launch a joint index, as studies continued for such an attempt with Egypt. Plans for sukuk (Islamic banking) bonds are also on the way, Turhan said, speaking on the second day of the Arab-Turkish Banking and Finance Forum in Istanbul. (source)

FINANCE - İstanbul’s bid to become IFC looks cloudy as progress continues to delay

www.todayszaman.com - The hope that İstanbul will become an international financial center (IFC) in the near future has been disappearing as progress on the project has been slow in many respects.

 

The long-overdue project has been talked about for years by many politicians and has remained music to the ears of society. In 2007, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government set about developing İstanbul into an IFC as one of its major long-term economic goals. Steps taken by the current ruling party has many ordinary citizens believing it would be accomplished; however, some experts argue that the achievement of such a goal in the near future is a dream due to a lack of necessary policies and regulations. (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - APPOINTMENT - New İMKB President İbrahim Turhan assumes office

Mustafa İbrahim Turhan took over the office of president of the İstanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB) from Hüseyin Erkan at a ceremony held at İMKB headquarters in İstanbul on Monday.

Turhan, who was formerly one of the four vice governors of the Central Bank of Turkey, announced the new administration’s targets at the ceremony and praised former president Erkan for his high achievements that lacked any moral flaw. (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Dow Jones Indexes: Turkey has most ‘sophisticated' financial market in region

The İstanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB) is “more sophisticated” than its regional competitors in the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe according to Dow Jones Indexes' Senior Director of International Markets and Products Deborah Ciervo.

Ciervo, speaking with Today's Zaman, praised the depth of knowledge and expertise in terms of trade execution, which provides the İMKB with liquidity and a market that "continuosly moves,” while other regional exchanges have seen their liquidity and trading volume slow down over the past three years. Ciervo added that one of İstanbul's competitor, Moscow, is not as accessible to foreign investors as the İMKB due to a less open and favorable legal and regulatory framework. (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - SPK and the development of Turkish capital markets

Since its establishment, the Capital Markets Board (SPK) of Turkey has been dedicated to its role of regulating and supervising the Turkish capital markets in accordance with international norms and standards in a continuously changing market environment with clear, objective and easily apprehensible approaches in order to ensure that capital markets are fair, secure, transparent and efficient.

The board continued in 2010 to carry out its regulatory and supervisory activities in line with its above-mentioned mission and vision. (full story - sundays zaman)

FINANCIAL MARKETS - BSE, ISE Islamic equity indexes to open floodgates to a spate of offerings

By MUSHTAK PARKER | ARAB NEWS

Published: Jan 9, 2011 23:16 Updated: Jan 9, 2011 23:31 

The launch over the last few weeks by the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) of their debut equity indexes which comply with non-interest based Islamic investment principles is potentially a major development for the Islamic capital market and asset management industry.

FINANCIAL MARKETS - İMKB launches new index to attract Middle Eastern capital

İMKB’s chairman Hüseyin Erkan (r) with Bizim Securities chairman Bekir Boydak during the ceremony to launch the Participation Index.

FINANCIAL MARKETS - Istanbul bourse launches participation index

In an effort to tap the growing area of Islamic banking, the Istanbul Stock Exchange launches a participation index in a ceremony. The index, comprised of 30 companies, includes giants such as Türk Telekom, BİM, Enka İnşaat, Ford Otosan and Petkim. Hüseyin Erkan, chairman of the bourse, says the exchange may also establish separate indexes for groups such as holding companies.

Top executives of Islamic lenders and the Istanbul Stock Exchange sign the protocol on the creation of a participation index at the Istanbul Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The Istanbul Stock Exchange, or ISE, launched a participation index, made up of equities that adhere to the principles of Islamic lending, at a ceremony Thursday.

The main reason for the creation of the participation index is to offer a special Islamic and domestic index “suited to the customer profile of participation banks,” according to exchange officials who spoke at the ceremony.

Pointing to the rapid and steady growth of Islamic banking in Turkey since 2004, Fahrettin Yahşi, chairman of Turkey’s Participation Banks Association, or TKBB, said the participation index will be an important service to provide standardization in the sector. Yahşi is also the general manager of Albaraka Türk, majority-owned by the Albaraka Banking Group.

FINANCIAL MARKETS - KATLM "Participation Index" for the IMKB/ISE Istanbul Stock Exchange

 As from Jan 6, 2011 a new "Participation  Index" (KATLM) will be listed on the IMKB/ISE Istanbul Stock Exchange, sponsored by the 4 Turkish Participation Banks (Albaraka Turk, Bank Asya, Kuveyt Turk and Turkiye Finans) and advised by BMD Bizim Menkul Degerler.

There is an industry screening and financial screening (max 30 % interest bearing debt - max 30 % cash and interest bearing receivables - max 5 % non permissible income model) that is further narrowed down to the 30 biggest companies listed (details HERE).

Unfortunately, the index apparently only targets the interests of Turkish investors, since the website uniquely caters for a Turkish speaking audience.

To give you an idea of the initial industry spread, see hereunder:

FINANCE - Albaraka Turk divests stake in Komili Kagit / Yildiz Holding AS acquires a minority stake in Komili Kagit ve Kisisel Bakim

Albaraka Turk Katilim Bankasi informs in a filing with the Istanbul Stock Exchange that it sold its entire 12.5% stake in Komili Kagit ve Kisisel Bakim Uretim to Yildiz Holding.

Yildiz Holding AS acquired a 12.5 % stake in Komili Kagit ve Kisisel Bakim Uretim AS, a Kocaeli-based manufacturer of sanitary paper products, from Albaraka Turk Katilim Bankasi AS.

FINANCE - Gov’t plans to ship bourse across Bosphorus

Speaking at a conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Istanbul Stock Exchange, PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says he plans to move the bourse to Ataşehir on the Asian side of the city. The government aims to turn the Ataşehir district into a regional and then a global financial center, as various financial institutions are buying up land in the area

The government, led by PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, aims to turn the Ataşehir district, on Istanbul’s Asian side, into a regional and then a global financial center. AA photo

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has upped the ante in his grand plan to turn Istanbul into a regional financial hub, announcing his intent to move the Istanbul Stock Exchange, or ISE, currently in İstinye, to Ataşehir on the Asian side of the city.

Interior Minister Beşir Atalay said in a separate statement that the Turkish Central Bank would remain headquartered in Ankara for the time being.

Speaking at a conference marking the ISE’s 25th anniversary, Erdoğan said the headquarters of state banks and “of relevant institutions” will be moved to Istanbul in the next two or three years. “We also wish to move the ISE to the finance center,” Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying.

FINANCE - PM Erdoğan says İMKB may be moved to new finance center

PM Erdoğan speaks during the 5th anniversary meeting of the foundation of the İMKB. He said they are considering moving the bourse to a new location in İstanbul.