FINANCE - OIC - Turkish treasury signed loan deals of $554 mln with Islamic Development Bank

www.reuters.com - (Reuters) - The Turkish Treasury said on Tuesday it had secured three loan agreements worth $554 million with the Islamic Development Bank on April 4.

The loans will be used for the financing of construction projects, the treasury said in the statement published on ites web site.  (source)

EVENTS - Northern Cyprus to host Islamic Development Bank's forum

www.worldbulletin.net - The forum is important to introduce investment potential of TRNC to foreign investors.

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) will host a forum on "Investment in Northern Cyprus" which will be organized by Islamic Development Bank on Thursday.

TRNC Foreign Minister Huseyin Ozgurgun told AA on Wednesday that nearly 2,000 businessmen would arrive in TRNC tomorrow within the scope of the forum which would end on April 13.  (source)

BANKING - Albaraka Turk's share sale will Kigili Abdullah

www.finansglobal.com - (Finansglobal) - Abdullah Kigili, Albaraka Turk, 372 thousand 584 shares owned by Central Registry Agency has registered to sell stock.
According to today's closing value of the shares subject to sale prices at the level of 700 thousand TL. Level of only 0.07 percent of the shares in the bank's capital ratio. (source)

OIC - IDB approves $1.96bn in new projects

www.arabnews.com - The closing ceremony of the 37th annual meeting of the board of governors of the Islamic development bank (IDB) hosted in Khartoum on Thursday was marked by the signing of a number of financing agreements. Under these agreements, the bank will contribute to financing of new development projects in 21 member countries with a total value of $1.96 billion.

According to an IDB source, the list of these countries included Sudan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Chad, Bahrain, Indonesia, Guinea, Mauritania, Uzbekistan, Senegal, Burkinafaso, Tajikistan, Sierra Leone, Cameron, Niger, Mali, Afghanistan, Gambia, Maldives, and Guinea Bissau. (source)

Islamic Development Bank Extends $668 Million in Loans, SPA Says - High Speed Railway Ankara Konya Included

www.bloomberg.com - The Islamic Development Bank, a Saudi Arabia-based multilateral lender, approved $668 million in loans to finance projects in 12 countries, the Saudi Press Agency reported, citing the bank.

The loans include $229 million for a 304-kilometer (189- mile) high-speed rail line linking Turkey’s capital Ankara with Konya and $228 million for a sewerage network west of the Iranian capital Tehran, the news service said. (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Pmex representation in Turkey: commodity trading policy frameworks discussed

Pakistan Mer-cantile Exchange (Pmex) was recently invited to participate and make a formal presentation in a seminar on 'Experiences in Establishing Effective Commodity Exchanges in IDB member Countries.' The seminar was held on 15th-16th December 2011 in Ankara, Turkey and was organised by the Islamic Development Bank, its subsidiary International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey.

Participants in the seminar included commodity exchanges and chambers of commerce from IDB member countries, financial institutions, as well as international consultants and specialists in the area of commodity trading, financing and warehousing. (source)

WORLD - OIC - Islamic Development Bank Approves Record $4.2 Billion of Loans - launching gateway office in Turkey

The Islamic Development Bank, a Jeddah-based multilateral lender, said it approved a record $4.2 billion in financing for projects around the world this year.

Funding included $105 million for a power-generation, transmission and distribution program in Mauritania’s capital, Nouakchott, $53 million for the Saudi Arabian SME Fund and $11 million to support the second phase of a road project in Morocco, the lender said in an e-mailed statement today.

“As part of IDB’s vision to become a world-class organization by 2020, the board of directors has also approved the launching of five IDB pilot gateway offices in Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nigeria to follow up on the implementation of IDB projects,” President Ahmed Mohamed Ali said in the statement. “If after three years the progress of these offices is positive, similar offices could be opened in the future.”  (source)

BANKING - Bank IDB, ASYA Bank set up subsidiary in Mauritania

afriquejet.com - The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Turkish bank, ASYA Bank, have set up a subsidiary in Mauritania under the name Islamic Bank of Mauritania (BIM). The new bank will officially launch its activities on 27 November, acording to a statement issued in Nouakchott on Wednesday.

BIM has a capital of US$22 million with 60 per cent of the shares held by the Islamic Corporation for Private Sector Development (SIDSP), a subsidiary of the IDB, against 40 per cent for Turkey’s ASYA Bank. (source)

RATINGS - Fitch afrms Islamic Development Bank at 'AAA'/'F1+'

Nov 16- Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Islamic Development Bank's (IDB) Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'AAA' with a Stable Outlook and Short-term IDR at 'F1+'.

The ratings primarily reflect IDB's strong capitalisation. The bank is one of the most highly capitalised multilateral development banks (MDBs) rated by Fitch. The equity to assets ratio has remained above 65% since inception (70.7% at end-1431H, equivalent to 6 December 2010 in the Gregorian calendar). The IDB also maintains comfortable liquidity and compliance with Sharia'h principles induces extremely low leverage (21.3% at end-1431H). (source)

TRADE FINANCE - ITFC, AKTIF Bank Introduce Structured Trade Financing Model in Turkey and Provide $40M Trade Financing to Tiryaki Agro

Istanbul, Oct. 2011: The International Islamic Trade Finance Cooperation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group, in cooperation with Aktif Bank signed a US$40 million financing facility in favor of the leading Turkish grain trader Tiryaki Agro.

By signing this deal, ITFC has completed its first structured trade finance (STF) deal in Turkey in which Aktif Bank poses the role of agent bank. The STF is an innovative financing technique designed for developing markets and is considered more secure than traditional lending. The model is an alternative to conventional payment guarantees and the focus is on the cash flow unlike unsecured financing. The off balance sheet financing model, is self liquidating and risks mitigate on assets enabling the beneficiary to be in a better financial position.

 

With the view of promoting intra-OIC trade, ITFC and Aktif Bank cooperation brings new financing models to OIC member countries. ITFC’s CEO Dr. Waleed Al-Wohaib emphasized on the importance of Trade Financing in developing Trade relations between OIC member countries, he said ”We are pleased to provide financing to Tiryaki Agro through Aktif Bank”. Al-Wohaib also underlined the significance of utilizing the new Structured Trade Financing model in other sectors in addition to the agriculture sector.

 

From his end, Aktif Bank’s CEO Dr. Önder Halisdemir commented on the signing “ITFC has successfully implemented Structured Trade Financing in many countries, and now, through Aktif Bank, Turkish companies will start benefiting for the first time from the new Financing model, especially in the food, petrochemical, steel and fertilizer sectors.

 

Source :  http://www.itfc-idb.org/content/itfc-aktif-bank-introduce-structured-trade-financing-model-turkey-and-provide-40m-trade-fina - Oct 25, 2011

CAPITAL MARKETS - KFH unit’s second sukuk stirs delight in Turkish markets

As Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank (KTPB), which is majority owned by Kuwait Finance House (KFH), one of the largest Islamic banks in the world, ponders the successful closure last week of its $350 million 5-year Sukuk Al-Ijara, its second issuance to date, there is already talk of future forays into the global financial market to raise even longer term funding subject to the usual caveats of timing and market conditions. (source)

FINANCE - Turkey Finance, Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam'dan murabaha loan was a $ 75 million.

ISTANBUL - Turkey Finance, Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam murabaha loan with a 5-year term with the new $ 75 million in the year 2011 a total of 800 million dollars worth of foreign loans has been provided. SMEs as a priority use of the new loan will be available from the received usury. (source)

IDB - IDB boosts financing cooperation with Turkish corporates

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) latest $75 million line of financing to Turkiye Finans Participation Bank, one of the four participation (Islamic) banks in Turkey and in  which Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank has a controlling stake, underlines the proactive involvement of the multilateral development bank of the Muslim world in Turkey over the last three decades. (source)

TAKAFUL - ICIEC set to launch sukuk policy to facilitate credit enhancement

The idea of a third party sukuk guarantee fund is still being considered by the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Export Credits and Investment (ICIEC), the standalone export credit agency of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group. However, according to Abdel Rahman Taha, the chief executive officer of ICIEC, the corporation "has initiated work internally to design a new sukuk policy which can be offered as a means to enhance the credit structure and appeal of sukuk. It is expected that this new policy will be able to provide the much needed respite to the sukuk market." (source)

FINANCE - Turkey’s Islamic Bank gets $75 million from IDB

microfinancefocus.com - The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has assigned $75 million line of finance to Turkey’s Islamic Bank, Turkye Finans Participation Bank. At the 27th meeting of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, (COMCEC), in Istanbul, IDB Group President Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali signed an agreement with the one of Turkey’s largest Islamic Banks.  (source)

ARTICLE - Talking Turkey

theislamicglobe.com - In quiet corners in the established Islamic finance hubs of the GCC and Malaysia, jittery Islamic bankers whisper tales of a great power rising in the west.

The fear is not the old crusaders and imperialists of Europe and America, but a modern, democratic, secular nation at the bridge between Europe and Asia: Turkey.

Although the development of c, known in Turkey as participation banks, is no secret, there is a definitive pique in interest from the established powers in Islamic banking in doing business with and doing business in Turkey.  (source)

TRADE INSURANCE - ICIEC and EXIM BANK - Demand for political risk insurance in MENA region up

One of the important issues to emerge from the second annual meeting of the Aman Union, the association of investment and export credit agencies in the Arab and Islamic world, which was held in Istanbul last week under the aegis of the Turk Eximbank, is the increased demand for political risk insurance especially insuring risks in post-conflict countries and those undergoing economic and political transformation. This is especially from those countries whose exporters are active in the OIC countries. (source)

TRADE FINANCE - Turkey Eximbank to Offer Risk Insurance for Exports, Dunya Says

Turkey’s Export-Import bank signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Development Bank to offer political risk insurance to exporters and help Turkey’s trade with Islamic countries, Dunya newspaper reported. (source)

ARTICLES - Forbidden fruit: Turkey’s tempting Islamic banking sector

IFN.COM - Cover Story - 29-Aug-2011 - Volume8.Issue34

Forbidden fruit: Turkey’s tempting Islamic banking sector economic powerhouse

Turkey has been one of the few economic success stories emerging from the recession, with the highest economic growth rate in the world (11%) in Q1 2011. Despite a dip in 2008 with GDP contracting 14.6%, the economy rapidly returned to growth and GDP grew by 8% in 2010 with a 5% expansion predicted for 2011. Turkish banks were largely unaffected by the global financial crisis, with limited exposure to toxic securities and high retail deposit levels providing a liquidity buffer. The regulator maintains firm control with a focus on preventing excessive credit growth and a ban on foreign currency retail lending, meaning that banks have experienced little funding stress.  Fitch Ratings recently changed Turkey’s ‘BB+’ sovereign rating outlook from stable to positive suggesting that a future upgrade could be on the cards, which will only enhance Turkey’s attractiveness to foreign investors. (source)

BANKING - Turkey's Bank Asya to buy a brokerage house

TODAYSZAMAN.COM - Turkey's Bank Asya, which offers non-interest banking services conforming with Islamic law, is about to acquire a brokerage house, its chief executive Abdullah Çelik said on Thursday.

Çelik said in August the bank plans a small acquisition of between $10-20 million in a Balkan country in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank.  (source)