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)

WORLD - CAPITAL MARKETS - Sharia investing leans to West

gulfnews.com - Islamic benchmarks have consistently outperformed conventional ones

To some observers of Islamic equity investing, Islamic or Sharia-compliant equity indexes seem to imply investing in publicly-listed companies in Muslim countries.

The end results contradict the assumptions. This also rebuts allegations by many from the anti-Sharia movement that Islamic investing is about investing in companies linked to terrorism or financing terrorism. The largest companies in the S&P Global BMI Sharia include ExxonMobil, IBM, Chevron, Nestle and Microsoft.

Today, there is a large stock count and market capitalisation weighting bias towards the non-Muslim G20 countries in all global Islamic equity indexes. We will look at country exposure of Sharia-compliant companies, the economic sector exposure and selected Muslim country Islamic indexes, and how to increase number of Sharia-compliant companies. (source)

EVENTS - Malaysia and Turkey exploring opportunities in ‘New Silk Route’

In the corridors of power in Ankara, a new thinking is emerging especially among the “Young Turks” of the Turkish establishment.

A combination of the aftermath of the global financial crisis; the seemingly intractable euro zone debt crisis with neighboring rival, Greece, bearing the brunt of the criticism; and endless obfuscation and simmering opposition by some diehard opponents to Turkish membership of the European Union; and the uncertainty in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region because of the so-called “Arab Spring,” is forcing Ankara to look beyond its traditional trading partners and markets in the EU and the Middle East and to consider alternative ways of raising funds and investments into the country. (source)

INDEX - SAMI Halal Food Index holds Turkish companies

Sime Darby, Nestle (M) and Genting Plantations are among the top companies on the Socially Acceptable Market Investments Halal Food Index.
 

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian listed food companies form over a third of the 274 companies in the newly-launched SAMI (Socially Acceptable Market Investments) Halal Food Index.

These 95 companies represent over two-fifths or US$53 billion (RM161 billion) of the index's total market capitalisation of US$114 billion (RM345 billion).

Sime Darby Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd and Genting Plantations Bhd are among the top companies on the index, Thomson Reuters global head of Islamic finance and OIC countries Rushdi Siddiqui said.

"This adds feather to Malaysia's Islamic finance hub and the convergence of both (Islamic finance and halal industry)," he told a news conference on the sidelines of World Halal Forum (WHF) 2011 here yesterday.

Also present were Deloitte Malaysia global leader of Islamic finance Daud Vicary Abdullah, WHF director (Malaysia/the UK) Abdalhamid Evans and AmIslamic Funds Management chief executive officer Datin Maznah Mahbob.(full story)

INDEXES - OPINION - Dow Jones Islamic Markets commentary: Lessons from the turmoil (DJIM Turkey)

INTERNATIONAL. It is of no surprise that the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (DJIM) covering Arab stock markets suffered the largest losses in February. Political crisis and civil unrest in Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Yemen, Morocco, escalating even to a civil war like in Libya, weighed on the markets.

The turmoil led the DJIM Kuwait Index to drop 8.64% to close at 908.36 (as of February 22’s close of trading). (source)

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:

FINANCIAL MARKETS - Muslim Nations Plan Stock Index Next Year to Spur Trade: Islamic Finance - Turkey to coordinate

Huseyin Erkan, chairman and chief executive officer of Istanbul Stock Exchange. Photographer: Jamie Rector/Bloomberg