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)

BANKING - Interview with Sheikh Saleh Kamel, a pioneer of Islamic banking (Albaraka)

www.arabnews.com - JEDDAH: Saleh Kamel is a leading Saudi businessman and philanthropist who is popular worldwide as a renowned pioneer of Islamic banking and finance. He is the founder of Dallah Albaraka Group, one of the Kingdom's largest and most diversified conglomerates, spanning across 40 countries. He heads the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) as its chairman, Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and a number of other organizations.  (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - State debt securities GES Revenue Indexed Bonds

www.yenisafak.com - Nowadays, Agricultural Bank bonds, the income-indexed Treasury bonds (GES), we read news that it will export.
Not see the interest people have dinner in a country subject to the secular mind and will do against them, there is nothing to say.
Who wish to avoid eating haram interest and interest to those who believe that I need to make some comments.  (source)

OPINION - EDUCATION / HR - Building a knowledge economy - in the OIC Malaysia, Turkey, Iran and Indonesia scoring well

sananews.net - In this knowledge-driven world, those countries that have invested massively in education, science, engineering and innovation have progressed rapidly. The divide between the rich and the poor today is simply a “knowledge divide” – those countries that have acquired knowledge in cutting-edge fields and used it to invent new products and processes, and other countries which are simply importers of technology. (source)

OPINION - Highs and lows of 2011 and a wish list for 2012

“GOD gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘thank you’?” — Author unknown

I want to thank NST. Islamic Finance 2.0 is one year old.

In reflecting back and looking forward, there were exciting highs and disappointing lows.

The lows included:

# Early death of deputy governor Datuk Mohd Razif Abdul Kadir

# EIIB, one of five FSA approved banks in the UK, significantly downsizing operations, following the heels of Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) parental rescue capital injection. (source)

OPINION - Balkans between two worlds: Turkey and Europe

sundayszaman.com - ... Turkey has long been in the banking industry of Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, Albania and Macedonia. For instance, Ziraat Bankası and IK Bank (a sister company of Halk Bank) are well-established banking systems in Macedonia, while TEB (Türk Ekonomi Bankası) is already among the key players of Kosovo’s banking industry. BKT is the second leading bank in Albania in terms of banking facilities, investments, loans and financial capacity, and, according to its CEO, Albaraka Türk will open its first bank in Albania later this year.... (source)

OPINION - SPECIAL COMMENT: Turkey, SIBOS and Islamic Finance (Rushdi Siddiqui)

ALIFARABIA.COM - I was at two recent conferences, OIC Member States’ Stock Exchange Forum 5th Meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, and SWIFT’s SIBOS massive event in Toronto, and, folks, we have a lot of work ahead of us in Islamic finance/Muslim countries on build out of the capital markets, linkages, etc.  (source)

WORLD - OPINION - Strong Outlook for Turkish Islamic Banks

IRAN DAILY - International credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) asserted in a report published last week that Turkey’s participation (Islamic) banks could continue their recent strong growth if they can cultivate stronger ties with their international owners and create a sustainable brand image.

Turkey’s Islamic finance market is as old as the one in Malaysia and others in the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) countries, Arab News wrote. (source)

WORLD - OPINION - Money politics and political freedom - Islamic finance hubs : corruption and freedom (Turkey)

KARL Kraus said: “Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country.” I was recently asked to give a speech on political freedom and corruption in Muslim countries. Both areas have a direct impact on capital flight and market formation, brain drain and economic development, portfolio investors and direct investments, including Islamic finance. (source)

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)

OPINION - Right track, wrong train ? Rushdi Siddiqui in the Malay "Business Times"

The end of the year is a good time to reflect. Rushdi Siddiqui asks and answers  10 relevant questions (hereunder).  Blake Goud gives his opinion (click Sharing Risk dot Org logo at the right).  What do YOU think ?  
Share your opinion on the Blog of Blake, to keep the answers centralized.

THE year 2010 was a year of "headwinds" for Islamic finance, and the last article of the year is a survey on issues that merit more airplay and public comment. There were so many interesting stories in Islamic finance; some good (announcement of IILM Corp), some bad (Investment Dar using syariah defence), and some ugly (anti-syariah movement).

This is not meant to be a scientific survey, but more of dialogue to answer the bigger question: Are we getting closer to where we should be in Islamic finance?

SUKUK - Opinion - Sukuk Edged Out Again by Emerging Debt in August

Soraya Permatasari Khalid Qayum

New York. Islamic bonds lost to emerging-market debt for the fourth-straight month in August and fund managers say returns wont catch up until trading increases and Persian Gulf companies restructure their debt.

Shariah-compliant notes rose 1.4 percent last month, down from 2.6 percent in July, according to the HSBC/Nasdaq Dubai US Dollar Sukuk Index. They have underperformed emerging-market bonds for the longest stretch since JutyOWrBebt in developing nations climbed 2.4 percent, add ing to the 4.1 percent return in the prior month, JPMorgan Chase said.

OPINION - Istanbul Islamic Capital Markets ?

About 1 year ago, there was lots of noise about "Istanbul International Capital Markets" ... reports, speeches and committees.

I am sure that all the job is well on the way now.  One thing that strikes my mind, is that one of the things that REALLY would be an added value for the region, is an "Islamic Capital Market".

Whilst the Participation Banks Association of Turkey TKBB is an active partner in the overall effort, there apparently is no intention to profile this part of the Turkish financial industry.

OPINION - A small step for Kuveyt Turk, a giant leap for Islamic finance in Turkey ?

The Turkish "participation banks" (operating according to Islamic principles) usually enter into "syndicated Murabaha facilities" to collect financial means.

Those funds subsequently are channeled through to underlying clients, using Murabaha financing for their assets.  In the Murabaha-environment, the bank acquires an asset - as pre-designated by the client - at price X and than sells that down to the client for price X+a (a being the mark up or profit margin).