FINANCE - Turkish Retailer A101 Set To Clinch Sale To Private Equity - Sources

www.nasdaq.com - LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Turkish retailer A101 Yeni Magazacilik AS is set to clinch a sale to private equity highlighting a continued interest in the country's retail sector, people familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.
Capital Group is frontrunner for the business which has attracted several other buyout firms including TPG, Investcorp and Permira, one person said. (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Citigroup looking to enter Turkey’s sukuk market

www.hurriyetdailynews.com - Citigroup Europe is interested in entering into the sukuk, or Islamic bond, market in Turkey, the group’s Middle East and Africa (EMEA) board director Alberto Verme told Hürriyet.

Citigroup is one of the pioneers of the sukuk market in the Middle East Verme said, adding that it had worked with three banks in the region, while also pursuing activities in Indonesia and Malaysia. (source)

BANKING - KFH Board approves new strategy

arabtimesonline.com - KUWAIT CITY, Jan 7: Kuwait Finance House’s Board of Directors has approved a new five-year strategy and transformation program designed to raise the bank’s performance to the next level. The strategy, which was developed in conjunction with Booz & Company, the international management consultancy firm, is centred on three strategic pillars of improving banking performance in Kuwait, streamlining the group’s investment portfolio and increasing coordination across its international banking subsidiaries.  (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 - Unicorn changes name to Bank Alkhair (Bank Akhtiar Turkey)

Unicorn Investment Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank, today changed its name to Bank Alkhair with the launch of a new brand identity.

The bank’s subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Turkey will now officially operate under the names Alkhair Capital Saudi Arabia, Alkhair International Islamic Bank Malaysia and Alkhair Capital Turkey, respectively. (source)