CAPITAL MARKETS - KFH-Turkey launches Silver exchange traded fund at Istanbul bourse

www.zawya.com - KFH-Turkey launched the Silver traded fund at Istanbul bourse yesterday during a celebration that was attended by several Turkish officials, including Istanbul Bourse ManagerIbrahim Tohan, in addition to a bouquet of businessmen, investors, important figures, It is worth noting that this is the first account of its kind in Turkey.

KFH-Turkey's CEO Ufuk Iwan stated that the new fund complements the gold traded fund that the bank offered last year and is highly demanded by clients; especially that Turkish people are keen to purchase and keep gold and silver. (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)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Kuveyt Türk Participation Bank B Type SilverPlus ETF is applied to be listed on İMKB

www.ise.org - Bizim Securities applied for public offering and listing of “Kuveyt Türk Participation Bank B Type SilverPlus ETF", to be issued by Kuveyt Türk, on March 23, 2012. (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)

INTERVIEW - Hussain Erkan - Turkey strives to build closer links with GCC stock exchanges

Turkey has been building capital market bridges to GCC and South East Asia, and chairman of the Istanbul Stock Exchange, Hussain Erkan, has been a leading architect in establishing dialogue, hosting events, and facilitating cooperation and coordination with his counterparts for both Islamic and conventional finance. In this interview, Erkan shares his thoughts on the challenges and progress of Islamic finance in Turkey, among various other issues. He is hopeful that the improvements made should be able to attract investors from the GCC. 

 

Gulf News: Would you kindly explain the role of Istanbul Stock Exchange in providing opportunities for those interested in Islamic finance?

Hussain Erkan: Islamic countries have a huge potential to create wealth in the economy with their rich resources and are capable of achieving more by improving their capital market structure. Since 2005, under the activities of Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC), Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) has been working on creating this awareness and developing the exchange industry in Islamic countries by acting as the coordinator of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states’ Stock Exchanges Forum. We also cooperate with other international institutions such as IIFM (International Islamic Financial Market)? on developing an appropriate structure to create solutions for increasing the liquidity of Islamic capital market instruments. (source)

BANKING - Turkey draws closer to MENA

The Turkish economy has now re-aligned itself more closely to the regional markets in the GCC and MENA countries.

Whichever party wins the Turkish general election in June this year, one thing remains certain. Turkey's participation banking sector will continue its steady progress and, in the process, further consolidate the sector as the third major component in the Turkish financial system after the depository (conventional commercial deposit-taking) banks and the development and investment banks. Participation banking is the Turkish euphemism for interest-free profit-and-loss-sharing banking - in other words Islamic banking. Its importance is underlined by the fact that it has  flourished since its establishment in 1983 by a special decree introduced by the military regime of President Kenan Evren, and more recently it has undergone a successful transformation that has seen it become part of the mainstream banking industry following its licensing, regulation and supervision under the same provisions of the general 2007 Turkish Banking act (amended). (full story)

BANKING - Kuveyt Türk Holds Its Twenty Third Regular General Assembly

Kuveyt Türk concluded its twenty third Regular General Assembly with a meeting in which members of the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer Ufuk Uyan and Kuveyt Türk partners were in attendance. The meeting began with Kuveyt Türk Chief Executive Officer Ufuk Uyan’s presentation of the agenda, after which participants were informed about the 2010 Annual Report and annual financial statement. (full story)

BANKING - Turkish participation banks continue to thrive

The Turkish participation (Islamic) banking sector may not be as savvy or prone to spin and hype as its counterparts in the Middle East and elsewhere, but it continues to thrive. Perhaps more importantly, judging by the recent innovations in products and transactions, the participation banking sector in Turkey is also one of the most competitive in the global Islamic finance landscape. (full story)

BANKING - Kuveyt Turk epitomizes optimism of participation banking sector

By MUSHTAK PARKER | ARAB NEWS

Published: Mar 28, 2011 00:07 

Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank (KTPB), a subsidiary of the Kuwait Finance House (KFH), one of the pioneers of global Islamic finance, is a leading Turkish participation (Islamic bank). While Turkish participation banks in general are deemed to be conservative and cautious, KTPB has set the tone by venturing abroad into Germany, Dubai, Bahrain and Kazakhstan and by pioneering new products based on physical gold and exporting them to markets in Malaysia and elsewhere through the global network of KFH. These include gold-backed exchange traded funds (ETFs), gold-backed banking accounts and sukuk. Ufuk Uyan, CEO of Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank, a doyen of Turkish Islamic banking, has been at the forefront of the expansion of KTPB, taking it to the top 10 tier of Turkish banks. Here Ufuk Uyan discusses with Arab News the state of the participation banking sector in Turkey, the performance of KTPB in 2010 and the prospects and challenges for the industry in 2011 and beyond. (full story)

CAPITAL MARKETS - BMD - Fund manager sees tough year for Turkish banking

Avsar Sungurlu

By MUSHTAK PARKER | ARAB NEWS

Published: Feb 6, 2011 23:08 Updated:Feb 6, 2011 23:11

This year will be a difficult year for Turkish banking — both conventional and participation (Islamic) banking — although the latter will continue to grow in terms of market share of the total banking sector, says Avsar Sungurlu, assistant managing director of BMD Securities, one of the top fund managers and investment advisers serving the participation banking sector in Turkey. (source)

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 - 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

CAPITAL MARKETS - Islamic ETFs: Here to Stay?

The concept is simple: Market makers bunch together “clean” stocks, and market players buy those stocks up for trade. For those who enjoy the thrill of buying and selling stocks, Islamic exchange traded funds (ETFs) are the filtered alternative. An ETF is basically a fund which behaves like equity. The difference between mutual funds and an ETF is that it is readily available on the secondary market and stock quotes are available throughout the day, as opposed to mutual funds whose net asset value (NAV) is calculated at the end of the day.

BANKING - CAPITAL MARKETS - ETFs continue to make inroads

LONDON: Islamic exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continue to make slow but steady market penetration with the recent launch of a gold-based ETF, GoldPlus, launched in Istanbul by Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank, in which Kuwait Finance House has a controlling 62 percent equity state, and the imminent launch by BNP Paribas Investment Partners of its second Islamic ETF, part of its Easy ETF range, which will be listed on Bursa Malaysia. 

SUKUK - Kuveyt Turk's debut sukuk to open door for Turkey

LONDON: One of the potentially most important developments in the global sukuk market this year is the launching in August of a 3-year $100 million Wakala sukuk by Istanbul-based Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank, in which global Islamic banking major, Kuwait Finance House (KFH), has a controlling 62 percent equity stake.