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)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Kuveyt Turk - Gold Plus ETF - website

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 - 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)

BANKING - KFH witnesses noticeable growth in 2010

KUWAIT: Chairman and Managing Director of Kuwait Finance House Badr Al-Mukhaizeem announced during the press conference which was held yesterday at the bank's premises that the profits of the bank reached 80 percent and that they have taken a good amount of provisions to avoid any bad consequences of the settlement of credit.

Al-Mukhaizeem said that the bank had earned revenues from two external real estate projects in KSA about 70 percent where every project is amounting to KD25 million. "We have enough liquidity and we are supporting all our companies in rescheduling their debts", he added. On the other hand he pointed out that the total financing portfolio of the bank is amounting to KD8 billion and 2.8 billion of it was used in local financing. Mohammad Sulaiman Al-Omar, CEO of the bank said that the bank is studying financing projects in France that complies with the laws of the shariaa and had invested in retail projects locally and externally. (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)

BANKING - Islamic bank offers gold-on-the-go from ATMs

'We want to bring Turkey's existing gold to the bank,' Kuveyt Türk's İrfan Yılmaz says. AA photo

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.