IFN
IFNCOUNTRY
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CORRESPONDENTS
Ending 2013 on a strong note
QATAR
By Amjad Hussein
In order to further the goals of Qatar's
Vision 2030, the Qatar Central Bank
(QCB) announced earlier this month
its program until 2016 to consolidate
regulatory oversight over the banking
sector, the financial markets and the
insurance sector. The plan highlights
Islamic financial institutions as a crucial
component of the growth of Qatar's
economy and seeks to enhance their role
and contribution to its development.
The QCB also announced that it is
developing rules for the listing of
exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the
Qatar Exchange (QE) and has also
hinted at plans to improve the sharing
of credit rating information by widening
access to information from its credit
bureau to entities such as the QE and
telecommunications companies. The
credit bureau is a division of the QCB
responsible for assessing borrower
creditworthiness and for providing
creditworthiness reports on customers
to banks. The QCB said it will launch the
second phase of the credit bureau project
for telecommunications companies
and connect the banking risks system
to the Ministry of Justice’s real estate
registration department and QE to allow
for easier verification of guarantees
provided by borrowers.
Qatari banks
reported the
highest year-onyear growth in net
interest income (NII)
in the GCC at
25.3%
The QCB in December issued
government bonds and Sukuk for
national banks for a period of three
years and five years with a total value
of QAR4billion (US$1.09 billion).The
government has signaled however
that Qatar is unlikely to issue debt on
international markets in 2014 and that
any issued debt in 2014 will only be
©
IFN Country Correspondents
intended for monetary and liquidity
management.
Masraf Al Rayan (MAR), Qatar's largest
Islamic bank by market value, has
made inroads into the UK by recently
agreeing with the Islamic Bank of Britain
(IBB) the terms of a cash offer for IBB's
entire capital. MAR reportedly offered
GBP24.1million (US$39.56 million) in
cash for the acquisition of IBB’s shares.
Moody’s has assigned a first-time ‘Baa2’
insurance financial strength rating to
Qatar-based Damaan Islamic Insurance
Company (Beema) with a stable outlook.
Established in 2009, Beema is a Shariah
compliant insurance service provider.
It writes a mix of non-life, health and
Takaful life insurance. Qatar Insurance
Company, Qatar Islamic Bank and MAR,
Barwa Real Estate and QInvest are the
major stakeholders of the company.
QInvest, a leading Islamic investment
bank in Qatar, expects 2014 to be
another busy year. In 2013 QInvest
acted on Sukuk transactions totaling
US$3.5 billion including acting as
joint lead manager and bookrunner
for Ooredoo’s first ever Sukuk, worth
US$1.25 billion, which was also the first
US dollar Sukuk issued globally using
an innovative airtime structure. QInvest
acted for Turkey as joint lead manager
and bookrunner on the sovereign’s
second Sukuk worth US$1.25 billion. In
May, QInvest was also one of the joint
lead managers for Saudi Arabia-based
developer Dar Al Arkan’s US$450 million
Sukuk, an offering from an issuer that
provides diversity to Sukuk investors
being a rare sub-investment grade Sukuk.
Finally, according to a report by Global
Investment House, Qatari banks
reported the highest year-on-year
growth in net interest income (NII) in
the GCC at 25.3%. Notably MAR's NII
rose 35.3% due to a 26bps year-on-year
improvement in its net interest margins
and Qatar National Bank also saw
robust growth of 28.1% in NII driven
by consolidation of its Egypt-based
subsidiary National Societe Generale
Bank-Egypt.
Amjad Hussain is a partner at law firm K&L
Gates’ corporate and finance practices. He
can be contacted at Amjad.Hussain@klgates.
com.
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AFGHANISTAN: Zulfiqar Ali Khan
head of Islamic banking division, financial supervision
department, Da Afghanistan Bank
AUSTRALIA
Talal Yassine, managing director, Crescent Wealth
BAHRAIN: Dr Hatim El-Tahir
director, Islamic Finance Knowledge Centre, Deloitte &
Touche
BANGLADESH: Md Shamsuzzaman
executive vice president, Islami Bank Bangladesh
BELGIUM: Prof Laurent Marliere
CEO, ISFIN
BERMUDA: Belaid A Jheengoor
director of asset management, PwC
BRUNEI: James Chiew Siew Hua
senior partner, Abrahams Davidson & Co
CANADA: Jeffrey S Graham
partner, Borden Ladner Gervais
CZECH REPUBLIC: JUDr Ivana Hrdlickova,
judge, Judiciary, Appelate Court Pardubice
EGYPT: Dr Walid Hegazy
managing partner, Hegazy & Associates
FRANCE: Kader Merbouh
co head of the Executive Master of the Islamic Finance,
Paris-Dauphine University
HONG KONG & CHINA: Anthony Chan
New Line Capital Investment Limited
INDIA: H Jayesh
founder partner, Juris Corp
INDONESIA: Farouk A Alwyni
chairman, Center for Islamic Studies in Finance,
Economics, and Development
IRAN: Majid Pireh
Islamic finance expert, SEO
IRAQ: Khaled Saqqaf
partner and head of Jordan & Iraq offices, Al Tamimi & Co
IRELAND: Ken Owens
Shariah funds assurance partner, PwC Ireland
JAPAN: Serdar A. Basara
president, Japan Islamic Finance
JORDAN: Khaled Saqqaf
partner and head of Jordan & Iraq offices, Al Tamimi & Co
KENYA: Bilal AbdulAziz Laving
head of product development and Shariah compliance,
Gulf African Bank
KOREA: Yong-Jae Chang
partner, Lee & Ko
KUWAIT: Alex Saleh
partner, Al Tamimi & Company
LUXEMBOURG: Marc Theisen
partner, Theisen Law
MALDIVES: Aishath Muneeza
head of Islamic finance, Capital Market Development
Authority
MALTA: Reuben Buttigieg
president, Malta Institute of Management
MAURITIUS: Sameer K Tegally
associate, Conyers Dill & Pearman
MOROCCO
Ahmed Tahiri Jouti, senior consultant, Al Maali Islamic
Finance Training and Consultancy
NEW ZEALAND: Dr Mustafa Farouk
counsel member for Islamic financial institutions, FIANZ
NIGERIA: Auwalu Ado
Shariah auditor, Jaiz Bank
OMAN: Riza Ismail,
senior associate, Trowers & Hamlins
PAKISTAN: Muhammad Shoaib Ibrahim
managing director & CEO, First Habib Modaraba
PHILIPPINES: Rafael A Morales
managing partner, SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan
QATAR: Amjad Hussain
partner, K&L Gates
RUSSIA: Roustam Vakhitov
managing partner, International Tax Associates
SAUDI ARABIA: Nabil Issa
partner, King & Spalding
SENEGAL: Abdoulaye Mbow
Islamic finance advisor, Africa Islamic Finance Corporation
SOUTH AFRICA: Amman Muhammad
CEO, First National Bank — Islamic Finance
SINGAPORE: Yeo Wico
partner, Allen & Gledhill
SRI LANKA: Roshan Madewala
director/CEO, Research Intelligence Unit
SWITZERLAND: Khadra Abdullahi
associate of investment banking, Faisal Private Bank
TANZANIA: Khalfan Abdallah
head of product development and Sharia compliance,
Amana Bank
THAILAND: Shah Fahad Yousufzai, vice-president and
head of strategic marketing and product development,
Islamic Bank of Thailand
TUNISIA: Karim Amous
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8th January 2014