1. finance

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Gulf Daily News Monday, 17th November 2014
IIFM launches collateral
Murabahah agreement
MANAMA: Bahrain-based
International Islamic Financial
Market (IIFM), a global standard-setting body for Islamic
finance yesterday announced
the launch of the IIFM Master
Collateralised
Murabahah
Agreement. The global standard document is accompanied
by an operational guidance
memorandum.
“This much awaited 6th
documentation standard from
IIFM is based on ‘Rahn’ or
collateral and will provide an
alternative avenue to institutions for low risk financing
arrangements locally as well as
cross-border,” IIFM chairman
Khalid Hamad Abdul-Rahman
Hamad.
“With the publication of
this global standard document,
institutions of all sizes will be
equally comfortable to transact
and better utilise their Islamic
securities portfolio particularly
sukuk.
“Another feature of this mas-
n Officials at the launch
ter agreement is the potential to
make use of tri-party agent for
safe keeping as well as marking to market and other such
services,” he said.
IIFM chief executive Ijlal
Ahmed Alvi said this global master agreement has been
developed as an additional tool
to be used for liquidity management by institutions active
in Islamic finance.
“It is the best possible alternative to conventional repo
arrangements and will enable
the institutions to utilise their
idle sukuk or Sharia-compliant
portfolio for generating liquidity.
“The master agreement also
provides for credit enhancement resulting in better risk
management in an environment
where the global finance mar-
ket is generally moving away
from clean lending,” he said.
Mr Alvi said this standard
document has been developed
in accordance with the IIFM
comprehensive procedure in
developing global standards
ie consultation with the IIFM
Sharia board from the early
stages, market consultative
meetings, forming a global
working group and the appoint-
Expo big success for Diyar
MANAMA: The presence
of Diyar Al Muharraq, one
of the leading urban developers in Bahrain, was well
received at the Bahrain
Property
Development
Exhibition (BaPDEX) 2014.
The expo, which was held
earlier this month at City
Centre Bahrain, was organised by the Bahrain Property
Development Association
under the patronage of
Deputy Prime Minister
Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla
Al Khalifa.
The exhibition proved to
be a success for Diyar Al
Muharraq, which welcomed
a relentless stream of individual visitors and property
developers who expressed
keen interest in the various
projects on display throughout the five-day exhibition.
“Being one of the most
specialised and distinguished exhibitions of its
kind in Bahrain, it was n From left, Dr Al Shaer, Shaikh Khalid, City Centre Bahrain senior mall manager Duaij Al
absolutely imperative that Rumaihi, Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Minister Dr Juma Al Ka’abi and Minister of
State for Electricity and Water Affairs Dr Abdulhussain Mirza at the Diyar Al Muharraq stand
Diyar Al Muharraq had a
strong presence at the expo
and due to the efforts taken by our
Dr Al Shaer thanked Shaikh Khalid for of the exhibition, further reiterates the
team and the size and scope of the his comprehensive and sincere support government’s concern and support to the
project, in terms of its contribution to for the exhibition and his continuous real estate sector in the kingdom. The
the kingdom’s economy, we had an support to every aspect of the Diyar Al law seeks to protect the interests of both
extremely successful showing,” Diyar Muharraq project.
developers and buyers,” he added.
Al Muharraq chief executive Dr Maher
“His presence at the event and his visit
BaPDEX is among the most distinAl Shaer said.
to our stand is testament to the genuine guished real estate investment and devel“We received a large number of vis- effort our government exerts towards opment events for the emerging market
itors and potential investors along with supporting the real estate development in Bahrain.
dignitaries and other guests who were sector in the kingdom.”
It is dedicated to property developgiven information on the current pro“The new real estate development law, ment products and services that will
gress of the project.”
which was announced on the sidelines benefit the kingdom.
ment of external legal counsel.
The key features of this
agreement is that the fund placing institution will have a comfort of having the collateral in
case of any eventuality, segregated safe keeping and margin maintenance mechanism to
support risk management.
The collateral is taken
through a pledge mechanism
and envisages that the collateral will be held by a third party
custodian to facilitate getting
hold of the collateral in case of
default or severe impairment
of the collateral giving institution’s credit worthiness.
“The operational guidance
memorandum for the master
collateral murabahah agreement is one of the unique features of IIFM efforts to enhance
the development of the Islamic
finance industry. The industry will find this memorandum
very useful in explaining how
the standard is to be used and in
addition to that it provides very
comprehensive recommendations,” said Mr Alvi.
IIFM deputy chairman and
ABC Islamic Bank managing
director Naveed Khan said this
standard fills the acute gap and
removes a disadvantage for the
Islamic finance industry compared to its conventional counterpart.
“In as much as re-use is
not a feature, it retains its full
Sharia-compliant flavour. I am
hopeful that both existing and
new users will find the standard
useful in bridging their liquidity needs”.
Clifford Chance partner
Habib Motani said this new
standard document provides
the Islamic financial market
with a significant new tool for
addressing the increased regulatory focus on liquidity and
collateral and Clifford Chance
is delighted to have been able
to contribute to its development.
IIFM Sharia head Dr Ahmed
Rufai said IIFM has achieved
yet another milestone in its
quest to achieve the ultimate
objective of advancing the
Islamic financial industry globally through its pioneering role
in producing Sharia-compliant
standard documentation with
clear objective of providing
harmonisation, best practices,
transparency and clarity for
sound business activities.
“This MCM agreement has
been characterised with a number of positive features hardly
to be found in other Islamic
finance master agreements,
among these crystal features is
the inclusion of Sharia standards as footnotes for the purpose of clarification, authentication and acceptance of all the
related transactions.”
Key role for
Hopley at
PineBridge
MANAMA:
PineBridge
Investments Middle East has
appointed John Hopley as chief
financial officer.
Mr Hopley brings more than
20 years of corporate finance
experience in the Middle East,
North America, Latin America
and Asia, particularly in the
areas of private equity and banking.
He
was
recently head
of corporate
finance, treasury, insurance
and
investor relations
at
Aldar
Properties in
the UAE.
“John’s
extensive
financial services experience, and in
n Mr Hopley
particular his
strong track record in corporate
finance, private equity and real
estate will add significant value
to the business as we embark on
our next phase of growth in the
region,” PineBridge Investments
Middle East chief executive Talal
Alzain said.
PineBridge
Investments,
which manages a diverse range
of funds globally, is investing in
real estate and private equity in
the Middle East, North Africa
and Turkey region.
The
company
recently
announced the first close of the
PineBridge GCC Real Estate
Fund I.
“I’m excited to be a part of the
team at PineBridge Investments
at a time when the firm is actively pursuing attractive investment
opportunities across the Middle
East,” Mr Hopley said.
Asry appoints
new manager
MANAMA: Asry, the leading
ship and rig repair yard in the
Arabian Gulf, has promoted Rob
Bryant to be the new general
manager of the offshore services
division, effective immediately.
Mr Bryant brings more than
40 years of shipyard management
experience
with
global
leaders
such as A&P
Group, CTC
Marine and
KVASIR.
He
will
lead the offshore services division
which focuses
on rig repair
work across
n Mr Bryant
the Middle
East and globally.
Announcing the new appointment to the senior management
team, Asry chief executive Nils
Kristian Berge said filling this key
position from within the company
gives Asry customers the assurance that we will continue to provide the leading rig repair quality
for which we are renowned and
that the transition will be smooth
and uninterrupted.
Mr Bryant, a Briton, was promoted from commercial manager
at Asry, and prior to that spent
three years as a sales and marketing consultant with KVASIR
Group, UK-based offshore and
marine project management firm.