Thursday 30 October 2008

BRI SYariah to Become Full-Fledged Islamic Bank


Kamis, 21 Agustus 2008

Jakarta (21/8). Islamic Bank will develop and growth in this country, apparently the Islamic commercial unit of BRI will become a full-fledged Islamic Bank, this year. There will a transformation of the 3 main Pillars which will be the leading edge for the BRI Syariah spin off.

Eko BambangThe above statement came from Division Head of BRI Syariah, Eko Bambang Suharno. The three main pillars are: Information and Technology, company’s Policy and Human Capital.


The Information and Technology enhancement will stress on the on-line networking system in all branches, including the Islamic windows, which BRI Syariah customers could use BRI conventional system of ATM. "When the spin of process is done, BRI Syariah will work on developing the IT network quality, to create value added," said Eko Bambang.

There will be some improvement in all branches in regard to the system of saving and financing services, with a better management of customer database.



For the company’s policy BRI Syariah will provide its own policy of long term business projection, in determining fund allocation to the potential sectors to increase company’s growth.
" For the Human capital, BRI Syariah will keep on develop its human capital competency, quality, and quantity by internal or external recruitment process” explained Eko. (Nola/Nibra, www.pkesinteraktif.com)

Wednesday 15 October 2008

Opening Remarks of IsDB President During a Press Conference in Washington


Despite the financial crisis engulfing the marketsand the current market conditions, I am pleased to inform you that the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group is financially strong and will be able to meet its commitment to member countries and conduct normal operations. This result is an outcome of certain factors: IsDB’s investment operations are conducted according to Islamic sharia, and hence, it is not exposed to products linked to any sub-prime mortgages.


Moreover, IsDB enjoys strong financial position given its large capital base of 15 billion Islamic dinars (US$23 billion). Yet as an international financial institution and given the current crisis, IsDB will face some challenges, but given its strong financial base, the strong and continuous support it gets from its shareholders, the member countries and the good credit ratings it enjoys from the three top rating agencies: Standard & Poor’s, Moodys and Fitch.


As a result IsDB is in a better position to cope with the unfolding challenges. One of the main challenges is the expected impact of the crisis on our 56 member countries. Though the picture is not yet clear as the crisis is still unfolding, but it is obvious that credit availability will be severely curtailed, with rippling impact on food crisis, MDGs and other economic activities.


We in IsDB, find ourselves in a relatively stable position as a number of initiatives the Group started have already gone into implementation, thus helping our member countries in a way to face up to the global financial crisis. For those who were here during the press conference I held alongside the World bank/IMF annual meetings last year, they may recall that we spoke about the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), which IsDB was launching to help combat poverty in its member countries. I am glad to inform you today that the fund was launched on time last January.


Two programs one dealing with microfinance and the other with vocational training in member states became operational. Not only that, but last March, IsDB launched a new 5-year Special Program for the Development of Africa (SPDA) as a follow up to the Ouagadouguo Declaration 2003-2007, named after the capital of the west African country Burkina Faso. Originally scheduled to pledge US$2 billion, the actual performance of Ouagadouguo Declaration surpassed the target committing US$2.4 billion.


The new program, which covers the period 2008-2012, is committing US$4 billion. Moreover, IsDB hopes to mobilize between US$3-4 against every dollar it spends from other partners. A good example of such activity is the Kandadji Dam in Niger and Taossa Dam in Mali to provide water and electricity to the two west African countries where nine development institutions including the World Bank are participating. IsDB commitment to Africa stems from the fact that it represents the biggest regional block with 27 member countries and there are an estimated 360 million people who live below the poverty line of one dollar a day.


Moreover, during its annual meeting in June and as a response to the growing food crisis, IsDB announced the Jeddah Declaration that calls for providing US$1.5 billion over a 5-year period using its own resources as a group to help affected member countries meet the new challenges. During the four months period following the Jeddah Declaration, IsDB has initiated ten projects in ten different member countries to be financed from allocation made this year to the tune of US$178 million, in addition to US$52 million in trade operations for three countries to help supply improved seeds, fertilizers and equipment to boost food production.


However, these three initiatives on poverty reduction, special program for Africa and food, found their way to implementation during the summer. A 5-year agreement was signed with Senegal where IsDB will help mobilize US$1.5 billion from the IsDB Group, private sector and other resources. A similar deal was signed with Niger to help mobilize US$1 billion and a third one to provide US$700 million was signed with Mauritania. Investments will go into priority areas for these countries like agriculture and livestock and so on.

Tuesday 14 October 2008

WORLD’S BEST ISLAMIC FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 2008


Global Finance magazine has announced its first annual awards for the World’s Best Islamic Financial Institutions. A full report on the selections will appear in the June issue of Global Finance. The winners of this year’s awards are those banks that contributed to the growth of Islamic financing and successfully met their customers’ needs for Shariah-compliant products, while creating the foundation for continued fast growth in the future.

All selections were made by the editors of Global Finance, after extensive consultations with bankers, corporate finance executives and analysts throughout the world. In selecting these top banks, we considered factors that range from the quantitative objective to the informed subjective. Banks were invited to submit entries supporting their selection. Amid nominallly objective criteria were growth in assets, profitability, geographic reach, strategic relationships, new business development and innovation in products. Subjective criteria included opinions of equity analysts, banking consultants and others involved in the industry. The mix of these factors yields leading banks that may not be the largest, oldest or the most diversified in a given country, but rather the best – the banks with which corporations around the world would most likely want to do business.

“Shariah-compliant finance is the fastest-growing area of finance worldwide, with more than 300 financial institutions that are either fully Islamic or selling Islamic finance products, in addition to several hundred more Islamic investment banks and insurance companies, or takaful,” says Global Finance’s publisher Joseph D. Giarraputo. “The winning banks were all noteworthy in their dedication to satisfying their customers’ needs in accordance with the rules of Islamic finance.”

Overall Winner:
Best Sukuk Bank: Kuwait Finance House
Best Islamic Retail Bank: Dubai Islamic Bank
Best Islamic Investment Bank: Unicorn Investment Bank
Best Takaful Provider: Solidarity Group
Best Asset Management Company: Saudi British Bank (SABB)
Best Shariah-Compliant Index Provider: Dow Jones Indexes

Regional Awards:
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): Samba Financial Group
Non-GCC Middle East/North Africa: Islamic International Arab Bank
Asia: CIMB Islamic
Europe: Deutsche Bank

Country Awards:
Algeria: Banque Albaraka d’Algéria
Bahrain: ABC Islamic Bank
Bangladesh: Islami Bank Bangladesh
Brunei: Islamic Bank of Brunei
Egypt: Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt
France: BNP Paribas
Germany: Deutsche Bank
India: Kotak Mahindra
Indonesia: Bank Syariah Mandiri
Iran: Bank Saderat Iran
Jordan: Islamic International Arab Bank
Kuwait: Kuwait Finance House
Lebanon: Arab Finance House
Malaysia: CIMB Islamic Bank
Pakistan: Meezan Bank
Qatar: Qatar Islamic Bank
Saudi Arabia: Samba Financial Group
Singapore: Islamic Bank of Asia
Sudan: Al Salam Bank - Sudan
Turkey: Türkiye Finans
United Arab Emirates: Dubai Islamic Bank
United Kingdom: HSBC Amanah
United States: Shariah Capital

 
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