Association for Financial Professionals announces Middle East and Africa Treasury Advisory Council

The Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) has launched a new AFP Middle East and Africa (MEA) Treasury Advisory Council. The objective of the council is to provide thought leadership, expertise and advocacy for the treasury and finance community for the Middle East and Africa region. The council is composed of corporate treasury professionals and thought leaders who are members of AFP and are interested in advancing the treasury profession within the MEA region. Members of the AFP MEA Treasury Advisory Council include (in alphabetical order): – Rania Afifi, Associate Director Treasury, Misr Italia Properties, Egypt – Mohammed Saud Al-Eid, Cash Operation Manager, Maaden, KSA – Gulrez Ali Sayed, Treasurer & Financial Risk Management, Saudi Cargo, KSA – Ahmad Al Jukka, Treasury Manager, Ras al Khaimah State Government, UAE – Hisham Abouldahab, Group Corporate Treasurer, Almansour Automotive, Egypt – Mideva Lumire, Head of Treasury, Unilever Tea Kenya, Kenya – Ahmed Makhlouf, CFO, General Motors, Egypt – Emad Galal Elmesalami, Group Finance and Treasury Director, Saudi Chemical Company Holding, KSA – Mina Nasif, Chief Visionary Officer, Beacon FinTrain, Egypt – Mohamed Seddeak, Treasury and Corporate Finance Head, Nahdi Medical Company, KSA – Nihan Yılmazer, Regional Treasury & Finance Manager, TAV Construction, UAE/Turkey With a mission to support AFP in its goal to be the key resource and advocate for the treasury profession within the MEA region, the council functions as the "eyes and ears" between AFP and the MEA treasury community through activities such as sharing topics of interest as well as discussing challenges that AFP can support. "The AFP MEA Treasury Advisory Council is comprised of incredibly distinguished treasury professionals, who are enthusiastic and passionate about the profession," said Jim Kaitz, AFP President and CEO. "I'm so excited about what this organisation can do to drive that enthusiasm for treasury, and at some point, finance, throughout the Middle East and Africa region." Headquartered in the US and located regionally in Singapore, the AFP is the professional society committed to advancing the success of treasury and finance members and their organisations. Established and administered by AFP, the Certified Treasury Professional and Certified Corporate FP&A Professional credentials set standards of excellence in treasury and finance.

GEM aims to create entrepreneur synergy

Source: GEM Facebook page.

The Global Entrepreneurship Movement (GEM) was officially launched in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) providing a networking platform for entrepreneurs from different sectors such as social entrepreneurship, technology, and halal to converge.

“I’m joined on this NGO by community leaders from different networks who will support a strong partnership for Malaysia and our entrepreneurs. We’ve got some incredible entrepreneurs, business leaders and innovators who are present today. They see the promise of internationalising Malaysia and will support GEM’s vision where no one is deprived or denied from being an entrepreneur," said YBhg. Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, the patron of GEM and Secretary General Treasury, Ministry of Finance. 

“GEM will be the first NGO that focuses on connecting, networking whilst fostering collaborations to internationalise Malaysia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.” 

GEM aspires to build, promote, internationalise and connect the Malaysia-based entrepreneurship movement with the world, including the investment sectors, business angels, private equity firms, venture capitalists and the like. It also aims to align with current entrepreneurial initiatives and agencies by bringing them together.

YBhg. Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan said, "By placing greater emphasis on entrepreneurship via GEM’s strategic programmes, locally, regionally or at an international level, everyone will be provided opportunities to rise which will ultimately unleash the possibilities of creating jobs, spurring innovation and strengthening Malaysia’s leading position in entrepreneurship.”

GEM is set to invest in a capacity building programme via a two-day hackathon for 300 university students at Gathering of Rising Entrepreneurs, Act Together (GREAT) Kuching in Sarawak on April 2 and 3, 2016. GREAT Kuching is the ultimate gathering for all stages of entrepreneurs, startups and funding vehicles led by the National Strategic Unit (NSU) and the National Entrepreneur Development Office (NEDO), supported by the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC). There will also be a year long programme done in partnership with Malaysia Debt Ventures (MDV) to help entrepreneurs who have failed rebound.

According to GEM’S President, Dash Dhakshinamoorthy, “Today, we have people from all walks of industries. Some are startups, some in growth stages and some are in the multi-million dollar revenue stage. However (the) one common thread that runs through the fabric of this group is the desire to make Malaysia the go-to place for launching ventures.

“The government has played a pivotal role for many years to spur entrepreneurship in the country. From setting up the MSC to launching various venture capital funds and also by investing in various agencies to catalyse and grow different clusters of entrepreneurs – grassroots, university entrepreneurship, startups, agri-entrepreneurs, creative entrepreneurs just to name a few. The time has come for independent and private sector players to synergise and weave the ecosystem together by building trust, collaboration and most importantly to be able to dream together to make the Malaysian entrepreneur truly global.” 

Interested?

Membership in GEM is open to students, individuals and companies. Membership fees begin from RM50.

New Islamic hedging product standard introduced

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) and the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) has announced the publication of a new Islamic hedging product standard, the ISDA/IIFM Himaayah Min Taqallub As‘aar Assarf (Islamic cross currency swap) for use in Islamic hedging transactions. The announcement was made at the IIFM 33rd Board of Directors meeting and workshop hosted by The National Commercial Bank at its Riyadh regional office.

The published confirmation template is part of an ISDA and IIFM plan to provide the Islamic finance industry with documentation and product templates to manage risk in transactions arising mainly from currency and profit rate mismatches. The Islamic Cross Currency Swap (ICRCS) template falls under the ISDA/IIFM Tahawwut (hedging) Master Agreement, a framework document that contains general terms and conditions, and early termination and closeout netting provisions between transacting parties.

One of the objectives of entering into a himaayah min taqallub as‘aar assarf would be to enable a party to raise funds through a shari’ah-compliant contract in one currency for a certain period of time against a shari’ah-compliant contract in another currency. Profit rate, tenor and amount are all agreed between the two parties at the start of the transaction. It is used to manage and mitigate currency and rate risks associated with investments, and is not intended for speculation.

“With the expansion of Islamic finance into new territories and an increase in cross-border activities, certain transactions are being exposed to fluctuations in currencies and rate-of-return mismatches. IIFM has been playing a pioneering role in the Islamic hedging segment and, at an early stage, undertook the challenge of developing global standards in collaboration with ISDA. I am confident our ongoing efforts will play a critical role in shaping the industry, particularly in view of new regulations being introduced in G-20 economies,” said Khalid Hamad, Chairman of IIFM.

“This is the latest in a series of product documentation releases aimed at standardizing the Islamic hedging market and helping participants to effectively manage their risk,” said Scott O’Malia, ISDA’s Chief Executive.

“The ICRCS standard has given the industry another standardised template for risk mitigation providing robust legal documentation, shari’ah harmonisation and sound operational practices. We are now seeing an increase in the utilisation of the ISDA/IIFM standard both among institutions and in particular jurisdictions,” said Ijlal Ahmed Alvi, Chief Executive Officer at IIFM.

Qatar Football Association hosts iftar for Asian communities

The Qatar Football Association (QFA) has hosted iftar at the Grand Hyatt for 12 Asian communities in Doha to express gratitude for their support to tournaments and leagues throughout the season, the Qatar News Agency has reported.

QFA General Secretary Mansoor Al Ansari and thw ambassadors of India, Nepal, Indonesia, Lebanon, China, Thailand, Philippines, Korea, and Japan attended the iftar event.

Al Ansari expressed appreciation for the relationship-building efforts. "This iftar demonstrates the deep rooted relationship QFA has with the various Asian communities in Qatar and how much QFA values such relationships. We look forward to developing our relationship with you by organising future initiatives that target spreading football across various communities in Qatar," he said.

Representatives from the Indonesian, Sri Lankan, Nepalese, Malaysian, Chinese, Japanese, Jordanian, Lebanese, Indian, Thai, Filipino and South Korean communities attended the event.

Dr Martha Tilaar sets up association to preserve traditional herbal folklore, grow local herbal businesses

Dr Martha Tilaar, founder of one of largest cosmetics companies in Indonesia, has helped to establish an association for herb sellers in Indonesia, Laskar Jamu Gendong Indonesia. 

The assembly establishment certificate for Laskar Jamu Gendong Indonesia was signed by Dr Tilaar, Nuning S Barwa and Heru D Wardhana as representatives of the CSR team of the Martha Tilaar Group, a representative of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah as well as herbal sellers Kasijem Sudarsih, Laksmi and Desy Widayanti. 

A signing ceremony involving some of the herb sellers, government representatives, notaries and representatives  from Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, a recreational area in Jakarta, took place on April 6. 

Laskar Jamu Gendong Indonesia aims to provide all members with training and guidance to increase their skills and grow their herbal businesses. It will also act as an information and knowledge exchange about herbal matters.

Dr Tilaar stressed that traditional herbal knowledge needs to be preserved as it is Indonesia's cultural heritage and contributes to Indonesia's identity. “I want to collaborate with all parties, from herbal sellers and Taman Mini Indonesia who always gives support to herbal activity in Indonesia, to together advance the herbal sector in Indonesia,” said Dr Tilaar. 

Al Rajhi Bank teams up with Bumitra to promote debit card to Malaysian pilgrims

Source: Al Rajhi Bank. From left, Harith Mohd Ali, Dato' Syed Mohd Razif Al Yahya, Bumitra Malaysia
President, Datuk Azrulnizam Abdul Aziz, Al Rajhi Bank CEO, Wan Mohd Ghazni,
Acting Director Retail Banking, Al Rajhi Bank,
and Yasmin Junos, Head of Wealth
and Cards, Al Rajhi Bank.

Al Rajhi Bank and Bumiputra Travel and Tour agents Association of Malaysia (Bumitra) have agreed to promote the Al Rajhi Bank Hijrah Priority Debit Card during the hajj season, as well as to umrah pilgrims.

“Bumitra is an established name in the travel industry and have been a valued customer of Al Rajhi Bank for many years. This collaboration which is a natural process in a relationship built on trust, will enable Al Rajhi Bank to tap into Bumitra’s members of almost 500 Muslim travel agents and travel providers. On a yearly basis Bumitra manages over 170,000 umrah pilgrims from Malaysia alone. With that figure, we estimate that the number of ATM withdrawals from this group alone is roughly over 350,000 transactions with a value of around RM510 million,” said Datuk Azrulnizam Abdul Aziz, CEO of Al Rajhi Bank.

Yasmin Junus, Head of Wealth and Cards at Al Rajhi Bank said in her speech, “Al Rajhi Bank proposes to offer Al Rajhi Bank Hijrah Priority Debit Card convenience to Bumitra’s customer base during the Hajj season at over 3,200 ATMs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The card comes with the convenience of cash withdrawal at competitive rates per transaction in Makkah and Madinah, as well as the convenience of purchasing at any merchant which accepts Visa cards.”

Al Rajhi also launched the AlRajhi ATM Haramain debit card campaign will offer customers additional savings and prizes when they carry out ATM cash withdrawals in KSA during the hajj season.

Al Rajhi Bank, the largest Islamic banking group in the world, is most well known for its retail offering in Malaysia. It maintains a full suite of products including corporate banking, treasury as well as investment banking. The bank has 24 branches across Malaysia with its flagship affluent branch located in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.

AIBIM to organise fourth Global Islamic Finance Forum in KL

The Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) will organise the fourth Global Islamic Finance Forum (GIFF 2014) in Kuala Lumpur from 2 to 4 September 2014 in support of Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) initiatives.

Themed "Marketplace for Global Linkages", this forum aims to discuss the opportunities that Islamic finance can offer the global financial community by bringing together global Islamic financial industry players, market participants, shari'ah scholars and regulators.

Events at GIFF 2014 include a Regulators Forum, International Islamic Capital Markets Forum, Islamic Banking & Finance Conference, CEOs Dialogue (Banking and Takaful), Executive Master Class, Islamic Finance Colloquium, and Islamic Venture Capital & Private Equity Symposium. Fringe events will include exhibitions from local and international organisations, networking sessions and private business meetings.

In view of the growing global interest in Islamic finance, GIFF 2014 is expected to draw interest from chairmen, CEOs and top level management local and international participants from the Middle East, European and Asian countries.  

Supporting organisations for the event include Bank Negara Malaysia, the Securities Commission Malaysia, Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA), International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF), International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) and IBFIM, an industry-owned institute dedicated to training personnel for the Islamic finance industry.
 
Attendance is by invitation only but open to those who register online and have an active interest in the industry. Click here to register.