Islamic retail banking: choices and some question marks

Posted on Feb 29, 2012 08:01:50 PM

Banking with an Islamic covered card, instead of a credit card, offers peace of mind and has become popular among Muslims and Non-Muslims alike. But the UAE’s Shari’ah-retail banking landscape also shows that the debris of the global financial crisis has not yet been swept away.

In the first-half of 2011, the UAE‘s Islamic retail banks have been busy in promoting new products and services. In January, Noor Islamic Bank opened its largest branch for Islamic insurances Noor Takaful.

Ajman Bank has recently launched the Mahra Ladies Banking as “around a quarter of the UAE‘s private wealth is controlled by women,” Maryam Al Shorafa, Head of Ajman Bank’s Ladies Banking, told AMEinfo.com. Dubai Bank, one of the smallest local banks in the UAE, has also just opened a new branch at Dubai’s prestigious Jumeira Road. People who drive down the road from the famous Jumeira Mosque to Burj Al Arab can’t miss the huge building near the “Miraj” Islamic Art Centre.

Also in June, Dubai Islamic Bank launched access to a new Shari’ah-compliant fund, the Prudential Shari’ah Opportunities – Asia Pacific Equity Fund. And Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) offers 25% discounts on online transactions for those who open an online brokerage account, along with the chance to win an iPad.

Search for stability

But behind the glittering façade, question marks, here and there, remain. On May 16, the Dubai government took over control over Dubai Bank in order to “ensure all depositors’ interests are safe”. Before this move, Dubai Bank was jointly owned by Emaar Properties and Dubai Holding at 30% and 70%, respectively. It remains unclear whether Dubai Bank will be sold or merged with another Islamic bank.

Dubai’s Noor Islamic Bank has repeatedly denied any intention to merge with other local Islamic banks. Noor apparently had to postpone its foreign expansion plans, as Group CEO Hussain Al-Qemzi said in January. Noor Islamic Bank also closed its branch in Dubai Media City, but opened the Noor Takaful Center at Sheikh Zayed Road near the same-named Dubai metro station. According to Dr. Ahmed Al-Janahi, Managing Directorat Noor Takaful, “sales of Islamic insurances doubled in 2010″.

Despite having obviously financing issues, at Dubai Bank holders of a “Kunooz Account” still have a chance to win Dhs1m every month and Dhs30,000 every day (accept on Fridays, Saturdays and on holidays) “For every Dhs1,000 in your account, you could win one of three daily prizes of Dhs10,000 (excluding Fridays, Saturdays and Public Holidays). For every Dhs5,000 in your account you could win the Grand Monthly Prize of Dhs1m,” the offer posted on the banks’ website says. That means, the bank distributes around Dhs20m per year to lucky customers.

Depositor incentives

Asked by AMEinfo.com why the Kunooz raffle scheme is halal, Dubai Bank responded: “Deposits received by our customers in Kunooz are part of Mudaraba pool, which are invested in Shariah compliant investments.” Under the Islamic financing structure of Mudaraba, the investors (Dubai Bank’s customers in this case) provide money to an entrepreneur (Dubai Bank) in order to finance a specific project. “Therefore the return on Mudaraba pool investments are shared with the deposit holders according to the terms and conditions of Kunooz product,” a Dubai Bank spokesperson explained.

While gambling is haram in Islam, this raffle is approved as halal, because each customer does a contribution to the well-being of the bank by paying money into the account. At Islamic banks, customer accounts are not regarded as the banks’ liability like at conventional financial institutions, but are added to the bank’s own capital as both parties share profits and losses.

ADIB tries to attract clients with a similar saving scheme, called a Ghina savings account. Every time a client saves Dhs20,000 on his Ghina account, he or she gets a raffle coupon every month. There are three winners per year for Dhs2m per year, three for Dhs500,000 and 250 winners for Dhs10,000. Nevertheless, ADIB is apparently in a much better shape than Dubai bank. Its net earnings in the first quarter of 2011 soared 17% year-on-year to Dhs339.3m. ADIB shares, listed at the ADX in Abu Dhabi, have advanced 16% during the first half-year.

As the UAE is still overbanked (more than 50 banks serve 8.2m people) consolidation in the industry will be inevitable, and this trend will not stop at Islamic financial institutions.

EPA Analysis Shows Decrease in 2010 Toxic Chemical Releases in Massachusetts (MA)

Posted on Feb 29, 2012 05:01:50 PM

Release Date: 01/05/2012Contact Information:

(Boston, Mass. – Jan. 5, 2012) – EPA’s most recent Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data is now available for the reporting year of 2010. TRI reporting provides Americans with vital information about their communities by publishing information on toxic chemical disposals and releases into the air, land and water, as well as information on waste management and pollution prevention activities in neighborhoods across the country. 
In Massachusetts, the reporting data show that overall releases of pollutants to the environment have decreased since the previous reporting year (2009). TRI information is a key part of EPA’s efforts to provide greater access to environmental information and get information to the public as quickly as possible. TRI was recently recognized by the Aspen Institute as one of the 10 major ways that EPA has strengthened America.

During 2010, the latest year for which data are available, approximately 20.6 million pounds of chemicals were released in the six New England states, a reduction of about 287,337 pounds. In Massachusetts, 441 facilities reported in 2010 approximately 4.3 million pounds (a decrease of 1,122,489 pounds). Approximately 61 percent of releases in Massachusetts were emitted to the air during 2010. Across the U.S. in 2010, 3.93 billion pounds of toxic chemicals were released into the environment, a 16 percent increase from 2009. 

Each year, EPA makes publicly available TRI data reported by industries throughout the United States regarding chemical releases to air, water and land by power plants, manufacturers and other facilities which employ ten or more workers and exceed thresholds for chemicals.  This year, EPA is offering additional information to make the TRI data more meaningful and accessible to all communities.  The TRI analysis now highlights toxic disposals and releases to large aquatic ecosystems, selected urban communities, and tribal lands. EPA has improved this year’s TRI national analysis report by adding new information on facility efforts to reduce pollution and by considering whether economic factors could have affected the TRI data. With this report and EPA’s Web-based TRI tools, citizens can access information about the toxic chemical releases into the air, water, and land that occur locally. Finally, EPA’s first mobile application for accessing TRI data, myRTK, is now available in Spanish, as are expanded Spanish translations of national analysis documents and Web pages.
“We will continue to put accessible, meaningful information in the hands of the American people. Widespread public access to environmental information is fundamental to the work EPA does every day,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “TRI is a cornerstone of EPA’s community-right-to-know programs and has played a significant role in protecting people’s health and the environment by providing communities with valuable information on toxic chemical releases.”

“TRI is an important tool for citizens and communities to have access to information about what chemicals may be in and near their local environment,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator for EPA’s New England office.
Reporting includes information on chemicals released at a company’s facility, as well as those transported to disposal facilities off site. TRI data do not reflect the relative toxicity of the chemicals emitted or potential exposure to people living in a community with reported releases.

Facilities must report their chemical disposals and releases by July 1 of each year.  This year, EPA made the 2010 preliminary TRI dataset available in July, the same month as the data were collected.  
Reporting under TRI does not indicate illegal discharges of pollutants to the environment. EPA works closely with states to provide regulatory oversight of facilities that generate pollution to the nation’s air, land and water. Effective review and permitting programs work to ensure that the public and the environment are not subjected to unhealthful levels of pollution, even as agencies work to further reduce emissions of chemicals to the environment.

Further, robust enforcement efforts by EPA and states ensure that facilities that violate their environmental permits are subject to penalties and corrective action. Yearly releases by individual facilities can vary due to factors such as power outages, production variability, lulls in the business cycle, etc., that do not reflect a facility’s pollution prevention program(s).

The top ten chemicals released to the environment on- and off-site during 2010 in Massachusetts were:

1HYDROCHLORIC ACID (1995 AND AFTER "ACID AEROSOLS" ONLY)1,212,440

2ZINC COMPOUNDS536,727

3AMMONIA314,726

4HYDROGEN FLUORIDE289,191

5NITRIC ACID228,933

6TOLUENE208,623

7N-BUTYL ALCOHOL171,438

8CERTAIN GLYCOL ETHERS139,842

9METHANOL129,198

10XYLENE (MIXED ISOMERS)81,401

The ten facilities that reported the largest quantity of on- and off-site environmental releases in Massachusetts under TRI for 2010 were:

1DOMINION ENERGY BRAYTON POINT LLC.BRAYTON POINT RD, SOMERSET MASSACHUSETTS 02726 (BRISTOL)  1,108,512

2EVERGREEN SOLAR INC.112 BARNUM RD, DEVENS MASSACHUSETTS 01434 (MIDDLESEX)  446,335

3CROWN BEVERAGE PACKAGING.GLEN & SHEPARD ST, LAWRENCE MASSACHUSETTS 01843 (ESSEX)  269,976

4DOMINION ENERGY SALEM HARBOR S TATION.24 FORT AVE, SALEM MASSACHUSETTS 01970 (ESSEX)  216,199

5ACUSHNET CO BALL PLANT III.215 DUCHAINE BLVD, NEW BEDFORD MASSACHUSETTS 02745 (BRISTOL)  202,225

6SOLUTIA INC.730 WORCESTER ST, SPRINGFIELD MASSACHUSETTS 01151 (HAMPDEN)  170,875

7CALLAWAY GOLF BALL OPERATIONS INC.425 MEADOW ST, CHICOPEE MASSACHUSETTS 01013 (HAMPDEN)  128,884

8ACUSHNET CO BALL PLANT II.256 SAMUEL BARNETT BLVD, NORTH DARTMOUTH MASSACHUSETTS 02714 (BRISTOL)  126,021

9IDEAL TAPE CO.1400 MIDDLESEX ST, LOWELL MASSACHUSETTS 01851 (MIDDLESEX)  83,131

10MYSTIC STATION.173 ALFORD ST, CHARLESTOWN MASSACHUSETTS 02129 (SUFFOLK)  75,990

TRI was established in 1986 by the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and later modified by the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990.  Together, these laws require facilities in certain industries to report annually on releases, disposal and other waste management activities related to these chemicals.  TRI data are submitted annually to EPA and states by multiple industry sectors including manufacturing, metal mining, electric utilities, and commercial hazardous waste facilities. 
EPA continues to work closely with the regulated community to ensure that facilities understand and comply with their reporting requirements under TRI and other community right-to-know statutes. EPA will once again hold training workshops throughout the New England region during the Spring of 2012. Training sessions will be set up in each state. Further information will be available on our Web site.

More information:

- TRI in Massachusetts Fact Sheet (epa.gov/triexplorer/statefactsheet.htm)

- Additional National information on TRI (epa.gov/tri/)

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BB&T-BankAtlantic deal blocked by Delaware judge

Posted on Feb 29, 2012 02:01:50 PM

<span class="articleLocation”>(Reuters) – BB&T Corp’s (BBT.N) purchase of BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc’s (BBX.N) lending business was blocked by a Delaware Chancery Court judge, who agreed with hedge-fund investors that the deal favored BankAtlantic’s management over debtholders.

Vice Chancellor Travis Laster said the deal violated rights of investors by transferring most of BankAtlantic’s assets to BB&T while leaving debt obligations and distressed assets behind.

Under the terms of the November 1 deal, BB&T agreed to absorb $2.1 billion in performing loans, $3.3 billion in deposits and 78 branches from BankAtlantic’s bank subsidiary, which operates in South Florida. BB&T agreed to pay a premium of $301 million above the net asset value of BankAtlantic.

In response to Monday’s ruling, BB&T spokeswoman Merrie Tolbert said the bank hoped BankAtlantic could reach an agreement with its investors. BankAtlantic Chairman and CEO Alan Levan said that “in the days ahead we will be considering all of the options available to us.”

John Scannell, an executive at hedge fund Hildene Capital Management, one of the plaintiffs that brought the lawsuit, said the judge’s ruling could stop similarly structured bank deals that potentially harm debt investors.

“We have this precedent here,” said Scannell. “You see this is not allowed. We’ll make sure (banks) are very aware of it.”

If the deal had gone through as originally structured, distressed loans would have remained with BankAtlantic’s holding company, which owed about $330 million to holders of its trust preferred securities, or TruPS.

Laster found the deal favored management and equity investors and violated the terms of the TruPS because BB&T was not assuming the debt obligations along with the assets, as the TruPS contracts required.

“The payments divert a portion of the deal consideration to Bancorp’s controlling stockholders, vaulting them over the debt securities and other corporate constituencies,” Laster wrote in his 42-page opinion.

BankAtlantic Bancorp’s controlling shareholder, BFC Corp, is majority owned by Levan and BankAtlantic Bancorp Vice Chairman John Abdo.

TruPS securities were an attractive way for many smaller banks to raise capital because they combine features of debt and equity. However, many of those banks are now finding the TruPS to be a roadblock to new investment, because new equity funding at the holding company level flows first to overdue payments to TruPS investors.

Scannell said hundreds of banks are not current on their TruPS obligations and some are looking at deals similar to the one struck by BankAtlantic and BB&T.

“The whole BankAtlantic situation was what I consider to be the first of a wave of these things to happen. And had we not stopped it, it would have been bad for investors in any bank with TruPS outstanding,” Scannell said.

Shares of BankAtlantic were down 2.5 percent at $2.73 Tuesday morning on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock hit $7 on the day the BB&T deal was announced. The stock plunged 16 percent Monday afternoon after Laster issued his ruling.

Shares of BB&T were down 1 percent at $29.49 on Tuesday, also on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting By Tom Hals; editing by John Wallace)

Morley and Jenks to attempt 24-hour golf record

Posted on Feb 29, 2012 11:01:50 AM

Dubai: Andrew Morley and Stephen Jenks, two British teachers from Wellington International School in Dubai, aim to beat the world record for the most rounds of golf in a 24 hour period this week.

The target of nine rounds and a total of 162 holes at an average of two hours 40 minutes a round will be attempted at Sharjah Golf and Shooting Clubs’ floodlit course from 9pm Saturday March 3rd through to 9pm on Sunday March 4th.

Proceeds raised will be donated towards the construction of a new eye care centre to be built in Bangladesh thanks to Sharjah Charity International.

Having first sought approval from the Guiness Book of Records, Morley and Jenks’s efforts will be timed and validated by the Emirates Golf Federation, in what’s believed to be a first of its kind golfing record attempt in the UAE.

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AFED participates at UNEP’s Global Ministerial Forum in Nairobi

Posted on Feb 29, 2012 08:01:40 AM

Secretary General of the Arab Forum for Environment & Development (AFED), Najib Saab, spoke on prospects of green economy in the Arab countries, at a ministerial roundtable during the Global Ministerial Environment Forum held at the Headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi.

The panel, attended by representatives of 162 governments, debated green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.

The event was chaired by the Minister of Environment of Spain Frederico Ramos de Armas, who is the president of UNEP’s Governing Council, and moderated by Sha Zukang, Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD). Alongside Saab, who represented the Arab region, the panel included Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, and Edna Molewa, Minister of Water and Environment in South Africa.

Saab said that the recent report on Arab environment produced by AFED “Prescribes green economy as the path to navigate a sustainable transition in the Arab countries.” He explained that “one major demand which drove people to the streets was the plight for decent jobs. On this topic, a main finding of the AFED report is that transitioning to a green economy helps to generate decent and lasting job opportunities. And when people whose lives are most impacted have more say in shaping policies, this will result in better management of natural resources.”

According to Saab, Arab economies, as currently structured, cannot create the 60 million new jobs needed by 2020. He stated some examples of how shifting to a green economy can help in this regard: Sustainable agriculture is expected to result in savings to Arab countries of between 5-6% of GDP as a result of increased water productivity, which amounts to $114bn annually, and millions of jobs in rural areas, where 76% of the poor in the Arab region live. An investment of $100bn annually in renewable energy is expected to create about 600,000 new jobs. A 25% reduction in energy subsidies would free up over $100bn over a three year period, which can be shifted to green energy and millions of jobs. Spending $100bn in greening only 20% of the existing building stock in the Arab countries over the next 10 years, mainly for retrofitting, is expected to create 4 million jobs. Arab share of international tourism can increase by 12%, mainly by expanding cultural and eco-tourism, which generates $228bn annually and create additional 5.6 million jobs.

Saab pointed out that the willingness to pursue a green economy agenda provides a window of opportunity for fundamental re-examination of current public policies in Arab Countries, stressing that “Green Economy, after all, requires the transformation from the prevailing ‘virtual economy’, primarily based on sales of raw extractive products like oil and phosphates and speculation in real estate, to a diversified ‘real economy’ focusing on sustainable production, which alone can protect the natural capital and generate long term jobs.” He concluded by giving examples of success stories in green economy applications in the region, including Masdar renewable energy initiative in Abu Dhabi, the inclusion of green economy in the government strategy in Jordan, the soft loans for energy-saving projects in Lebanon, and wind energy projects in Egypt and Morocco.

The international conference was attended by delegations from 162 countries, including over 120 ministers. The Arab group was chaired by the Minister of Environment of Sudan, and included ministers and heads of environment agencies from Egypt, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Algeria, Yemen and Palestine. The two biggest Arab delegations were those of Iraq and UAE, headed by their respective ministers. Lebanon, Syria and Jordan were not represented at any level. AFED participated in the daily coordination meetings held by Arab environment ministers during the Nairobi Forum, and concluded cooperation agreements with many participating agencies.

Pesticide Product Recalls

Posted on Feb 29, 2012 05:01:40 AM

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Is It Time to Refinance Your Mortgage?

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Designer Raf Simons to leave Jil Sander

Posted on Feb 28, 2012 08:01:40 PM

MILAN (Reuters) – Belgian designer Raf Simons will leave Jil Sander after his autumn/winter catwalk show in Milan this week, the fashion house said Thursday.

“Jil Sander and Raf Simons have mutually agreed that the designer will leave his job on February 27,” the fashion house said in a statement. “The Jil Sander group will announce its new creative director shortly.”

The move comes amid media speculation that the avant-garde German designer Jil Sander may return to the helm of the fashion house she founded in the 70s.

Simons joined Jil Sander in 2005. The 2012 autumn/winter collection, which will be presented Friday, will be his last for the fashion house.

Known for his understated looks, Simons has been mooted in the media as a front-runner for the creative designer job at Christian Dior, which has been vacant since John Galliano left last year following a scandal involving racist remarks.

Last month, Dior shrugged off talk about who might succeed Galliano.

It was not immediately possible to reach Simons and his staff for a comment.

Simons, who has also launched his own line Raf by Raf Simons, emerged in the 1990s as an innovative menswear designer, merging youth culture with traditional looks.

Born in 1943, minimalist Sander has been one of the most influential designers of the 70s. Her contract with Japanese retailer Uniqlo is due to end after this season.

Sander left her eponymous label after Prada took control of the brand in 1999.

In 2006, Prada sold the brand to British private equity firm Change Capital Partners, which in turn sold it to Japanese fashion conglomerate Onward Holdings two years later.

(Reporting by Antonella Ciancio, editing by Paul Casciato)