Africa and India on Islamic banks' sites, Turkish IPO & IFIS sukuk report

Standard Chartered, an emerging markets bank based in the U.K., plans to expand its Islamic finance offerings, particularly in India and Africa, two regions underserved by Islamic banks. The article describes the current activities of the bank in the Shari'ah-compliant market as:

"The bank offers current accounts and other shariah-compliant products in five markets and has just launched credit cards in UAE, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In its wholesale bank, it is active in sukuks (asset-based Islamic bonds) and in the first half was the lead arranger for four out of the five local currency sukuk bond issues in Pakistan."

Kuveyt Turk, the third-largest Islamic bank in Turkey 62 percent owned by Kuwait Finance House is planning an initial public offering of roughly 20 percent of tis shares later this year.

According to an Islamic Financial Information Service (IFIS) report, Malaysian bank CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd is the largest bookrunner of sukuk while sukuk issuance in the UAE is driving the market.