Manama, Bahrain 18 April 2012: Mr. R Lakshmanan, Chief Executive Officer of Bahrain-based Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions the Islamic mortgage finance provider was one of the speakers at a conference on "Developing Housing Finance in MENA region" held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, 4-5 April 2012 which was hosted by Arab Monetary Fund and The World Bank.Mr. Lakshmanan speech covered two topics relating to "role of Islamic housing finance" and "development and regulation of mortgage markets".

Mr. Lakshmanan said that Islamic housing finance has grown significantly over the last decade in line with the double digit growth of Islamic finance industry. As Islamic finance follows an inclusive approach and available to Muslims and non-Muslims alike and several countries are adopting regulations to promote Islamic finance including recently Oman, the region is set to witness further growth of Islamic mortgages which remains a key product of retail banking.  Further, Islamic financial institutions must ensure 'value for money' proposition to customers in order to achieve further growth in this sector. 

Mr. Lakshmanan also said that availability of Government support and sound regulatory environment is critical to development of Islamic finance and in this regard Bahrain is a leading example.

Mr. Lakshmanan outlined several requirements for development of viable mortgage market in the MENA region.  These include establishment of National Housing policy with inclusive approach, need for dedicated regulations for mortgage industry, increased role of public-private partnership for housing finance, efficient Credit Bureau system, enhancement of foreclosure laws to manage mortgage delinquencies, availability of clear property rights and robustness of property titling system, growth of capital markets to enable funding options, development of active secondary mortgage market and Government backed mortgage refinancing, enhanced synergy with Pension funds, Insurance Companies, Sovereign Wealth Funds to address long term funding requirements of mortgage providers,  development of insurance products to mitigate risks, strengthening of regulations relating to real estate developers and service providers and last but not least enhanced cooperation with the World Bank and other multilateral agencies.

Due to increased urbanization, increased availability of mortgages and evolving regulations the MENA mortgage industry has grown to approximately USD 100 Billion. Though mortgage penetration level in relation to GDP is low in comparison to Malaysia and UK as example, population growth rate is higher than European Union with substantial percentage of population under 25 years creating a huge a huge potential for housing and housing finance.

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About Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions BSC (c)
Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions commenced operations in December 2006 as a dedicated mortgage finance provider in Bahrain, offering a comprehensive range of Sharia'a-compliant mortgage products. Sakana's holistic approach is paving the way for significant change in the Kingdom's mortgage market by making Islamic finance easier to understand and acceptable, as well as making it available to an ever-wider group of customers.

The company demonstrated significant growth since inception and has broadened its holistic focus by adding property consulting and property development to its portfolio.

Sakana is a finance company with paid up capital of BD 20 Million, regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain.  Sakana started as a 50:50 joint venture between BBK and Shamil Bank.  In early 2010, Capinnova Investment Bank, the Sharia'a-compliant investment banking arm and fully owned subsidiary of BBK acquired 50% stake in Sakana from BBK. Further, Shamil Bank was merged with its parent Ithmaar Bank during the year 2010 and accordingly Ithmaar Bank became a 50% stakeholder.

Sakana is a member of the Waqf Fund for Research, Education and Training in Islamic Finance  and a member of Bahrain Property Development Association (BaPDA).

For more information is available at www.sakanaonline.com

This note is intended as a guide only, for journalists regarding the significance of the different terminology for an Islamic lender.

Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions is an Islamic financial institution. As such, please consider using the following suggested preferred terminology:

Usual terminology

Preferred terminology

Loan

Finance

Lender / Lending / Lend

Financier/Financing/Finance

Credit facility

Funding facility

Interest

Profit

Issued by Sakana

For press information contact:
Mrs. Haya Khalil
Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions BSC (c)
Tel:  +973 17 20 19 37
Fax: +973 17 21 46 63
E-mail haya@sakanaonline.com

© Press Release 2012