From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: The Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) in partnership with its European arm, the European Finance House (EFH), launched Global Sukuk Plus Fund .

The event took place at Grand Hyatt Doha and present were senior QIB, EFH officials and prominent bankers and businessmen…….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Shuaa Capital (Shuaa), a Dubai-based investment bank, is considering buying back a convertible bond issue worth Dh1.5 billion ($408.5 million) or altering the price at which the bonds would be converted into shares.

The bank said in a statement today (May 26) that it had extended a deadline to reach an agreement with the Dubai Banking Group over the convertible bond issue until June 4…….Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: Local currency Islamic bonds will be the trend for the next couple of years as companies steer clear from the once popular US dollar bond market, says Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Bhd chief executive officer Datuk K. Salman Younis.

The shortage of US dollars in global money markets has also made it too expensive to issue sukuks in the currency…….Full Article: Source

From Menafn.com: Global Investment House- Saudia (Global) announced today that its equity funds, Global Saudi Equity Fund and Global Sharia Compliant Equity Fund (Al-Noor), have recorded competitive returns since their inception.

Global Saudi Equity Fund, a conventional fund launched on 31 January 2009, aims to achieving long term capital growth with predefined and controlled levels of risk, by investing in stocks listed on the Saudi stock exchange…….Full Article: Source

From Tempointeractive.com: Bank Syariah Mandiri of the state-controlled Bank Mandiri reported rising profit in the first quarter of 2009 by 37 percent.

Chief Director of the bank, Yuslam Fauzi said operational revenue hiked 16.24 percent to Rp 558 billion from Rp 480.7 billion in the same period last year, pushing the net profit up to Rp 63.80 percent in the first quarter this year…….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Thomson Reuters today announced that the largest regional Investment Bank in the Middle East and North Africa, EFG-Hermes has joined its order routing network, expanding the breadth of its exchange trading offering throughout the region.……Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Over 200 delegates including CEOs and Heads of Islamic and Conventional Retail Banking from around the world are getting ready to gather in Dubai this October for the inaugural World Islamic Retail Banking Conference under endorsement by ISRA (International Shari’ah Research Academy).
The event is supported by the Islamic Finance Council - UK, the Swiss Islamic Banking & Finance Association, the Bahrain Association of Banks and Arab News of Saudi Arabia…….Full Article: Source

Winners of two prestigious Islamic investment awards were recognised yesterday at an impressive gala dinner ceremony of the 5th Annual World Islamic Funds & Capital Markets Conference, held at the Gulf International Convention Centre, Kingdom of Bahrain.
Hosted in collaboration with the Central Bank of Bahrain and Ernst & Young, the awards are the most prestigious in the industry and were these year presented by Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al-Baker, Executive Director of Financial Institutions Supervision, Central Bank of Bahrain…….Full Press Release: Source

From Business24-7.ae: As many as 25 Islamic funds were liquidated in 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, while 18 were liquidated in all of 2006 and 2007 combined, Ernst & Young yesterday said.

The number of new funds launched dropped from 271 in 2006 and 2007 to 89 in 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. The decline mirrored the severe market correction shown by a 50 per cent decline in the MSCI Index during the period of November 2007 to March 2009 compared to a 40 per cent return in the period May 2005 to November 2007, it said…….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Sharia-sensitive investable assets in 2008 in the GCC and Asia touched $736 billion (Dh2.7 trillion) compared to $267 billion (Dh980 billion) in 2007, said the latest report by Ernst & Young.

“This translates into a potential annual revenue pool of $3.86 billion (Dh14 billion) for the Islamic asset management industry. Fund sizes however remain small, with over 50 per cent having assets under management of $20 million (Dh73.4 million) or less,” the report said…….Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: The prospects for growth in Islamic securities markets are positive despite global credit crunch and economic slowdown.

“Part of this reflects the windfall from higher commodity prices,” Central Bank of Bahrain director of financial institutions supervision Abdul Rahman Al Baker told delegates at the opening session of the two-day fifth Annual World Islamic Funds and Capital markets conference…….Full Article: Source

From Ittefaq.com: Korea is a relatively latecomer to Islamic finance in East Asia. But following the stated ambitions of neighboring countries such as Hong Kong and Singapore that are trying to establish themselves as international Islamic capital market hubs, Seoul is similarly trying to promote Korea as the same.

Kim Jong Chang, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service of Korea, the financial services regulator, believes that Islamic finance is a good innovation in the global financial market and stresses that the Korean government is committed to facilitating it in Korea…….Full Article: Source

From Menafn.com: The Saudi stock market has responded favorably to Sukuk, which has become a strategic choice for companies.
Dar Al-Arkan Real Estate Development Company recently announced the closing of its third Islamic Sukuk issuance, amounting to SR750 million. The Sukuk is said to mature on April 15, 2014…….Full Article: Source

From Business-standard.com: While their biggest customers may continue to wallow in recession into 2010, the oil-producing nations of the Persian Gulf are again luring foreign investment and looking for places to park their own wealth.
Crude prices that have stabilized above $50 a barrel mean the Middle East’s oil-rich economies are likely to pull out of the global financial crisis sooner than the rest of the world…….Full Article: Source

From Menafn.com: The oil-rich sultanate of Brunei Darussalam entered the Islamic finance sector around 1993.
But despite the fact that it has only two major Islamic banks, Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) and TAIB, and three Takaful (Islamic Insurance companies), the Islamic banking sector accounts for an encouraging 40 percent of the total banking market in the country…….Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: Australia’s LM Australian Alif Fund continues to service untapped global demand for a Shariah compliant, currency protected investment product managed by an experienced, credible Australian funds manager.

The fund is managed by LM Investment Management Ltd (LM), a specialist Australian income funds manager operating internationally from its six offices on the Gold Coast, in Sydney, Hong Kong, Auckland, London, and Dubai, currently with sources of new business inflows from beyond 32 countries…….Full Article: Source

From Maktoob.com: Kuwait Finance House (KFH), has halted talks to acquire Investment Dar’s 40 percent stake in Bahrain Islamic Bank, the lender said on Monday.

“We had an earlier study (about acquiring Dar’s stake) from a long time, but it stopped … and this option is not part of KFH-Bahrain’s plans these days,” Abdul-Hakeem al-Khayyat, the chief executive of KFH’s Bahrain unit, said in a statement…….Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Bahrain-based Tharawat Investment House said it has launched its first investment product, called the Tharawat Sukuk Fund.
The fund is an open-ended, Shari’ah-compliant investment fund domiciled in Bahrain and will invest around 70 per cent of its assets in government and corporate Sukuk in the GCC and MENA areas…….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The GCC mutual fund industry is expected to double in size to around $200 billion by 2012, it has been revealed.

The long-term prospects for the regional asset management industry remain positive, according to Securities & Investment Company (SICO)…….Full Article: Source

From Biz.thestar.com: BIMB Holdings Bhd’s net profit in the third quarter ended March 31 fell 68% to RM13.7mil from RM42.8mil in the previous corresponding period.

Revenue fell 9.1% to RM329.9mil during the period while earnings per share fell to 1.54 sen from 4.8 sen…….Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) and its affiliate European Finance House (EFH), which has launched the $30mn open-ended Global Sukuk Plus fund, have projected 34% returns in the first three years.

“The expected total return is 34% over the first three years of the fund, based on our projections of spreads returning to the average of the last five years,” Mark Watts, EFH head of asset management, told a private gathering on Sunday…….Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: QIB, the world’s first global Islamic banking network, hosted a private function last night in coordination with its London-based affiliate, European Finance House (EFH), at the Grand Hyatt Doha.
The event launched EFH’s new European-based platform designed to originate Sharia’-compliant investment products and the program’s first product, the Global Sukuk Plus Fund. Regulated by the UK’s Financial Services Authority, EFH is a Sharia-compliant financial institution in Europe and a leading force in the growing Islamic banking market…….Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: H.E. Nasser Ahmed Khalifa AlSowaidi, Chairman of National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), Board Members, Senior Management of the Bank, and a number of dignitaries and VIPs TODAY attended the inauguration of Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance (ADNIF), the Islamic finance and banking arm of NBAD.
“We are pleased to launch Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance (ADNIF) officially today, delivering NBAD’s commitment to provide a wide range of banking solutions and products to meet the ever expanding demands of our customers” said Mr. Aref Al Khouri, General Manager of Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance (ADNIF)…….Full Article: Source

From Khaleejtimes.com: The Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance, or ADNIF, a new subsidiary of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, has projected its investment portfolio to grow to Dh3.2 billion by the year-end, a top official said.

At the end of last year, the Islamic finance company had an investment portfolio (loans and advances in terms of traditional banking) amounting to Dh2.2 billion, said Aref Al Khouri, General Manager of ADNIF…….Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: IT solutions provider International Turnkey Systems Group (ITS), winner of the Best IT Solutions Provider at the prestigious Islamic finance forum awards, is gearing up for more business as the Islamic finance industry seeks greater integration with the global banking system.
This comes at a time when the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) stated that it believes that more funds will migrate into the Islamic banking system, and such growth is set to prompt banking and finance institutions to integrate into the global banking system…….Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Until the Kuwaiti firm Investment Dar said it had defaulted on a US$100 million (Dh367.2m) Islamic bond, the sukuk market had been largely untested.

The market has had strong growth over the past seven years, with the value of sukuk issued rising from nothing in 2002 to an estimated $90 billion today…….Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: The outlook for Islamic finance remains strong despite the deepening economic slowdown, scarce liquidity, pronounced stock market declines and plummeting real estate prices.

Standard & Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) credit analyst Mohamed Damak said in a recent report that “the outlook for asset-backed sukuk is positive despite the doubts raised by the disruption in global financial markets and in structured finance.”……Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Qatar’s Ezdan Real Estate plans to list an Islamic real estate investment trust in Malaysia, but did not say when the listing might take place.
Assets in the proposed trust will probably be based in Qatar and the company has named Maybank Investment Bank as its listing adviser…….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Deteriorating asset quality and an increase in non-performing, or bad loans, will be the key challenges regional banks will have to overcome, according to a senior analyst at credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.

“Our view is that asset quality deterioration will continue. There’s always a time lag effect between the slowdown in the economy and the appearance of the non performing loans [NPLs]. So for the next few quarters, we will continue to see some negative news in the corporate sector,” Emmanuel Volland, senior director for financial services said…….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Qatar’s largest investment bank QInvest has acquired a 44-per-cent stake in the UK institutional brokerage and investment banking firm Panmure Gordon.

It will become the largest shareholder in the company. Egypt based investment bank EFG Hermes is another regional shareholder, with a 9.6 per cent stake…….Full Article: Source

From Defimedia.info: In preparation for the integration of Islamic Capital Markets, the Bank of Mauritius intends to develop a structure that will deal with commodity markets that are Shariah compliant.

The Bank is confident that this new form of banking will help to strengthen the country’s financial sector by tapping into the Gulf financial markets, says BOM Governor, Rundheersing Bheenick…….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Kuwait’s Islamic firm Investment Dar, which owns stakes in companies including carmaker Aston Martin, may consider a capital hike as part of a restructuring plan, a company executive said.

“All options are open, the decision is between the shareholders and the company’s banks and investors represented by the steering committee and its advisors,” Amr Abou El Seoud, Dar’s senior executive vice president, told Reuters on Sunday…….Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has extended a development loan worth €100m to Syria, to be used to finance a power plant expansion project in the country.
Syrian Minister of Finance, Mohammad al-Hussein, said that since it was established bank has funded 30 development projects in Syria, at a total cost of $740m…….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Saudi Jabal Omar Development Company said on Sunday it had appointed an affiliate of the world’s largest Islamic lender, Al-Rajhi Bank, to help it secure financing worth a previously estimated $3.31 billion.

Al-Rajhi Financial Services Company is to provide ‘financial advisory and arrange the necessary financing through diverse Islamic Sharia-compliant instruments’ for the Jabal Omar project in the holy city of Mecca, Jabal Omar said in a statement posted on the bourse’s website…….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: The Islamic Research and Training Institute has announced that Zubair Hassan, an Indian national who currently lectures at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Kuala Lumpur, has been awarded the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) prize for 1430 AH (2009) in Islamic economics.

Hassan, who was selected in recognition of his contribution to Islamic economics, will be awarded $40,000, a citation and a badge with the IDB’s insignia at the 34th IDB Board of Governors’ annual meeting in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on June 2-3…….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Jordan Islamic Bank achieved a net profit of 8.09 million Jordanian dinars ($11.41 million) in the first quarter, reflecting an increase of three per cent.

Total assets of the bank, a subsidiary of Albaraka Banking Group (ABG), increased by 10 per cent, liquid assets by 6.5 per cent, finance by 15 per cent, deposits by 10 per cent and shareholders equity by 20 per cent at the end of March compared to the same period last year…….Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: International Islamic has been selected the “Best Straight Through Processing Bank in Qatar” by Wachovia Bank, part of the US-based Wells Fargo & Company for its excellence in formatting of payments in 2008.

This is the fourth time that International Islamic has won the prestigious award. Wells & Fargo is one of the largest diversified financial services company in the world providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance…….Full Article: Source

From Dailymirror.lk: The sukuk market provides an avenue to channel excess funds and savings from resource-surplus countries, such as oil-rich Gulf nations, to the Asian region - given the latter’s massive infrastructure and other commercial funding requirements.

There are still funding and investing opportunities, especially in real estate, financial services and infrastructure (power, oil and gas, and roads)…….Full Article: Source

From Zawya: In these times of financial turbulence, Shariah-compliant banking and finance is being endorsed for its stability and is evolving as the best choice on the road to economic recovery.

According to Imtiazz Sarfaraz Khan, Head of Retail Banking and Finance Department at Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance, Shariah-compliant finance has always been an appropriate and relatively risk-free route for financial dealings but was downplayed for quite some time mainly due to political considerations across the globe…….Full Article: Source

From Todayszaman.com: The last few months witnessed the most remarkable period of global financial market turmoil followed by the most astounding government intervention in the world since the Great Depression.

There were unprecedented coordinated actions by central banks around the world to cut interest rates, guarantee bank deposits and raise guarantee limits in a bid to address the financial market turmoil…….Full Article: Source

From Economic Times: When after a short recession in the US at the beginning of the decade the price of oil began its upward climb, few could have predicted just how far it would go.
In 2008, a barrel was fetching just short of $150. Average prices for 2007 were not far short in real terms of the all-time high during the Pennsylvanian oil boom of the 1860s, or the period after the Iranian revolution of 1979…….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Only 40 workers in Bahrain have been laid off in the first four months of the year due to the global credit crunch, it was claimed.

This is compared to 54 people laid off during the same period last year, according to Labour Ministry statistics…….Full Article: Source

From Aawsat.com: In the past - with the intensification of the global financial crisis - there was much talk about the stability of the Islamic banking system, and its ability to surmount this crisis.

However questions have been raised about the Islamic banking industry’s actual ability to withstand the global financial crisis, particularly if this crisis extends into the real or physical economy that Islamic banking is based upon…….Full Article: Source

From Financialstandard.com.au: The Islamic finance market has grown by as much as 20 per cent each year for the past six years and is now a $700 billion plus industry, according to State Street.

The firm’s latest Vision Report on the subject estimated that total assets under management by Islamic financial institutions is over $700 billion…….Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: The debt market in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) has the potential to grow to $1.6 trillion (Dh5.8trn) per annum but currently remains in its nascent stage, according to economic experts speaking at an event organised by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) yesterday.
The event - Issuing and Structuring Bonds and Sukuk - saw discussions on the IMF Global Financial Stability Report (April 2009), which said debt securities form just three per cent of the Mena capital markets…….Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: The property developer Aldar has sold US$1.25 billion (Dh4.58bn) in corporate bonds, with strong appetite from international investors, its chief financial officer said yesterday.

“We had demand for orders of around $5bn,” said Shafqat Malik. “This is a good testament to Abu Dhabi. There is investor trust in the vision of Abu Dhabi as a whole and in our company.”……Full Article: Source

From FT Adviser: Islamic finance is broadening its appeal to non-Muslim investors and has a “key role” to play in restoring investor confidence in financial markets, according to State Street.
Last week the investment house estimated the market for Islamic finance had grown by as much as 20 per cent a year since 2003, bringing total assets under management by Islamic financial institutions to £395.5bn ($600bn) globally…….Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: The Government hopes more Islamic venture capital companies will be set up to support Malaysia’s aims of becoming the regional hub for Islamic finance.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin said Islamic venture capital was a new area in which the Government sought more investment…….Full Article: Source

From Bernama: FTSE Group, the global index provider, and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) will be launching the FTSE SET Shariah Index to allow both domestic and international investors to invest according to Islamic principles.

The new index is suitable for benchmarking and can be used for a wide range of Islamic products, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other index-linked products, SET said in a statement…….Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has told Nasdaq Dubai it will buy back $50.6m (Dhs185.7m) of its sukuk that matures in 2012, paying 88% of the bond’s face value.
The settlement date for the purchase is May 21. The bank, which has $750m of sukuk due in 2012, had previously offered to buy back as much as $200m of sukuk……..Full Article: Source