Islamic financial assets around the world hit $1.3 trillion in 2011, a 150 percent increase over five years as the industry expands into new country’s beyond core markets in the Middle East and Malaysia, a report on Thursday estimated.
Developed markets in Malaysia, Iran and the Gulf remain fertile ground for future growth, but considerable potential also exists for expansion as more countries look to cultivate Islamic banking operations, including Australia, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and Russia, the report by lobby group TheCityUK’s UK Islamic Finance Secretariat (UKIFS) said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

We should not expect the popular uprisings that have swept the Arab region since the beginning of last year to have a quick, positive impact on political and economic systems of the now-troubled countries.
It is not easy to fight in one or two years the deeply-rooted corruption in the Arab Spring countries or in other countries which have witnessed social unrest. Indeed, we will observe political struggles here and there and we should expect slower economic growth. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Growing appetite for Islamic finance is spurring both large and small Australian financials to boost their offering of Sharia-compliant fixed-income assets, the head of the country’s first Islamic wealth manager said on Thursday.
National Australia Bank Ltd., or NAB, is considering selling up to US$500 million in Islamic bonds in what would be the first issuance of Sharia-compliant debt securities in Australia, two people familiar with the deal told Dow Jones Newswires……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Dar Al Istithmar, the advisor to Goldman Sachs’ planned $2 billion sukuk programme, said it had finished obtaining the approval of Islamic scholars for the issue and that the next move was up to Goldman.
“The ball is in their court,” Geert Bossuyt, chief executive of Dar, told Reuters on Wednesday, adding that the programme had been approved by 10 scholars, which was more than enough, and that the structure of the sukuk had been debated sufficiently………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Hong Kong Government is dusting off its plans to build up an Islamic finance hub in the city, after it launched a two-month consultation on proposed amendments to make tax treatment more favourable for Islamic bonds.
The government is considering changes to the Inland Revenue Ordinance and Stamp Duty Ordinance to promote a local sukuk market………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic bonds have staged a comeback, after several gloomy years in which even Muslim bankers and clerics questioned the debt instruments’ religious credentials and issuance dipped precipitously.
The bonds, known as sukuks, are structured to comply with Muslim law, or sharia, and pay a profit rate rather than interest, which is banned in Islam. Clerical doubts over prominent structures, Dubai’s debt crisis and the global financial crisis had combined to send issuance tumbling………………………………………..Full Article: Source

As European banks retrench from Central Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Ceemea) and Asia-Pacific, the question of who will fill the liquidity gap has gained increasing significance.
Many are hoping that high yield will make up the shortfall, while corporates have been tapping local bond markets in both Russia and Brazil………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi British Bank sold a five-year 1.5 billion riyal ($400 million) Islamic bond, or sukuk, in a private placement, a source said.
“It was a subordinated sukuk, maturing in 2017. The pricing was 120 basis points over sibor (Saudi interbank offered rate),” the source said. The bank is an affiliate of HSBC and posted a 65 per cent rise in fourth quarter profit on lower operating costs………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) announced that it has repaid in full a $750m five-year Sukuk, which matured on March 22, 2012, from its own sources, demonstrating the bank’s financial strength and comfortable liquidity position.
Issued in March 2007, the Sukuk was oversubscribed by three times, with 45% allocation in the Middle East, 25% in Asia and 30% in Europe, underscoring the regional and international market confidence in DIB. (Press Release)

Arcapita Bank BSC, an Islamic- compliant fund manager overseeing about $7 billion in investments, won permission to use cash within a budget and pay employees in bankruptcy.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane in Manhattan approved Arcapita’s requests on an interim basis to avoid “irreparable harm” to the company. Euroville Sarl, one of Arcapita’s largest creditors with $88.8 million of a $1.1 billion syndicated loan, objected that there wasn’t enough transparency about expenses………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) is planning to expand its wealth management and private banking division with a new office in London and further units across the Middle East, Asia and mainland Europe, a senior executive said.
“From a private banking perspective, I have three offices across the UAE but we need to have a way [of]booking assets in other parts of the world so we are just in the process of opening our branch in London, which we can use as a service centre when our clients visit during the summer,” said Stuart Crocker, head of ADIB’s wealth management and private banking………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said Malaysian-based financial services group, AmBank, has decided to deploy the banking solution of the Indian software major.
The integrated banking suite, spanning conventional and Islamic banking, will support both retail banking and lending functionalities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Al Baraka Bank Egypt, a subsidiary banking unit of Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG), has announced that it had achieved a 54 per cent increase in net operating income in 2011.
Total assets also increased by 9 per cent, financing and investments by 9 per cent, customer deposits by 8 per cent and shareholders equity by 11 per cent at the end of 2011 compared to the end of 2010………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Non Performing Financing (NPFs) of Islamic Banking Industry reached level of some Rs 16 billion for the first time, up by 15 percent, end of calendar year 2011 mainly due to slow economic activities.
Sources told Business Recorder on Thursday that NPFs of Islamic Banking Industry (IBI) continued to grow during CY11 - the banking industry’s financial year - and registered an increase of 15.21 percent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic banking industry (IBI) completed 94 percent of its approved expansion plan in nine year by having a network of 886 branches by end of 2011, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported.
Its assets and liabilities both constitute 7.8 percent of the overall banking industry by end of 2011. The quarterly ‘Islamic Banking Bulletin’ said that the asset base of the industry reached Rs 641 billion, indicating 13 percent quarterly growth by close of December 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank Alfalah Limited posted a profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 9.757 billion for the year ended December 31, 2011, as compared to Rs 5.603 billion in 2010, registering a significant improvement of 74 percent over the previous year.
The 20th Annual General Meeting of Bank chaired by Abdullah Khalil Ali Mutawa. He said Bank’s deposits grew by 13.34 percent to Rs 401.248 billion as compared to last year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide every child in the world access to new channels of learning, sharing and self-expression, announced today that the Islamic Development Bank has fully funded the initial distribution of 5,000 XO laptops to primary school children in the West African nation of Cameroon. The project will initially span 51 schools in six regions; planning is underway to extend the deployment across the entire country.
The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral financing institution whose purpose is to foster the economic development and social progress of its 56 member countries — of which Cameroon is one. The Cameroon project represents the first time that the Islamic Development has financed an OLPC deployment. (Press Release)

Dubai Duty Free is raising a $1.1 billion loan backed by the airport retailer’s future cash earnings and hired lenders including Citigroup Inc. to help with the plan, two bankers familiar with the deal said.
Dubai Duty Free’s parent, Investment Corp. of Dubai, the emirate’s main state-owned holding company, also mandated HSBC Holdings Plc. (HSBA), Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC (DIB) and Emirates NBD PJSC (EMIRATES) to help with the fundraising, the people said, declining to be identified because the information is private………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Bahrain Institute for Banking and Finance (BIBF) has signed a key memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB).
It was signed in the presence of BIBF director Garry Muriwai, deputy director Hussain Ismail, head of Centre for Islamic Finance Dr Mohammad Omar Farooq, IFSB secretary-general Jaseem Ahmed, assistant secretary-general Abdullah Haron and Abdelilah Belatik………………………………………..Full Article: Source

NCB Capital, a Saudi Arabian investment company with 44 billion riyals ($11.7 billion) of assets, is expanding outside of the region through alliances with TCW Group Inc. and Amundi Asset Management.
NCB Capital plans to start two funds in the second half of 2012 pending regulatory approval managed by TCW and Amundi, said Chief Investment Officer Faysal Badran. TCW and Amundi now manage a combined $550 million of international funds for NCB Capital, the Saudi wealth manager said in a statement on March 24………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bahrain-based Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions has announced the launch of its ‘business partner referral rewards programme’ for real estate service providers based on referral of their customers to finance homes through Sakana.
The announcement was made when the Islamic mortgage finance provider recently hosted a networking dinner for Bahrain real estate service providers at Crowne Plaza Hotel. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

A new report from TheCityUK’s UK Islamic Finance Secretariat (UKIFS) indicates that Islamic finance assets worldwide continued a long run of growth to reach an estimated $1.3 trillion in 2011, 150 per cent up over the previous five years.
Despite political unrest in some countries the industry has continued to expand, not only in its core markets of the Middle East but also in South East Asia and offshore jurisdictions such as Bermuda……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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In an effort to help Islamic financial institutions hedge risk, global standard-setting bodies have launched a standard contract template for Islamic profit rate swaps (PRS).
By exchanging one cash flow for another, PRS function in a similar way to the interest rate swaps (IRS) widely used in conventional financial markets. But they do not use interest rates, which are banned under Islamic principles………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) have launched the ISDA/IIFM Mubadalatul Arbaah (Profit Rate Swap) product standard to be used for Islamic hedging purposes.
The Mubadalatul Arbaah (MA) standard follows on from the ISDA/IIFM Tahawwut (Hedging) Master Agreement and provides the industry with a framework for Islamic risk mitigation………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Saudi British Bank (SABB), the lender 40 percent owned by HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), raised 1.5 billion riyals ($400 million) from a private placement of Islamic bonds.
The bank issued the five-year, floating-rate notes to return 120 basis over the three-month Saudi Interbank Offered Rate (SAIB3M), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. HSBC Saudi Arabia Ltd. was the sole sale manager………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) launched a $1.75 billion two-part Islamic bond, with tighter pricing on the five-and 10-year tranches, indicating strong demand for the first dollar-denominated issue from Saudi Arabia since 2010.
The $500 million five-year portion was launched at a spread of 140 basis points (bps) over midswaps, from 160 bps over midswaps indicated earlier………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Dubai Islamic Bank has repaid a $750 million, five-year Islamic bond which matured on March 22 using its own resources, the bank said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday.
The sukuk, which was issued by Dubai’s largest sharia-compliant bank in March 2007, was then oversubscribed by three times, with 45 percent allocation to the Middle East, 25 percentto Asia and 30 percent to Europe………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Jebel Ali Free Zone FZE, a business park operator in Dubai, plans to raise a $900 million syndicated loan to help repay a 7.5 billion-dirham ($2 billion) Islamic bond maturing in November, a banker familiar with the plan said.
The company expects to sell a $500 million sukuk, raise at least $200 million from the sale of its U.K.-based Gazeley Ltd. unit and pay the remaining with its own cash, the banker said, declining to be identified because the information is private………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Malaysia’s national mortgage corporation, Cagamas, on March 28 announced that it has successfully issued a multi-tenured 500 million ringgit (USD167 million) sukuk wakala bil istithmar, representing the first of its kind in the country.
The innovative offering is expected to broaden and diversify Cagamas’ investor base by enhancing the secondary market liquidity of its sukuk through the increased participation of Shariah compliant investors, who would normally hold sukuk, which is deemed as debt instrument until maturity………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Pembinaan BLT Sdn, a construction company owned by Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance, sold 1.35 billion ringgit ($441 million) of Islamic bonds to yield 3.60 percent to 4.4 percent, according to two people with direct knowledge of the deal.
The sukuk, which pay returns on assets to comply with Islam’s ban on interest, attracted orders totaling 4.25 billion ringgit, or a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.1 times, said the people who declined to be named because the information is private………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Kingdom Holding, an investment company controlled by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, received shareholder approval to sell as much as SAR3.75bn (US$1bn) in bonds inside the Saudi Arabia or abroad.
Shareholders met in Riyadh, Kingdom Holding said.
Saudi Arabian corporate bond sales are poised to set a record in 2012 as a surge in state spending in the Arab world’s biggest economy encourages private businesses to invest more in expansion projects………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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As European banks have pulled back from overseas exposures to concentrate on cleansing their balance sheets and strengthening their core businesses, Middle Eastern and Asian borrowers have turned to local investors and alternative forms of financing, analysts say, with issues of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, notably on the rise.
In the first three months of 2012, $6 billion of sukuk were sold in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, approaching the total of $7.3 billion issued in the whole of 2011, according to data from the Dubai bank Emirates NBD………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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As Bermuda continues to position itself as a hub for Sharia-compliant business, a new report from the UK Islamic Finance Secretariat [UKIFS] indicates that Islamic finance assets worldwide continued a long run of growth to reach an estimated $1.3 trillion in 2011 — 150 per cent up over the previous five years.
Despite political unrest in some countries the industry has continued to expand, not only in its core markets of the Middle East but also in South East Asia and offshore jurisdictions such as Bermuda………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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The introduction of Islamic banking in Oman will lead to loan growth of 15 percent this year, NBK Capital said and upgraded the sultanate’s largest lenders, Bank Muscat SAOG and National Bank of Oman.
Oman reversed its secular approach to finance last year after seeing a steady trickle of investment flow to nearby countries with well-established Islamic banking………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Islamic banking Industry completed 94 percent of its approved expansion plan by having a network of 886 branches by end of 2011, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported. The quarterly “Islamic Banking Bulletin” said that Islamic Banks assets and liabilities both constitute 7.8 percent of the overall banking industry by 2011-end.
The asset base of the industry reached to Rs. 641 billion indicating 13 percent quarterly growth by close of Dec 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Interest free banking is according to the constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan as our current banking system is entirely different from the Islamic financial system. It is need of the hour media play its role to make people aware of the benefits of Islamic financial system.
Dr Javed Iqbal said ‘Riba’ is haram according to Islamic law but it has been adopted in financial system of a country which has been set up in the name of Islam. He said Iqbal was against capitalism but he was not in favour of its complete omission from the society………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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The Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has made some senior appointments. Constantinos Constantinides has joined QIB as Chief Strategy Officer to lead the bank’s transformation programme. Prior to joining QIB, Constantinides held various senior roles at Al Rajhi Bank for about eight years.
Since 2007, he has been the general manager of Strategy responsible for business development and regional expansion. Previously, he was deputy general manager in Retail Banking responsible to set up and grow the operations ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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Emirates NBD has appointed Jamal bin Ghalaita as CEO of its unit Dubai Bank, according to an e-mailed statement today. Bin Ghalaita will remain the CEO of Emirates Islamic Bank, another unit of Emirates NBD. Douwe Oppedijk, formerly the interim CEO of Dubai Bank, was named as an advisor to the CEO.
The Dubai government handed control of Dubai Bank to Emirates NBD in October 2011, just four months after the troubled Islamic lender was bailed out by the Gulf state following loan losses………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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The country’s first Islamic insurance operator, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd, expects to invest an additional RM1-2 million by the end of this year to fully automate its paperless operation, said managing director Datuk Hassan Kamil.
This focus underpinned Takaful Malaysia’s plans to boost its operational efficiency and productivity when the system takes centre stage nationwide………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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The government of India said it is not legally feasible for domestic banks to carry out interest- free Islamic banking activities. “RBI has informed that in the current statutory and regulatory framework, it is not legally feasible for banks in India to undertake Islamic banking activities in India or for branches of Indian banks abroad to undertake Islamic banking outside India,” Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said.
He said the Reserve Bank of India has received references from the Indian Centre for Islamic Finance for introducing interest-free banking in the country in order to ensure inclusive growth with innovation in accordance with recommendations of the Raghuram Rajan Committee………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the global derivatives trade body, has launched a new standard of Islamic derivative product as the market for such products develops.
Isda, in conjuction with the International Islamic Financial Market, announced the creation of the Mubadalatul Arbaah, or profit rate swap, product standard to be used for Islamic hedging purposes on Tuesday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) have launched an ISDA/IIFM Mubadalatul Arbaah (Profit Rate Swap) product standard, to be used for Islamic hedging purposes.
The Mubadalatul Arbaah (MA) standard provides the industry with a framework for Islamic risk mitigation………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kuwait Finance House (KFIN), the country’s largest Islamic lender, plans to restructure, merge or sell unprofitable units, state news agency KUNA reported, citing Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Al-Omar.
The bank’s reorganization plan, which involves creating separate divisions for banking, investment, operations and wealth management, has been approved by the board and will include “the appointment of new leaders,” Al-Omar said, according to KUNA………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic bank Kuwait Finance House (KFH) will shuffle its top management and work with advisors to sell, merge or restructure unprofitable subsidiaries, state news agency KUNA quoted the bank’s chief executive as saying.
It quoted Mohammed Omar as telling shareholders on Monday that KFH’s restructuring would require executive appointments that had approval from KFH’s board and were now awaiting approval from the central bank………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Islamic banking unit of Bank Permata, Permata Bank Syariah, has targeted on ambitious lending growth of 65 percent this year after witnessing a two-fold growth that reached Rp 3 trillion in 2011.
“We will align our growth with the aggressive growth target set by Bank Indonesia, which falls between the 60 to 65 percent range,” Achmad K. Permana, head of Permata Bank Syariah, said ………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The existence of non-interest banking, otherwise known as Islamic Banking in Nigeria, would give support to achieving stability in the financial system in event of market crash or crisis, an expert has said.
Shaikh Ziyaad Mahomed, Chief Executive Officer, Islamic Finance Institution of South Africa (FISA), noted that because conventional banks are interest-rate dependent, they are susceptible to interest rate volatility, which is capable of upsetting an economy………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Islamic (non-interest) banking is growing across the world not because of the effort of Muslims but because the banking philosophy makes more sense, an expert in the field, Shaikh Muhammed Ziyaad, has said.
He said unlike the conventional banks which try to make more money on the money, the Islamic bank is concerned about profit made from trade, insisting that, “money cannot earn more money except you investment.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Islamic banks, banks which prohibit the payment or acceptance of interest or fees for loans of money, will soon arrive in Croatia. Dr. Sukrija Ramic, a member of the Sharia Board of the first Islamic bank on European soil, Bosna Bank International, has announced that legal regulations have been completed that will open the way for new Islamic banks to open in the region.
Ramic has said that Croatia, with its Catholic majority population, could accept an Islamic bank in the country before Bosnia and Herzegovina, since Pope Benedict XVI has previously recommended that commercial banks look to the principles of Islamic finance………………………………………..Full Article: Source

With the draft laws for Islamic banking almost complete, Oman will also alter its existing regulations for banking in the Sultanate to incorporate Islamic finance.
H.E. Hamood Sangour al Zadjali, Executive President of the Central Bank of Oman, revealed to the Oman-based newspaper Muscat Daily that the first draft of Islamic banking rules is almost ready and it is being updated with comments from local banks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bank Nizwa has appointed Tariq Al Farsi as general manager for retail and private banking. Farsi has a successful and distinguished track record of building and running Islamic banks and brings more than 11 years’ experience in investment, retail and corporate banking in various multi-national and regional financial institutions.
Farsi was a senior member of the pioneering teams behind the start-up of two Islamic banks; Noor Islamic Bank and Al Hilal………………………………………..Full Article: Source