Global Islamic insurance contributions surged 19 percent in 2010 to $8.3 billion helped by Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, which made up more than half the industry, an Ernst & Young report said.
The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which also includes the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait, made $5.68 billion of Islamic insurance or takaful contributions in 2010, and South East Asia $2 billion, according to the World Takaful Report 2012……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Global takaful contributions grew by 19% to $8.3bn in 2010, according to Ernst & Young’s World Takaful Report 2012. “With current growth trends, and the addition of new fringe markets such as Indonesia and Bangladesh, we expect gross contributions of $12bn by 2012,” said Ashar Nazim, MENA head of Islamic financial services at Ernst & Young.
Growth in the GCC slowed to 16% in 2010, from a compound annual growth rate of 41% in 2005-2009, as the implementation of compulsory medical takaful in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia was completed earlier………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia was the biggest market, with $4.3bn of sales, or more than half of the industry. Malaysia was the second-largest market, ahead of the UAE, with contributions of $1.4bn.
“The takaful industry continued to show double-digit growth in 2010, albeit at a relatively slower rate of 19 per cent compared to previous years,” said Ashar Nazim, the head of Islamic financial services in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region for Ernst & Young………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The genie out of a modern day bottle is the first home purchase plan approved by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for the mainstream UK market, rather than a specialised market.
It demonstrates that the religious principles underlying Islamic products are relevant in the ethical and social finance marketplace; that Islamic principles can inspire and enhance the finance products being developed to meet these challenging times in the residential domestic market. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

With Britain now in talks to sell part of the government’s 82% stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland to Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth funds, the Islamic world’s growing financial clout is once again on display. That clout also poses a systemic challenge to the dominant way that finance is now practiced around the world.
From humble beginnings in the 1990’s, Islamic finance has become a trillion-dollar industry. The market consensus is that Islamic finance has a bright future, owing to favorable demographics and rising incomes in Muslim communities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

With an estimated value of around $1.1trn in global assets, Islamic finance has maintained continuous growth against the backdrop of global economic turmoil across many of the conventional world markets.
Yet while their inherent conservatism and overweight exposure to low risk investment has proven a strong point for Islamic-compliant financing of real estate, as safer investments have generally out-performed the market, the ongoing lag in Shari’a rules harmonisation is threatening to stifle their full potential in the Middle East and Islamic Asia, reflects Mark Faithfull………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar may list local-currency government bonds and sukuk on the country’s bourse this year as it seeks to deepen its debt market. Qatar, which had the world’s fastest economic growth last year according to the International Monetary Fund, started listing treasury bills on the exchange at the end of last year.
“Now we are talking to the issuing government about the next steps,” Andre Went, chief executive officer of the Qatar Exchange, said in an interview at a Bloomberg conference in Doha. Asked when the listing of sukuk and bonds may follow, he said: “It may happen this year. It’s feasible this year,” he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Tamweel PJSC may consider tapping the debt market again this year after the United Arab Emirates mortgage lender raised $300 million from the sale of Islamic bonds in January.
“We may potentially go back to the market this year for either a sukuk or securitization,” acting Chief Executive OfficerVarun Sood said in an interview in Dubai today. “It would be a similar transaction to what we did earlier this year.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, a private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDBG), and the government of Mauritania inked a deal, which entitles ICD to act as the transaction adviser for the proposed revolving sukuk offering by Mauritania to the tune of $300 million.
Khaled Al-Aboodi, CEO & general manager of ICD, and Sid Ahmed Ould Rayess, governor of the Central Bank of Mauritania signed the agreement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai’s Nakheel Properties plans to issue more debt in June, the developer said on Monday, after it posted a 30 percent rise in earnings in 2011 and forecast a recovery in the emirate’s real estate market this year.
Chairman Ali Rashid Lootah told reporters that Nakheel would likely issue a third tranche of an Islamic bond, or sukuk, in two months’ time. It aims to issue the tranche to trade creditors in part settlement of claims of 5.3 billion dirhams………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Omani lender Bank Nizwa, the sultanate’s first Islamic bank, plans to raise $156 million by selling 40 per cent of capital in an initial public offering on the Muscat Securities Market.
The bank is not yet operational and has only a representative office. Three branch openings are planned after the IPO………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The amount of fees earned by Middle East investment banks fell eight percent to US91m, their lowest point for nearly seven years, a new report found.
The Thomson Reuters Q1 2012 regional investment banking review shows debt issuance nearly doubled to US$11bn and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) reached US$4.9bn, a year-on-year rise of 22 percent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The largest and first bank of its kind in Egypt, Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt, today signed a phased agreement with ITS (International Turnkey Systems) Group, a leading solutions provider for both Islamic and conventional banks, to deploy ETHIX-Financial Solutions, the leading banking technology solution from ITS.
The solution is being deployed as part of Faisal Islamic Bank’s aggressive expansion plans in Egypt, a market that is set to witness exponential growth in the Islamic banking sector………………………………………..Full Article: Source

National Bank of Kuwait the Gulf state’s largest lender, posted flat first-quarter net profit on Monday, in line with analysts estimates, and the Kuwaiti lender said it was navigating a challenging market environment.
Net profit for the first-quarter stood at 81 million dinars ($291 million) in the quarter to end-March, compared with 80.7 million in the same period a year ago. NBK has been building its Islamic banking business and in April last year raised its stake in Islamic lender Boubyan Bank to 47 percent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Al Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines, the country’s only Islamic-oriented financial institution, is facing several challenges in its bid to grow as a financial institution.
Among these obstacles include the lack of legal and regulatory framework; oversight of Shariah; technical capacity and pool of practitioners; Shariah-complementary product/service demand in the Philippines; correct perception of Islamic finance; coordination for a globally-accepted legal and regulatory standards………………………………………..Full Article: Source