From Financeasia.com: Today, for the first time, Islamic structurers in Malaysia and the Middle East are starting to create new financial products and infrastructure from scratch – developments that do not simply wrap their conventional counterparts in a Shar’iah structure but which are Islamic from start to finish.

Already this year, in its effort to develop a wholesale Islamic capital market, Malaysia’s Syariah Advisory Council has approved a Shar’iah-compliant commodity exchange and it has also given the go-ahead for securities borrowing and lending, which will support the creation and redemption of Islamic exchange-traded funds, or ETFs….. Full Article: Source

From Asiaone.com: Singapore is well-placed to ride a new wave of interest in Islamic finance by global investors who have been badly burnt by the Western financial system, a conference here heard yesterday.

Middle Eastern Islamic finance expert Hari Bhambra said top-notch wealth management infrastructure here can be used to tap into the fast-growing industry….. Full Article: Source

From Islamic banks have largely dodged the financial crisis, thanks to their low exposure to toxic assets like sub-prime loans, and may rebound faster than other sectors once the global outlook strengthens.

Vince Cook, chief executive of The Islamic Bank of Asia (IB Asia), a Singapore-based unit of DBS Group Holdings, said: ‘While we’re not immune…we’re also not seeing any of the Islamic banks having the problems you’re seeing at some of the bigger investment or conventional banks….. Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank is pushing ahead with expansion plans in the UAE and wider region as buoyant demand for Islamic banking continues despite global turmoil, its chief executive said.

Abu Dhabi Islamic plans to open six new branches in the UAE before April and is actively seeking acquisitions and branch expansion in other Gulf and Middle East countries, said Tirad Mahmoud….. Full Article: Source

From Wam.org.ae: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) Business Banking Group announced the launch of four new transaction banking packages primarily targeted at the Small ‘&’ Medium Enterprises (SME).

These products are available in four major currencies AED, EURO, USD ‘&’ GBP and they are also available in the Sharia Compliant Financial Solutions….. Full Article: Source

From Khaleejtimes.com: The Millennium Finance Corporation (MFC) — a Sharia-compliant investment bank — plans to launch three private equity funds with a total value of $600 million, which are expected to close in the first half of next year.

“We are launching three new funds: a Clean Energy Fund, focusing on such renewable energy technologies as wind, solar, and biofuels; an Africa Fund, focusing on investing in sub-Saharan Africa; and a Real Estate Fund,” COO of MFC Ahmad Atwan said….. Full Article: Source

From Globalpolitician.com: For the third month in a row, AIG is in the news regarding its promotion of Sharia-compliant finance (SCF) products, which promote the Islamic supremacist, segregationist ideology of Sharia.

For a company struggling with its financial survival, it remains astounding that AIG would want to incite its American taxpayer owners by promoting products that are based on an Islamic supremacist political ideology. In October 2008, I wrote how the U.S….. Full Article: Source

From Busrep.co.za: Attending Islamic finance conferences these days, it’s hard not to notice how this investment class is catching on. The world’s roughly 1.5 billion Muslims need a way to bank and invest according to Islamic sharia law, which bars receiving or paying interest on loans or deposits.

A massive market infrastructure is being built to facilitate clients who include wildly rich Persian Gulf oil tycoons….. Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: The world’s 50 richest Arabs have lost 12 per cent of their combined fortune this year. This was a result of the international economic crisis.

The Arabian Business 2008 Rich List, which was published yesterday, showed that the average fortune of the top 50 has slipped to $3.99 billion. In total, the top 50 richest Arabs now hold $199.48bn, a drop of $25bn in comparison to December last year. …. Full Article: Source