From Khaleejtimes.com: Islamic banking, which is predicted to become a $4 trillion global industry over the next five years, is the least affected sector in the current global economic meltdown triggered by subprime tsunami in the United States, experts said.

Khaled Al Aboodi, CEO and general manager of Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), was quoted as saying that since Shariah did not allow Islamic banks to invest in subprime product, they were safer from the toxic subprime assets when compared to conventional banks….. Full Article: Source

From Khaleejtimes.com: Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, appointed on Monday two new board directors of financial regulator Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).

The new appointees to the 12-member DFSA board are Fadel Abdullah Al Ali and Abdul Wahid Al Ulama….. Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Japanese investors have expressed interest in developing Islamic capital market products, a local newspaper quoted Aseambankers Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Rashdan Mohammed Yusof as saying on Tuesday.

Yusof did not name the interested Japanese companies or provide a timeframe of the proposed deal but said Aseambankers, the investment banking arm of Malaysia’s state-controlled top lender Maybank, plans to develop the sukuk market in Japan….. Full Article: Source

From Wealth-bulletin.com: The Amana Trust Income Fund, the main Muslim investment fund with $1.2bn (€853m) in assets under management, has outperformed those from all other faiths in the US by losing just 25.8% of its value for the year, half the average 44% loss for US stock funds

Nick Kaiser, manager for the two Amana funds, said that the firm saw an inflow of $40m last month alone, of which more than 50% came from non-Muslim investors….. Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com: A few financial conglomerates from Japan have expressed interest to work with Aseambankers Malaysia Bhd in developing Islamic capital market products, its chief executive officer Mohammed Rashdan Mohammed Yusof said.

Without naming the conglomerates because of confidentiality requirements, he said that they were seeking two-way cooperation with Aseambankers….. Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: Financial experts have identified four challenges arising from the global financial crisis that banks in the UAE – both local and international – must overcome.

The first concerns loans given to investors that are guaranteed by shares or real estate assets. The value of shares and property has fallen sharply, which has prompted banks to sell assets provided as guarantees to recover their money….. Full Article: Source

From AME Info: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has received the ‘Best Call Centre Performance’ Award in the fourth Annual Service Quality Benchmarking Study, conducted by Ethos Consultancy, the region’s leading provider for benchmarking service performance, mystery shopping, customer satisfaction surveys and brand audits.

The award was presented by Ethos Consultancy to Dr. Adnan Chilwan, Chief of Retail and Business Banking. Also present were Amr Abbas, Head of Call Centre at DIB, Nasser al Awadhi, Head of Distribution, Retail Banking, DIB, and Robert Keay, Managing Director at Ethos Consultancy….. Full Article: Source

From Bi-me.com: Banks in the United Arab Emirates face the prospect of increasing loan defaults as the country’s property boom loses steam amid the global credit crisis.

Small and medium-sized real-estate developers are being hurt as home sales fall, making it harder for them to repay loans….. Full Article: Source

From Sukuk.net: The Justice and Development Party government is working on laying the ground for the sovereign issuance of Islamic bonds, Hurriyet Daily News has learned.

Declining to name the bonds ‘Islamic,’ a top official says ‘this market’ will grow to $200 billion globally by 2010, and ‘Turkey wants its share.’ The issuance will be based on leasing state-owned properties….. Full Article: Source

From Familysecuritymatters.org: According to experts, the global market for Islamic Financial products in 2008 is worth over $1 Trillion and is expected to grow at 15-20% a year. Islamic financial products are likely to account for 50-60% of the total savings of the world’s 1.2 Billion Muslims in the next decade.

The Islamic banking industry’s estimated growth is 20% through 2012. Right now, about $88 Billion dollars in Shariah Compliant Funds are currently invested in the U.S….. Full Article: Source