From Scotsman.com: Scots banking veteran John Wright has called for the creation of a dedicated Islamic finance house in Scotland to attract more investment from the Middle East.

Wright, the retired former chief executive of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks, who also headed up the Oman International Bank for seven years, said the presence of an Islamic bank north of the Border would signal an “open door” for Islamic investors to do business in Scotland….. Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: Shariah-compliant gold funds are offering better returns than the other funds as investment in the yellow metal has lifted its price by “multiples of a thousand dollars,” according to the managers of Shariah-compliant funds.

Eric Meyer the Chairman and CEO of US-based Shariah Capital Inc., said: “That’s (gold) one commodity everyone has confidence in. And if it’s a Shariah-compliant fund investing into gold the confidence levels of investors are all the more higher.”…. Full Article: Source

From Theasianbanker.com: Kuwait-based banking software solutions provider Path Solutions said it has signed an agreement with Noor Islamic Finance Co. in Abu Dhabi for the provision of iMAL for their start-up operations.

The significance of the deal is twofold: Noor Islamic Finance Co. - partially owned by Noor Capital PSC of Abu Dhabi and GulfCap of Dubai - has big plans to expand in the Middle East and Africa. And winning this deal reasserts Path Solutions’ position in automating Islamic finance companies….. Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: Harmonising real estate regulatory laws across the UAE would attract global investors and increase transparency, according to a real estate investment and development information network.

“Common regulations across all the emirates would definitely benefit the country as they would make it easy for international investors to invest here,” Ahmet Kayhan, CEO of Reidin.com,said….. Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: The Minister of State for Housing and Development Affairs Moudy Al-Homoud applauded Kuwait Finance House (KFH) and its pioneer role in Islamic finance field in Kuwait and overseas, in addition to the successes that it achieved on various levels, which proves the ability of the Kuwaiti employee to excel.

This led to KFH’s prestigious status among regional and global markets. Moreover, Al-Homoud noted while visiting KFH’s booth at the Economy Makers and Job Opportunities Fair, orchestrated by Administrative College Sciences in Kuwait University, that KFH is eager to hire young skillful Kuwaitis, which makes all Kuwaitis proud, especially since Islamic financial services are booming….. Full Article: Source

From Sundaytimes.lk: The Islamic Finance Qualification (IFQ) is a ground-breaking qualification that covers Islamic finance from both a technical and Sharia’a perspective, providing the first international benchmark in the area of Islamic finance.

Aimed at new and existing investment professionals specialising in Sharia’a compliant finance, trade, investment and insurance, the IFQ is primarily a practical Islamic banking qualification, but also covers the legal aspects of Sharia’a which underpin all Islamic contracts….. Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Dubai Gold Securities, an initiative of World Gold Council (WGC) and the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), has began trading on Nasdaq Dubai Ltd..
Dubai Gold Securities represent the first Exchange Traded Commodity (ETC) to list on Nasdaq Dubai and the first Shariah-compliant gold ETC in the region….. Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: The Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADX) started bullish, then declined and eventually closed 0.41% higher at 2,328.32 points. Market bellwether Taqa gained 8.28%. According to JP Morgan the current oil price of $46 is higher than the last decade’s average, despite the financial crisis.

Abu National Takaful posted the biggest gain (up ten percent straight). The Islamic insurance operator associated with Swiss insurance giant Zurich Financial at the end of 2008 in order to develop customer-focused solutions for the GCC. …. Full Article: Source

From Hindu.com: In a bid to attract Muslim investors to stock markets, Reliance Capital Services has launched in Kanpur the ‘Imaan Investment Plan’ in line with the rules of Islamic Shariyat.

As per the plan, the money from investors will not be invested in banking, non-banking finance, tobacco, liquor, satta, hotel, the sugar sector and entertainment, which are illegal according to Shariyat law, company officials said. …. Full Article: Source

From Thehindubusinessline.com: Close on the heels of Benchmark Mutual Fund’s Shariah BEeS, Taurus Mutual Fund has unveiled its actively managed Taurus Ethical Fund. This open-end fund is the first actively managed product in the Indian mutual fund space that conforms to the principles of Shariah investing. It is benchmarked to the S&P CNX 500 Shariah Index.

Backdrop: The fund will refrain from investing in sectors or companies that aren’t compliant with Shariah principles. In the listed space, that means sectors such as banks and financials, tobacco, breweries, alcohol related chemicals and meat processing will not figure in the fund’s portfolio. …. Full Article: Source

From Arabianbusiness.com: Bahraini lender BBK will pursue acquisition opportunities in Bahrain and the Gulf Arab region after a planned merger with Islamic rival Shamil Bank was put on hold, its chief executive said on Sunday.

“We will continue to look into opportunities, if something comes across our way, we will pursue it very aggressively,” chief executive Abdulkarim Bucheery said….. Full Article: Source

From Aboobarza: The land of Adam Smith now teems with a vibrant Islamic banking sector, with even non-Muslims being lured by the model’s promise of transparency and stability. London - Shabaz Bhatti is proud to be a devout Muslim – but his plans to remortgage the family home with one of Britain’s new generation of Islamic banks isn’t just about religion.

The 30-something driving instructor wants reliability, and believes Britain’s growing Islamic finance sector offers this in a way that myriad traditional main street banks no longer do. …. Full Article: Source

From Intellasia.net: Indonesia aims to raise about US$580 million (US$1 = RM3.69) from its first global syariah-compliant bond issue this year, a finance ministry official said sterday.

“The main investors are expected from the Middle East. But certainly Asian investors as well,” said Dahlan Siamat, the official in charge of Islamic debt at the ministry, adding that there was still investor interest in a global sukuk….. Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Non-life insurance premium in the GCC is a woeful under 1% of the world’s total and hence there is a dire need to enhance the penetration, says Finance Minister HE Yousef Hussein Kamal.
Addressing the 3rd Multaqa, an international conference on insurance and reinsurance, organised by the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA), Kamal said: “We still have a long way to go as GCC non-life insurance markets remain relatively small by international standards.” …. Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: National Bank for Development (NBD), an Egyptian bank controlled by Abu Dhabi shareholders, said on Sunday its net loss for 2008 has more than doubled compared to a year earlier.

The bank said in a statement to the Egyptian stock exchange its net loss stood at 738.9 million Egyptian pounds ($130 million) in the year to end-December. Net loss in 2007 was 328.7 million pounds….. Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Iran’s legislators have adopted a $279 billion budget for the coming year, after slashing $19 billion in revenues that would have been raised from a hike in energy prices that was ultimately rejected, said a news report.

‘After five days of (lengthy) debate on projected revenue and expenditure for the next year, the $279 billion was passed,’ the Fars news agency reported, adding that the budget must now be approved by the Guardians Council….. Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Projects to the tune of $335bn are on hold in the UAE amid the global economic crisis, while only $254bn worth of projects are going ahead, London-based weekly Middle East Economic Digest has reported.

“The total value of projects on hold has climbed steadily over the past five months and now totals $335bn,” Meed said. …. Full Article: Source

From Atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com: Shariah finance = money for jihad (video hat tip Kim). The scary thing is one week after the federal government nationalized the banks, the US treasury was giving seminars in shariah finance. WTF?

What makes Shariah-Compliant Finance even more dangerous than subprime is that, in its effort to legitimize and institutionalize Shariah in America, it is advancing a criminal conspiracy whose purpose is the violent overthrow of the United States Constitution and government in favor of Islamic rule. That would make it sedition….. Full Article: Source