From Ameinfo.com: The Islamic finance market is expected to retract to levels of about seven years ago, according to the CEO of Noor Islamic Bank. Hussain said, with liquidity tight the market is shrinking, particularly for syndicated loans.

He does not expect the market to come back until ‘there is sufficient liquidity’, and area he does believe will return. He added that the UAE should concentrate on increasing foreign reserves and encouraging savings to help ease the deposits shortfall…..Full Article: Source

From Asianinvestor.net: There’s no respite for mutual funds registered for sale in Malaysia which posted an average loss of 0.7% in February, extending a 0.16% average drop in January, according to Thomson Reuters Lipper data. All that is on top of an average decline of 22.28% in 2008.

By asset type, guaranteed funds (+0.33%) and money market funds (+0.16%) posted average gains last month. Commodities funds (-6.28%) substantially underperformed other asset types. ….Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: The GCC economy is set to grow steadily between now and 2020 but at a faster rate than the global average, according to a new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The Gulf states will achieve average annual growth of 4.5 per cent compared with the aggregate global rate of 3.3 per cent…..Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: Up until the PCFC/DP World $3.5 billion (Dh12.85bn) convertible bond transaction done in early 2006, the GCC regional bond market was dominated by mid sized (US$100 million-300m) plain vanilla senior bonds with relatively short maturities (five years and in) issued mainly by the region’s banks.

Since that PCFC issue (which was subsequently redeemed by the DP World IPO) the regional bond market has mushroomed not only in terms of size but also in terms of types of issuers (banks, property company’s, utilities etc.), length of maturities, structure of bonds (senior, subordinated, etc.) and the currency of the offering…..Full Article: Source

From Sukuk.net: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) said yesterday it planned a $500 million Islamic bonds, or sukuk, issue to finance its 2009 financing program, the first sukuk issue this year in a tightening industry.

“We are planning to go ahead with the issue in the next few months,” the bank’s Chairman Ahmed Mohammed Ali told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Riyadh…..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Daman Investments, a leading Dubai-based investment management company, said its key funds - Daman Second Emirates Fund, and Daman Islamic Fund - had put up a good show this February.

Announcing the results, the company said the Daman Second Emirates Fund, a UAE-registered open-ended fund regulated by the UAE Central Bank and focused on Emirati equity markets, closed the month of February at a net asset value (NAV) of Dh41.70 ($11.3) per unit, spelling a growth of 0.99 per cent as against three per cent witnessed in the NBAD General Index…..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Islamic banks will emerge from the global financial crisis more influential, spurred by demand from Muslims in the Middle East and Asia, according to the chief executive of Gulf-backed Asian Finance Bank (AFB).
In an interview with Zawya Dow Jones, Datuk Kamil called for the creation of an Islamic central bank “to regulate understandings of Shariah principles and cautiously monitor investments and compliance.” ….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Experts have called for improved corporate governance measures in the Middle East insurance sector to advance the development of the sector as well as create a more transparent and accountable industry.

The Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance, based at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), and the Jordan-based Arab Forum of Regulatory Commissions (AFIRC) yesterday launched a Policy Brief on Corporate Governance for the Insurance Industry in the region…..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Qatar’s insurance sector will grow faster if properly regulated, a top insurer has said. “We have not yet realised the insurance sector’s potential,” Qatar Islamic Insurance Company managing director Izzat M al-Rashid said.

He said gross insurance premium earned by Qatar’s insurance companies totalled QR3bn last year, registering a meagre 5% growth over 2007. During the period the national economy recorded an “impressive” 16% growth. The insurance sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP was just 1% last year, he said…..Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: Top lender Malayan Banking is counting on growth in consumer, Islamic and commercial banking to see it through the worsening economy. Malayan is confident it can grow its key businesses this year and the next despite a worsening economy, its chief said.

President and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said he was counting on growth in consumer, Islamic and commercial banking to see it through these troubled times…..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Islamic Insurance will stay focused on developing its affiliated firms in Pakistan and Syria besides increasing its market share in the local market, company chairman Sheikh Abdullah bin Thani al-Thani has said.
“We are actively pursuing a three-year strategic plan until 2012 to develop our portfolios,” he said at the company’s ordinary general assembly meeting yesterday…..Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: Commercialbank of Qatar, the largest private sector bank in Qatar, today announces its participation in the Government of Qatar’s proposal announced on 8 March 2009 in which the Government offered to buy part, or all, of the Qatar DSM equity investment portfolios of eight local banks.

Commercialbank has decided to take up the Government’s offer and has sold its entire portfolio of Qatar equities which had a net book value of QR 937.9 million at both 31 December 2008 and 28 February 2009. The Government will pay QR 417.8 million in cash and provide a five-year bond of QR 520.1 million which carries a coupon of 5.5%…..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Gulf International Bank (GIB) has recorded a net loss of $396.2 million in 2008 after taking into account the exceptional loan loss provision charge and provisions for investment securities that have subsequently been sold.

The figure was a marked improvement over the net loss of $757.3 million recorded in 2007. The net loss for the fourth quarter was $248 million being largely attributable to the exceptional loan provision charge, the bank said…..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Bahrain-based Al Salam Bank and Bahraini Saudi Bank (BSB) are in merger talks, it was disclosed yesterday. And the merger, the first in Bahrain in a long time, could be voted on by shareholders of both banks next month.

Al Salam director and chief executive officer (CEO) Yousif Taqi and BSB CEO Khalid Shaheen confirmed that both institutions have retained KPMG as independent adviser to the transaction…..Full Article: Source

From Triumphnewspapers.com: The Principal, Association of Oasis Associates, Malam Ahmad Dogara has given nod to Islamic Micro financing in the Nigeria’s banking system, saying it could serve as a speedy remedy toward poverty eradication in the country.
Presenting a paper during Micro-Finance Investors Forum, organized by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), held in Kano, Dogara believes that Islamic Micro-Finance could similarly be an excellent substitute for the conventional micro-finance currently being implemented in the country…..Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) will refinance its $2.2 billion (Dh8bn) Islamic loan “ahead of time”, said a top official from the utility company.

The syndicated loan, which will be due on April 13, has recently raised concerns among rating agencies amid a growing debt burden around the world…..Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: Qatar Gas Transport Co (Nakilat) hopes to raise a total $1bn in project finance loans over the next 12 months, business magazine Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) reported.

The firm ” is approaching banks about raising debt for its third phase of financing to meet repayment commitments due between June and early 2010 for the acquisition of 25 gas shipment vessels under construction in South Korea,” MEED quoted Nakilat s Managing Director Muhammad Ghannam as saying…..Full Article: Source
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From Btimes.com.my: INTERNATIONAL Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) is helping to build up the pool of skilled professionals to serve in the Islamic finance sector.

Its Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IIiBF) has so far signed eight memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and collaborations with local and foreign institutions in the areas of training and research since its inception four years ago…..Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: VTB Capital, the investment business arm of Moscow-based VTB Group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Liquidity Management House, a subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House, to facilitate what it said would be the development of Islamic finance products and services in Russia and CIS region.

The MOU was signed between VTB Capital and Liquidity Management House in Moscow by Yuri Soloviev, President and Global CEO of VTB Capital and Emad Al Monayea, Chairman and Managing Director of Liquidity Management House…..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Sukuk ijara, a form of Islamic bond, became the dominant bond structure in the $1tn Islamic finance industry in 2008, ratings agency Moody’s said in a recent report.

Bumper oil earnings in the Gulf and rising demand for ethical investments have boosted the profile of the three-decade-old Islamic finance industry in recent years from a niche sector to one with growing international reach. Under sukuk ijara, the seller sells assets to the issuer who will issue sukuk to fund the purchase…..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Kuwait’s cabinet will soon approve a $5.17 billion economic stimulus bill that has been delayed by tensions between the government and the dissolved parliament, the finance minister said in remarks published on Sunday.

On Wednesday, Kuwait’s ruler dissolved parliament to end a political crisis that has also delayed a plan to launch a securities market regulator…..Full Article: Source

From Sabanews.net: The Parliament approved on Sunday amendments on several articles of Islamic banks law. The amendments stated that the capital of bank should be not less than YR 6 billion and central bank of Yemen has right to raise minimum capital in accordance with law of banks.

The amendments gave rights for non-Yemenis to contribute to capital of these banks based on limits of the central bank…..Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) has approved the distribution of 2008 profits at 5% cash dividends and 5% bonus shares in the total amount of Dhs220m to shareholders (10% of the paid up capital) resulting in total Paid-up Capital of Dhs2.3bn after distribution, during its 33rd Annual General Meeting held at the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday March 21, 2009.

His Excellency Mohamed Saeed Al Husseini, Vice Chairman of the Sharjah Islamic Bank, delivered a speech on behalf of the Chairman of SIB, in which he confirmed that the strategy adopted by the board of directors has continued to yield positive financial results despite of the Global financial crisis…..Full Article: Source

From Europenews.dk: At your service, American Taxpayer! AIG’s Shariah Advisory Board. Meet Moe, Larry and Curly. I mean, Mohamed, Muhammad, and Mohammed.* As members of the AIG Takaful Shariah Advisory Board, they really work for you and me, the American taxpayer, ever since we the people bought an 80 percent stake in the bankrupt insurance company.

How’s that for bait and switch? While we agonize over chump-change AIG bonuses, we ignore the fact we’re paying for the subversion of liberty and justice for all by funding AIG’s promotion and entrenchment of sharia–Jew-, Christian-, and humanist-hostile supremacist Islamic law…..Full Article: Source

From Canadafreepress.com: Muslim Leaders in Germany are corrupt. They abuse tax-payer money and have smuggled millions of euros for Jihadists across the world. At last, the German authorities are acting against radical Muslims in Germany.

The German Media reported on March 20, 2009 that the general prosecutor raised charges against Oguz Ücüncü, the secretary general of “Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Görüs” IGMG (Islamic Community of Milli Görüs), an Islamist Turkish organization, and Ibrahim el Zayat, chairman of the “Islamische Gemeinschaft Deutschlands (IGD) (Islamic Community of Germany). Both men were born in Germany and have the German citizenship…..Full Article: Source