Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Menafn.com: Today Arab News launches a regular weekly page dedicated to Islamic banking, finance and insurance (Takaful), the fastest growing phenomenon in global finance. At a time when the conventional interest-based global financial system is in turmoil, it is a natural reaction to seek more prudent and ethical alternative systems of financial management.
Islamic finance, now in its fourth contemporary decade, offers one unique alternative and is here to stay. Global Islamic financial assets are estimated to be about $1 trillion with a potential to rise to $4 trillion by 2010. Another $1.2 trillion is estimated to be invested in commodity Murabaha contracts alone…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Legalbusinessonline.com: The Islamic finance practices of firms in East Asia have been eyeing the Gulf as a growth strategy for some time. The question is: will recent global financial events will put their ambitions on hold?
As Asian authorities have intensified their pursuit of a larger slice of the Islamic finance (IF) market, the region’s law firms have followed suit - some of them even establishing offices in the Gulf region. But how successful will this be in attracting more IF work?….Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Dawn.net: Syndicated lending is a loan provided to a borrower jointly by two or more lenders in the form of a group. The syndicate has become a major feature of conventional financial system. It is an important way of raising large amounts of capital not possible otherwise.
Lenders are able to diversify their loan portfolios and minimise their risk exposure; these loans are less expensive and are more efficient to administer…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: The Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates economies will narrowly avoid contracting in 2009 while Kuwait shrinks as the Gulf is dealt a double blow from oil output cuts and weak consumer demand, a Reuters poll showed.
Real economic growth in all Gulf oil exporters except Qatar is set to slow to about 2 per cent or less, marking an abrupt end to a boom that saw most Gulf economies expand 6 per cent or more in 2008, according to the poll of 14 economists and analysts…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulfnews.com: United Arab Bank, a Sharjah-based institution, has released its financial results for 2008, reporting a net profit increase of 18.4 per cent to Dh250.2 million.
The bank’s total assets reached Dh7.5 billion last year - an increase of 22.2 per cent over the previous year. Total loans and advances grew by 39.7 per cent to Dh5.5 billion…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thestar.com.my: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) targets to break even on its investment in PT Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) in about five years, but BII’s earnings will have to grow at least 25% per year for this to happen, its head honcho said.
“BII needs to grow its earnings as fast as possible, so that we can break even by year five,” president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said after the company EGM yesterday…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Ameinfo.com: UBS today announces that it has appointed Dr. Armen V. Papazian as Head of Islamic Finance based in the firm’s DIFC branch in the UAE. This latest hire further reflects UBS’s long-term commitment to Islamic Finance and reiterates the bank’s ambitions to become one of the region’s leading financial services providers.
During his most recent position at the DIFX (Nasdaq Dubai), Dr. Papazian led the market development efforts of the exchange, as Senior Vice President for Innovation and Development, where he successfully launched the region’s first structured products platform with both Islamic and conventional product offerings…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulf-daily-news.com: Shamil Bank has said that it is on a growth path despite the financial crisis and the subsequent global economic slowdown last year.
“It was our first full-year of operations as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ithmaar Bank, and the fact that we have been able to do so well in such a challenging year was made possible, in a large part, by the business diversity that exists within the Ithmaar group and the powerful synergies that have been subsequently created,” said Shamil Bank director Mohammed Bucheerei, who chaired yesterday’s bank annual general meeting…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Zawya.com: The Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX) has employed the consultancy services of the SHAPE Financial Corp. SHAPE is a leading specialist in the formation of solutions for Islamic finance markets and will assist the BFX in the development of Sharia compliant Islamic finance products for listing on the Exchange.
Listing and trading in innovative Islamic products will be a key aspect of the BFX. Working with SHAPE will enable the Exchange to establish its product line in this area and benefit from the strong relationships SHAPE has in the Islamic finance industry…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Albawaba.com: Bahrain has been ranked the best country for business in the Gulf by Forbes, one of the most trusted information resources for the world’s business leaders.
Bahrain is ranked No. 1 in the GCC and 33rd of 127 economies in Forbes’ Best Centres for Business 2009 report, confirming that the Kingdom is better placed than many other nations to weather the current global economic downturn and remains an attractive location for foreign investment…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Menareport.com: The GCC will emerge from the global economic crisis faster and stronger than others if it continues to work together, said Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of Bahrain’s Economic Development Board (EDB), in a speech at the Wharton Global Alumni Forum in Dubai last week (12 March).
Speaking at the Forum, ‘At the Crossroads for Global Economic Change’, Shaikh Mohammed said that the measures that Bahrain and its neighbors had taken in recent years mean that the global crisis is likely to impact less on the GCC than on some others…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Linexlegal.com: In the United Kingdom, Registered Providers have been in the forefront of delivering affordable housing for those people who cannot afford to pay rent for a property at the prevailing open market levels.
Whilst Registered Providers have not up to now sought to raise Shari’ah compliant finance, their business lends itself to using well established Islamic concepts such as musharaka and mudarabah for finance, equity, coownership models and joint ventures…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From WSJ: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB.AD), the United Arab Emirate’s second largest Islamic lender, said Monday its board has approved issuing a 2 billion U.A.E. dirhams ($545 million) sukuk to the Abu Dhabi government.
The bank’s board also approved Sunday, at its general assembly, the Ministry of Finance’s proposal to transfer the equity liquidity support facility of AED2.2 billion to Tier 2 Capital…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabnews.com: Malaysia is confident that the local Sukuk market will bounce back over the next few weeks and hopefully lead a green shoots revival in the regional and global Sukuk market.
A senior government official stressed that the market would firm up following the RM60 billion economic stimulus package announced on March 10 by Finance Minister Mohamed Najib Razak, which includes a RM15 billion fiscal injection in the form of guarantees to the financial sector…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabtimesonline.com: Abu Dhabi Investment House (ADIH) Chairman of the Board, Jowa’an Awaidha Al Khaili announced yesterday that ADIH made a net profit of AED 260 million ($71 million) for the fiscal year 2008, an 18 percent year-on-year increase from AED 220 million ($60 million) in 2007.
As such, the Board has approved the distribution of 40 percent cash dividend (AED0.40 per share)…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulfnews.com: The Dubai Multi-Commodities Centre may start more exchange-traded funds linked to precious metals this year.
The DMCC and the London-based, producer-funded World Gold Council created a gold-backed ETF that began trading in the emirate this month…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Business24-7.ae: The UAE’s economy is still strong despite the fallout from the global financial crisis, according to Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Union National Bank Group.
“The strength of the economy derives from economic diversification efforts and the drop in the reliance on the oil sector as well as the financial surplus that boosts the state’s potential to withstand any economic downturn,” he said at the group’s general assembly…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: Kuwait’s troubled Gulf Bank made a net loss of 1.6 million dinars ($5.52 million) in January, a relative improvement on major fourth-quarter losses brought on by derivatives deals.
Kuwait’s fourth-largest bank by market value posted a fourth-quarter loss of 445.5 million dinars on Saturday, blaming the derivatives losses that triggered a central bank rescue last year as the global financial crisis hit the world’s top oil-exporting region…..Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Reuters: Abu Dhabi government-linked Aabar Investment completed a $1.82 billion capital hike on Monday after taking a 9.1 percent stake in Daimler to become the top stakeholder in the German carmaker.
Gulf-based investment firms have poured billions of dollars in recent years into businesses ranging from Western banks and stock exchanges to sports clubs and circus troupes. Following are details of some recent major Gulf investments:….Full Article: Source
Posted on 24 March 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: A new company owned by Saudi Arabia’s largest state-run pension fund will invest in local and foreign stock markets and develop real estate projects, the cabinet said on Monday.
The setting up of Hassana Investment Company, owned by the General Organisation for Social Insurance (Gosi), was approved on Monday at a cabinet meeting chaired by King Abdullah, state news agency SPA said, quoting a cabinet statement…..Full Article: Source
RSS
