From Themalaysianinsider.com: While Islamic finance continues to develop, it has been hit by a liquidity crunch. The sector is grappling with the plunge in oil revenues and the impact on many of the Middle East countries.

The slump in property prices is another big headache, given the asset-based nature of Islamic finance. In February, Abu Dhabi gave a US$10 billion (RM36 billion) bailout to neighbour Dubai as it reeled from the property bust…….Full Article: Source

From FT: The ultimate arbiters of the Islamic finance industry are not regulators, bespoke-suited bankers or the authorities, but a small, select coterie of ascetically garbed scholars versed in Koranic verses and arcane areas of jurisprudence.

This was made abundantly clear last year, when Sheikh Taqi Usmani, a leading scholar of sharia-compliant finance, shocked the industry by declaring many Islamic bonds, or sukuk, had gone too far in mimicking conventional debt…….Full Article: Source

From FT: The international sukuk market is another victim of the credit squeeze that has destroyed investor confidence around the world: it has seen little activity this year.

Only one international dollar deal has been recorded so far in 2009, according to Dealogic, the data provider. This was a $650m transaction from the Indonesian government, which launched its first global Islamic bond this month…….Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Gulf corporate bonds sales will see growing investor demand this year because recent sovereign debt issuances have established a local “pricing curve” that has been missing since the onset of the financial crisis, bank executives say.

The success of sovereign debt sales and improved conditions have whet investors’ appetites for diversifying into other corporate debt instruments…….Full Article: Source

From FT: While the conventional financial system is buckling under a mountain of debt and financial wizardry gone awry, Islamic finance has appeared relatively robust.

This young but swiftly growing sector is therefore attracting more and more supporters, some of them from unexpected quarters…….Full Article: Source

From Khaleejtimes.com: Five Gulf Arab states planning to launch a single currency chose the Saudi capital Riyadh as the location for a regional central bank, Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdul Rahman Al Attiyah said.

The UAE delegation, led by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, expressed reservations over the choice…….Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: The capital bases of a number of regional insurance companies are under pressure due to the steep decline in the value of their investment portfolios, says credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P).

The decline has been caused in particular by the fall in the value of local stocks and real estate, Kevin Willis, Director of Financial Institutions Rating Services said…….Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: Islamic Arab Insurance Co (Salama), the world’s largest Islamic insurance or takaful company, is looking for acquisitions in a number of markets including Turkey, a company executive said yesterday.

The Dubai-listed group was well-capitalised with around Dh1.1bn ($299.5m) in its coffers, Noel D’ Mello, general manager of Salama’s Family Takaful unit, told reporters…….Full Article: Source

From Newsobserver.com: The recession gripping the nation has taken less of a toll on American Muslims who follow age-old Islamic laws against paying – or charging – interest.

They’ve also been shielded by socially responsible retirement plans because Shariah– Islamic law – forbids investments in banks and mortgages as well as tobacco, alcohol, gambling, pornography or weapons…….Full Article: Source

From Bernama: Kuwait Finance House Labuan, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Bhd, has teamed up with SFS Group Public Company Ltd to establish a Shariah compliant shipping fund via a limited partnership before the year’s end.

In a joint statement here today, both companies said the target fund size is approximately US$150 million, to be managed by an equally-owned company acting as the general partner based in the Cayman Islands…….Full Article: Source

From Sukuk.net: Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research, inaugurated on Tuesday Noor Islamic Bank’s second full service branch in Abu Dhabi on Khalifa bin Zayed Street.

Hussain Al Qemzi, Group CEO of Noor Islamic Bank, and senior officials from the bank attended the opening ceremony. Through its Al Khalifa branch, Noor Islamic Bank will offer a broad range of banking solutions to meet the growing needs of individual, small and medium businesses, as well as its corporate clients…….Full Article: Source

From Maktoob.com: Mortgage defaults are expected to rise in Dubai this year due to the global downturn, Amlak Finance, an Islamic lender being rescued by the government, said on Tuesday.

“We are experiencing more delinquencies in terms of mortgages in 2009 and it will be very challenging to manage going forward,” Max Hamidi, chief financial officer at the Islamic mortgage firm, said at a conference…….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Islamic Bank (ADIB) has launched on Tuesday a new Sharia compliant covered card for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A covered card is the Sharia-compliant equivalent to credit card.

Offered in Platinum and Gold versions, the Visa card, which is the first of its kind in the UAE, provides SME clients with a line of finance up to Dh250, 000…….Full Article: Source

From Thedailystar.net: Standard Chartered Bank plans to launch a number of Shariah-based products to strengthen its Islamic banking services in Bangladesh, officials said yesterday.

As part of the move, the bank yesterday rolled out a home loan scheme titled “Saadiq Home Finance” in Dhaka…….Full Article: Source

From Efinancialcareers-gulf.com: It’s no secret that UBS has been letting go of legions of bankers in Western markets, but it has been waxing lyrical about expanding its Middle Eastern presence for some time now. So how many people has it hired in the region within the last year? Answer: six.

Just to recap, in July last year having secured a licence to operate in Saudi, UBS said it intended to double the number of employees in the Gulf and make a move into Islamic finance…….Full Article: Source

From Themalaysianinsider.com: Singapore’s Islamic Bank of Asia (IB Asia) is ‘very excited’ by the news that Malaysia is opening up its banking sector further to foreign players and will consider taking a stake in an Islamic bank there or applying for a local banking licence in future, chief executive Vince Cook said yesterday.

“That’s something we’d definitely be considering,” he told reporters here in a conference call to announce a new product for the bank……Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: Emirates Islamic Bank said first-quarter profit fell 56 per cent after investment holdings and fee income declined.

Net income dropped to Dh65.8 million ($18m), or Dh0.05 a share, from Dh148.6m, or Dh0.12 a share, a year earlier, the bank said in a statement on the Dubai exchange’s website yesterday…….Full Article: Source

From Tehrantimes.com: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signed a bill permitting the government to increase its capital in the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

The government may now increase its capital in IDB from 700 million Islamic dinars to 1.48 billion, the Mehr News Agency reported…….Full Article: Source

From Nation.com.pk: Meezan Bank Ltd and Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Ltd have signed an agreement whereby all customers of Meezan Bank’s Housing Finance (Easy Home) will be provided with Shari’ah-Compliant Life Takaful Coverage.
Irfan Siddiqui President and CEO Meezan Bank Ltd and P. Ahmed CEO Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Ltd. signed the Takaful (Islamic insurance) Agreement at a ceremony on Tuesday…….Full Article: Source

From Dawn.com: Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on Tuesday agreed to provide $100 million to Pakistan in the health and microfinance sectors to support the country for poverty alleviation.

Sources in the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) told Dawn that a delegation of the IDB held meetings here with officials of EAD and the ministry of Finance to finalise the modalities of assistance in these sectors…….Full Article: Source

From Africanmanager.com: The Hong-Kong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC) Ltd. launc hed Tuesday the first Islamic banking services window in the island, PANA learnt from banking sources.

“Today is a historic date as we launch HSBC Amanah islamic banking services that respond to the principles of the Sharia,” Sandeep Uppal, CEO of the bank said…….Full Article: Source
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From Bi-me.com: A stirring call for deeper integration among GCC states - and particularly between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the two largest economies of the Gulf - was today jointly issued by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI).

A consolidated approach between the nations of the Gulf will allow them to maximize emerging opportunities around the world and in the region, said a top official of the DIFC…….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: A call for deeper integration among GCC states, particularly between the Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates — the two largest economies in the Gulf — was made by the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) and the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI).

The DIFC delegation was welcomed by Saad Al-Moajil, vice-chairman of RCCI board. Nasser Al-Shaali, chief executive officer of the DIFC authority, also addressed the delegates at a jointly-organized conference entitled “Rising Giants: Opportunities in KSA.”……Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Non-Opec oil producer Oman’s economy grew 44 percent at current prices in 2008 to 23.05 billion rials ($59.87 billion) due to a surge in oil prices, official data showed on Tuesday.

The value of crude oil output at market rates rose to 10.81 billion rials last year from 6.52 billion rials in 2007, Oman’s Ministry of National Economy said in a monthly report on its website…….Full Article: Source