From Rgemonitor.com: Islamic Finance has been touted as an alternative model, less exposed to securitization, with ethical guidelines, and its proponents hoped better insulated from global trends.

However, Islamic banking and finance faces many of the same vulnerabilities as conventional finance. These financial institutions, both Islamic banks and those issuing Sharia-compliant investment products, are vulnerable to changes in liquidity and growth conditions globally and in the targeted regions…….Full Article: Source

From Hurriyet.com.tr: This year will be one of slower growth for the Islamic finance industry, which has boomed for the past decade.

Sales of Islamic bonds, or sukuks, plummeted last year as oil prices rapidly declined and the global financial crisis hit investor confidence. Still, the industry looks promising due to its risk-sharing concept……Full Article: Source

From Menafn.com: Sukuk (Islamic bonds) faced unprecedented challenges in 2008, having dipped by over 50 percent to roughly USD 15.1 billion, Kuwait’s Sabaek Leasing and Investment Company said on Sunday.

The fall came following a big growth of 71 percent in 2007 up to USD 33.5 billion, the company said in a recent report…….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: 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 $650 million (Dh2.4 billion) transaction from the Indonesian government, which launched its first global Islamic bond this month…….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Another sign of the growing march of Islamic finance in South and East Asia is the numerous developments that emerged at the 6th Annual Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) summit held in Singapore last week.

No sooner had Malaysia announced that it was liberalizing its financial services sector, including the issuing of two new mega-Islamic banking licenses in 2009 with a minimum capital of $1 billion each to foreign players, that Singapore launched at the summit another two regulations, as well as a consolidated set of guidelines on the application of banking regulations to Islamic banking…….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Islamic finance, which puts emphasis on sharing of risks between contracting parties has an enduring appeal, especially in the aftermath of a global financial crisis, says Muhammad Al-Jasser, governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA).

He said Islamic financial products could now compete with others on their own merits in the global marketplace…….Full Article: Source

From Bworldonline.com: Islamic finance must strengthen regulation, boost its professional staff and diversify as it takes on a bigger global role in the aftermath of the worldwide financial crisis, experts said.

Financial products compliant with Islamic shariah law are likely to gain in popularity as investors seek safer havens after the ruin caused by toxic derivatives sold globally by mainstream Western banks, they said…….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: The consensus was predictably mature amongst regulators and dignitaries at the Sixth Annual Summit of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) held last Thursday and Friday in Singapore.

These included the intrinsic strengths of the Islamic financial sector which supposedly puts emphasis on financing the real economy; that much work needs to be done to ensure the robustness of the industry; that future growth will only come with innovation, which in the light of the global financial crisis has assumed a certain negativity……Full Article: Source

From Taipeitimes.com: Islamic finance must strengthen regulation, boost its professional staff and diversify as it takes on a bigger global role in the aftermath of the worldwide financial crisis, experts said.

Financial products compliant with Islamic Shariah law are likely to gain in popularity as investors seek safer havens after the ruin caused by toxic derivatives sold globally by mainstream Western banks, they said…….Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: Growing numbers of Islamic insurance (Takaful) companies and the entry of multinational insurers and brokers in the region’s insurance sector has increased poaching for qualified staff, said an insurance expert.

Farid Lutfi, General Secretary of the Emirates Insurance Association, said while the phenomenon was common in many GCC countries, it was especially rampant in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, where many new players are entering the market…….Full Article: Source

From Arabianbusiness.com: Low investor demand for new share offerings in the next few years could see Dubai companies looking to sell bonds instead to raise cash, according to the emirate’s chief financial regulator.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Islamic Finance services Board summit on Singapore on Friday the CEO of the Dubai Financial Services Authority said there would be little room for IPOs in the UAE in the coming years…….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Malaysia, which last month unveiled plans to open its Islamic finance industry further, is trying to lure larger overseas banks to provide services that comply with Muslim tenets, the central bank said.

“We would like to see our financial landscape have an international Islamic financial institution of a large size that can take international business, whether business in Europe, or South Korea or any part of the world,” Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Singapore on May 9…….Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Shariah-Fortune announces the release of its report that aims at providing information on the Global Islamic Financial Industry.
With the establishment of the report, Shariah-Fortune has made available access to a database that records and documents all the geographic and business segments in the global market for Islamic Finance…….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The International Monetary Fund slashed its 2009 economic growth forecast for the Gulf region by more than half to 1.3 percent as the three largest oil-exporting economies, including Saudi Arabia, shrink in a global slowdown.

The IMF, which said in February Gulf states were set to grow 3.5 percent this year, warned on Sunday of downside risks from sustained low oil prices and any further deterioration in bank balance sheets due to exposure to weakening real estate markets……Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Kuwait’s financial sector is more stable than in the fourth quarter but it is too early to say whether it has totally overcome the impact of a global crisis, the country’s central bank governor said.

In October, the Opec member had to step in to save Gulf Bank, the only major bank in the Gulf region requiring a government bailout, while several major investment firms are struggling to get new loans…….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Morgan Stanley today revised its recommendation on the MSCI Arabian Markets Index, recommending investors to begin increasing their exposure to Middle Eastern stocks as valuations are more attractive now than at any time in the past two years.

Since advising investors to reduce their exposure to the region in October 2008, the region has underperformed other emerging markets…….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The Omani stock exchange will change to a free float index on July 1, a bourse statement said on Sunday.

“Index sample selection will be based on the same selection criteria,” it said, listing liquidity, market capitalisation, and earnings per share. “Sector equal presentation will not be applicable any more.”……Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Amlak Finance PJSC and Tamweel PJSC, the Dubai mortgage lenders, are likely to win creditor approval for their merger, Moody’s Investors Service said.

“It’s in nobody’s interest to have Tamweel and Amlak going into default,” said Moody’s Paris-based analyst Anouar Hassoune, who rated Tamweel bonds issued last year…….Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: MAA Takaful Bhd aims to edge ahead of others in the Islamic insurance market through initiatives such as being the first local takaful player to have a syariah expert on its board.

Chief executive officer Salim Majid Zain says having an expert syariah adviser on board will help the company make informed strategic decisions and help it face growing competition in the industry…….Full Article: Source

From Khaleejtimes.com: Ajman Bank, the emirate’s first Islamic commercial bank, reported a loss of Dh11.6 million for the first operating quarter, beating expectations.

The results show a strong liquidity position of over Dh1.2 billion, helping the bank to pick-up healthy business opportunities in the future, within the overall boundaries of its risk appetite, a Press statement said…….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK) posted a 90.8 per cent fall in first-quarter net profit, it said on Sunday.

Net profit in the first three months to March 31 came in at KD3.14 million ($10.77 million) compared with KD34.1 million in the same period a year earlier, CBK said on Kuwait’s bourse website…….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Pakistan, which faces slowing economic growth and a Taliban insurgency, will remain a “core market” for Standard Chartered Plc’s Islamic banking unit, a bank official said.

“Pakistan is a core market for us,” Afaq Khan, the Dubai- based chief executive officer of Standard Chartered’s Saadiq Islamic unit said in an interview in Singapore…….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: The Islamic finance industry is becoming popular worldwide. This popularity has not come without certain misunderstandings or misconceptions.

One major issue is the question of how Islamic finance is different from conventional finance when the “rates” (or profit margins) charged by Islamic financial institutions from borrowers are the same as those charged by conventional financial institutions……Full Article: Source .