From Reuters: The Islamic finance industry is still searching for a stance on to what extent conventional international law should be accepted in arbitration cases, Islamic scholars said on Monday.
Many Islamic finance products and contracts are being scrutinized in courts for the first time during the current global economic downturn, after the industry got caught up in last year’s global liquidity freeze and now feels its exposure to slumping real estate markets in the Gulf Arab region………Full Article: Source

From Hereisthecity.com: Industry experts are predicting that the growth of the Islamic Finance industry will exceed 20 per cent per annum.
Other experts believe that in the future, the Islamic Finance industry could become a major competitor to the conventional finance industry. Islamic Finance is expected spread beyond Muslim countries - as seen in Europe where it has already made considerable headway in the UK, Germany and Switzerland………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: More than 370 delegates from 30 countries attended the first day of the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) annual Sharia conference yesterday to debate the way forward for Islamic finance.

The meeting, at the Sheraton Hotel, comes at a time when the Islamic finance industry is developing swiftly and looking to develop global standards………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Qatar’s economy is likely to grow in excess of 10% this year and the equity market to gain 20% over the next 12 months, Shuaa Capital said.

Shuaa said it estimated the Qatari economy to grow 12% in 2010. In a report titled “Qatar is Still Booming,” Shuaa Capital’s Mahdi Mattar said Qatar’s economy had seen remarkable growth over the last few years with an estimated real growth rate of 18.4% in 2008………Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Indonesian shipping firm, PT Berlian Laju Tanker Tbk, said on Tuesday it plans to raise this month a total of 500 billion rupiah ($48.12 million) from the sale of conventional and Islamic bonds.

In a prospectus published in Bisnis Indonesia newspaper, the firm said it plans to sell 400 billion rupiah of conventional bonds and 100 billion rupiah of ijarah sale-and-leaseback sukuk, or sharia-compliant bonds, which will be offered May 20-25………Full Article: Source

From Thejakartaglobe.com: With the “green shoots” of recovery increasingly evident, one of the country’s largest fund managers, PT Schroders Investment Management Indonesia, has confirmed a long-delayed plan to issue its first Shariah mutual fund in the hope of jump-starting the small Islamic fund market in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

“The domestic Shariah market has not grown significantly, so [we] put off entering the market and instead focused on educating the market first,” Schroders director Michael Tjoajadi said on Monday. “This will help us reap the benefits later.” ……..Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) announced the launch of Al Islami Takaful Programme, its Sharia-compliant savings plan with Takaful benefits, designed to meet the unique needs of customers looking for Islamic financial planning solutions.

The Al Islami Takaful Programme is the latest addition to DIB’s suite of wealth management solutions, which include savings schemes, mutual funds, and other structured products………Full Article: Source

From Nation.com.pk: Al Meezan Investments is in process of launching two new open-end funds namely Meezan Cash Fund and Meezan
Asset Allocation Fund in order to cater to the needs of the investors. This was announced in a press release issued by the company on signing of the Trust Deed of Meezan Cash Fund and Meezan Asset Allocation Fund………Full Article: Source

From Moneymanagement.com.au: Mortgage lender Muslim Community Co-operative Australia (MCCA) has been granted an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL), marking its first steps towards building a wealth management practice that offers financial planning services.

MCCA, which until now has been limited to home finance and various forms of investment, is now licensed to deal in “shariah compliant” mortgage funds and property trust schemes – meaning they will be run in accordance with Islamic law………Full Article: Source

From Asianinvestor.net: Douglas Johnson, New York-based principal at Calyx Financial, a hedge fund group that delved into the world of Islamic finance, has spun off sharia-compliant services into a new firm, Codexa Capital.

Codexa will serve as an Islamic finance brand, while Calyx Offshore has been restructured as a conventional hedge fund and private-equity manager and placement advisor………Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Maybank Islamic, Asia Pacific’s largest sharia bank, is not currently seeking a strategic partner, its acting chief said on Monday, after earlier talk that it would merge with the country’s No. 2 Islamic bank.

“Not at the moment … not at entity level,” acting CEO Ibrahim Hassan told reporters, when asked if the bank was seeking a strategic partner………Full Article: Source

From Xinhua: Indonesia will host the 3rd meeting of Shariah economic experts and practitioners as well as ulemas from across Southeast Asia in Jakarta on May 25-26, the national Antara news agency reported.

“We saw Islamic finance development in Indonesia was thriving,” said Mohamad Akram Laldin, executive director of the International Shariah Research Academy in Islamic Finance (ISRA), here on Monday while explaining why Indonesia had been chosen to be the host………Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: In a recently published monthly report by Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz”, which aims to analyze the performance of equity funds across the region, it is stated that, GCC markets going through a rollercoaster in 2008, with H1 being positive for the six economies followed by an abysmal second half which saw assets under management (AUM’s) of GCC funds contract by a massive 46%.

There continues to be a cloud of uncertainty over the local, and international, financial landscape, with equity markets trading sideways, liquidity being tight and good news being somewhat scattered, although governments have shown proactive measures aimed at bolstering their economies………Full Article: Source

From Propertyweek.com: Tamweel, the UAE’s largest home lender by volume, may become the first to sell repossessed properties once the legal process is complete.

Legal uncertainties have made mortgage lenders reluctant to hold forced sales or auctions in the past, as the system has never been tested………Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) said it has launched the Al Islami Takaful Programme, its Shari’ah-compliant savings plan with Takaful benefits.

The Al Islami Takaful Programme is the latest addition to DIB’s suite of wealth management solutions, which include savings schemes, mutual funds, and other structured products………Full Article: Source

From FT: One of the last refuges of decoupling proponents is the idea that Islamic finance might offer a more stable alternative to traditional financial markets. True, issuance of sukuk – or Islamic bonds – fell by more than half last year, to $20bn.
But difficulty raising money was inevitable as the financial crisis led investors to shun debt, Islamic or otherwise………Full Article (Subscription Required): Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: The Iraqi government on Monday rejected an $8 billion Kurdish plan to fill the Nabucco pipeline with gas for Europe, a major setback to a project designed to reduce the continent’s reliance on Russian energy.

Opposition in Baghdad to the deal to obtain gas from Iraq’s Kurdistan region hands Russia the initiative as it races to complete its own alternative to the Western-backed pipeline and tighten its grip on European energy markets………Full Article: Source