From Aawsat.com: The sukuk market is one of the sectors in the Islamic banking industry to be most affected by the global financial crisis. This crisis has resulted in a reversal of the 73 percent growth witnessed in 2007, and there have been losses of 65 percent in 2008 compared to the same figures in 2007.

This is due to a number of factors including; the state of panic that gripped the financial industry worldwide as a result of the global financial crisis and the resulting market troubles, the bankruptcy of a number of the world’s largest and most important finance houses which made it impossible to predict the limits and implications of the crisis…….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank will set up a $500 million sharia fund to help plug a gap in infrastructure needs in Asian economies, ADB said on Tuesday.

The fund, which would be Asia’s first major multi-country sharia infrastructure fund, would invest in the 12 countries that are borrowing members of both banks including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan and Uzbekistan…….Full Article: Source

From Ciol.com: In South Africa, Albaraka Bank is replacing core banking system with new equation Islamic Banking and Branch Automation System as the former reaches end of life cycle.
The multi-million Rand IT solution is stated to be in line with the bank’s holding company’s strategic direction…….Full Article: Source

From Ittefaq.com: Korea is a relatively latecomer to Islamic finance in East Asia. But following the stated ambitions of neighboring countries such as Hong Kong and Singapore that are trying to establish themselves as international Islamic capital market hubs, Seoul is similarly trying to promote Korea as the same.

Kim Jong Chang, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service of Korea, the financial services regulator, believes that Islamic finance is a good innovation in the global financial market and stresses that the Korean government is committed to facilitating it in Korea……..Full Article: Source

From Bernama: Malaysia is willing to work closely with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and its member countries to enhance skills in Islamic Finance through its two established bodies; International Center for Islamic Finance and International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance.

In making the offer, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said these institutions offered the platform for greater engagement amongst practitioners, scholars, regulators and academicians through research……..Full Article: Source

From Digitaljournal.com: In a world now in financial crisis, thought to be brought about by banking problems, a Russian writer states the world may have been better off if it had followed an Islamic model.
But is that true and what might Islam teach the West about money?…….Full Article: Source

A.T. Kearney, one of the world’s leading management consulting firms in the financial industry, predicts a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the GCC banking industry.

A recent A.T. Kearney study examining GCC banks revealed unique opportunities resulting from changing conditions in the global and regional financial markets…….Full Press Release: Source

From Property-report.com: The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has joined with global index provider FTSE Group to launch a new market benchmark aimed at attracting Muslim investors to Thailand.

The FTSE SET Shariah Index will allow benchmarking for a wide range of Islamic products including ETFs, funds and other index-linked products, and is open to both domestic and international investors…….Full Article: Source

From Bernama: Bursa Malaysia Bhd announced Tuesday the establishment of a new subsidiary, BMIS Sdn Bhd, to house the operations and business activities of the Islamic capital market for the exchange.

The establishment of a new subsidiary, which is a Syariah-compliant company, is focused on efforts to develop and promote the Malaysian Islamic capital market via progressive products and infrastructure…….Full Article: Source

From Bernama: The Minggu Saham Amanah 2009 (MSAM 09) in Johor Baharu in April and the Program Bersama PNB organised by Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) in Kuching in May, offered space and ample opportunities for companies as well as banking and financial institutions to reach out to their target groups.

Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd (Takaful IKHLAS), a company offering products and Syariah-based financial protection services for one, made maximum use of the opportunity and platform to implement its corporate social responsibility (CSR)…….Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd’s new fund, CIMB Islamic Greater China Equity Fund, will tap high-growth sectors in China which will benefit from the economic powerhouse’s stimulus package.

Its chief executive officer, J. Campbell Tupling, said as investors are keen to invest in China for potential higher gains, the company wants to offer the opportunity for a different type of investment. ……Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: CIMB Bank Bhd, Malaysia’s second-largest bank, won approval for a RM5b (US$1.4 billion) bond sale.

CIMB, owned by Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd, won approval from Malaysia’s Securities Commission for a so-called tier 2 bond and Islamic note program with a combined value of RM billion, or the equivalent in foreign currency, it said in a statement today…….Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Kuwait’s Global Investment House plans to sell its stake in Bahrain-based Islamic lender Al Salam Bank, offloading assets following a debt default earlier this year.

The bank said in regulatory filings yesterday it aimed to sell the 14.1 per cent stake in Al Salam by June 9 and would book profits in the second quarter…….Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Thomas Weisel Asset Management (TWAM) has teamed-up with IdealRatings, a provider of Shari’ah-compliant and socially responsible investment services that provide transparency to portfolio managers to invest in Shari’ah-compliant instruments.
The alliance, says TWAM, will create funds and separately managed accounts to invest in small and mid-cap US companies while reflecting each client’s individual portfolio principals of Shari’ah compliance…….Full Article: Source

From Thaipr.net: HSBC is to launch the HSBC Amanah Sukuk Fund to investors in the UAE. Managed by HSBC Global Asset Management, the fund aims to deliver a competitive income in addition to capital appreciation, from a select number of regional and international sukuk.
The HSBC Amanah Sukuk Fund provides investors with the income potential of a portfolio of sukuk within an HSBC mutual fund wrapper…….Full Article: Source

From Menareport.com: At the end of May 2009 TADAWUL All Share Index (TASI) closed at 5,893.34 points, gaining 267.83 points, say a growth of 4.67% compared to April 2009. On an YTD basis TASI registered a positive return of 22.70%.

In a statement by the bourse authorities it was said that total equity market capitalization at the end of May 2009 reached SR 1,130.97 billion (US$ 301.59 billion), growin by 6.89% over the previous month…….Full Article: Source

From Menareport.com: The Bahrain All Share Index ended May 2009 on the rise compared to April 2009, closing at 1,622.15, rising on a MoM basis by 1.64%. Market capitalization went up by 1.63% at the end of the month to reach approximately BD6.65bn (some US$17.6bn).

Advancers outnumbered the decliners by a margin of 13 to 10 and the prices of 26 companies remained unchanged…….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Foreign workers in the United Arab Emirates transfer more than $10 billion (Dh36.75billion) per annum to their home markets making UAE the second highest performer in the GCC in fund remittance, according to Money Transfer International (MTI), the global trade association.

MTI predicts that the GCC has the potential to drive growth in the remittance sector even though the global economy is in slow down…….Full Article: Source

From Maktoob.com: Abu Dhabi sold more than 11 percent of Barclays, making $2.5 billion from an investment that helped the British bank through the financial crisis and raising fears more may cash in on a recent rally in bank shares.

The Abu Dhabi government-owned International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) on Tuesday sold about 3.5 billion pounds worth of instruments that are due to convert into Barclays shares by the end of June…….Full Article: Source

From Tehrantimes.com: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has earmarked $150 million for five of Iran’s development projects, IRNA quoted deputy finance and economic affairs minister as saying on Tuesday.

Hamid Purmohammadi said that in the 4th annual meeting of the board of governors of the IDB, the bank approved to allocate $60 million for the construction of Kahir Dam in Sistan Balouchestan Province of Iran, and $60 million to four more development projects related to tire manufacturing and lead and zinc mines in the country……..Full Article: Source

From Brudirect.com: The Ministry of Finance yesterday announced the successful pricing of its 31st issuance of short-term Sukuk Al-ljarah securities.

According to a press release, the B$35 million bonds will have a rental rate of 0.30 per cent and will mature in 91 days on August 20, 2009……..Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Bahrain’s central bank said on Tuesday that Awal Bank, part of the Saudi-based privately held Saad Group, seeks a renegotiation of its debt, and said its issues are not related to the Bahraini banking sector overall.

“The issues connected with Awal Bank are a consequence of events in the wider Al Saad group and are unrelated to the wider Bahraini banking sector, which has otherwise continued to function normally,” the central bank said in a statement……..Full Article: Source