From Livenews.com.au: Muslims will soon have access to special interest free loans from the National Australian Bank. NAB says it will offer the Muslim-friendly loans of up to a thousand dollars to comply with Sharia law.

Sharia law forbids usury, or the making of profits by charging interest………Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The United Arab Emirates plans to issue its first sovereign bond to fund infrastructure and other spending, following issues by Abu Dhabi and Dubai, a senior finance ministry official said on Sunday.

“A law will come out soon and it will specify where the debt must be spent. One (area)… is infrastructure,” Younis Al-Khoori, director general at the ministry of finance told Reuters………Full Article: Source

From Khaleejtimes.com: The global financial crisis and its ongoing consequences have affected all asset classes across the world; sukuk are no exception. Currently, the sukuk market is valued at about $73.50 billion spread out across 83 issues, with the UAE dominating with a 69 per cent share.

While $33.58 billion of sukuk are coming up for maturity during the next three years, Ernst & Young estimates that sukuk worth $27.5 billionn will be issued in 2009 with growth likely to be driven by demand for credit across infrastructure projects in the GCC………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Saudi Electricity Company, the Gulf’s largest utility by market value, yesterday began a roadshow for its second Islamic bond issue which bankers expect will raise up to seven billion Saudi riyals ($1.87bn).

Bourse regulator the Capital Market Authority (CMA) said last week it had approved the issuance of the sukuk over the June 13-28 period. ……..Full Article: Source

From Reuters: The trustee of a $650 million Islamic bond, or sukuk, issued by Saudi’s Saad group said on Sunday it had requested clarity from the troubled group over the bond’s status.

Citicorp Trustee Company Ltd said in a note to holders of the Golden Belt 1 Sukuk Company, a special purpose vehicle registered in Bahrain, that it had requested Saad to provide it with funds to secure against liabilities………Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: When the share price of Britain’s biggest home builder, Berkeley Group Holdings, started falling last Tuesday, stock watchers may have guessed it was yet another round of bad housing news moving the market.

But by the end of the day it emerged the real cause for the slide lay thousands of kilometres away in Saudi Arabia, where Saad Group, a huge conglomerate run by the Saudi billionaire Maan al Sanea, had just instructed Citigroup to sell 16.1 million of Berkeley’s shares………Full Article: Source

From Menafn.com: The Capital Market Authority (CMA) yesterday launched the bond and securities market as leading stocks including banks, financial services, industries and petrochemicals reacted positively to the move by the regulator’s move.

The new market yesterday witnessed two major deals worth more than SR1.1 billion ($269 million) with the first deal involving sukuk (Islamic bond) of SABIC as 20,000 sukuks were sold for SR202 million at the rate of SR10,100 per sukuk………Full Article: Source

From Pakobserver.net: The Islamic finance industry has been relatively, although not completely, immune to the effects of US subprime problems, the ensuing credit crisis and global economic downturn.

“I have not found any Islamic bank that has lost money by exposure to toxic assets - because they were forbidden,” says Humayon Dar, chief executive of BMB Islamic, one of the biggest managers of alternative investments for Muslims. Indonesia easily raised $650 million (Dh2,386 million) recently with the first global dollar-denominated sukuk of the year………Full Article: Source

From Dawn.com: Pre-empting possible delays in external flows, Pakistan has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $4 billion stand-by loan to finance the yawning budget gap in the year 2009-10 in case multilateral donors fail to release the pledged amount to Islamabad.

‘This facility is insurance, which can be used in case the assistance from the multilateral donors or friendly countries delayed or does not arrive,’ Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin told newsmen in the post-budget press conference here on Sunday………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: A financial expert has called for abolishing the current paper money system and returning to gold currencies instead, saying it was the only way out of the current financial crisis.
Dr Mohamed Syafii Antonio, a member of the Islamic Banking Committee at the Central Bank of Indonesia, said the current paper money system had opened the door for the fraudulent acts that have brought down giant financial institutions on Wall Street………Full Article: Source

From Menafn.com: Putting away some money regularly is an ideal way to build up your savings for a rainy day, but sometimes it’s difficult to keep that commitment wouldn’t you say?

If keeping cash in banks has you wondering whether the interest you are being paid is decent enough then one possible solution may be to look into National bonds………Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: Indonesia is considering bigger sukuk sales this year as the world’s largest Muslim nation seeks to develop its fledging Islamic markets and plug its budget deficit, a senior Finance Ministry official said.

Dahlan Siamat, the ministry’s director in charge of Islamic finance, declined to give figures, but said the bigger than previously expected issue of the Islamic bonds followed recent upward revision in overall government debt targets for 2009………Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Kuwait’s Global Investment House said its bonds holders have agreed to extend by six months the maturity of 20 million dinars ($69.44 million) worth of bonds.

The bonds’ maturity date will be extended to December 23, Global said in a statement, after it held a meeting with its bond holders on Sunday………Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: The International Islamic Rating Agency (IIRA), headquartered in Bahrain and set up two years ago by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), has warned in its latest research report titled “Liquidity Assessment of Islamic Banks” that “Islamic banks face challenges from declining liquidity in the markets”.

This is partly reflected by the fact that many Islamic banks became net borrowers from the interbank market during 2008 from net providers of funds in 2007 indicating increased liquidity needs. ……..Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Kazakhstan expects three or four Islamic banks to set up operations in the former Soviet republic this year, central bank head Grigory Marchenko said on Friday.

The mainly Muslim nation passed legislation in February allowing Islamic banking — which operates under the principles of Islamic law………Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: National Bank of Kuwait SAK, the emirate’s biggest lender, agreed to buy Commercial Bank of Kuwait’s stake in Islamic lender Boubyan Bank KSC for about 121 million dinars ($422 million).

Commercial Bank, the country’s second-biggest publicly traded lender, will sell 220,631,095 shares of Boubyan at 550 fils each, National Bank and Commercial Bank said in a joint statement today. The purchase will give National Bank about 19 percent of Boubyan………Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Indonesian Islamic lender PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Syariah (BRI Syariah) expects its assets to double to 3 trillion rupiah ($297.6 million) by the end of the year, the bank’s top official told Reuters.

Indonesia is seen as a prime market for Islamic finance with around 85 percent of its population of 226 million people following Islam, although growth has been slow………Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Shariah-compliant Ajman Bank has introduced a new offer in partnership with Al-Futtaim Motors that gives potential Lexus buyers the option to place a 15% down payment on new purchases with a three year financing agreement at a zero percent profit rate.
The offer is valid on purchases made up to July 1 2009, the bank said………Full Article: Source

From Arabianmoney.net: Emaar Properties has confirmed its status as the Middle East’s leading property developer in signing a joint venture to build the world’s tallest tower in Jeddah with Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, acting on behalf of the Jeddah Economic Company.

The Dubai company is to supervise the construction of the Jeddah Kingdom City and Kingdom Tower, set to soar over 1,000 metres. Emaar was selected by Kingdom Holding from five other international developers for its previous experience in the development of mega projects and local knowledge. ……..Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: The Ministry of Finance and the Islamic Finance Company (IFC) signed a mutual collaboration agreement yesterday morning.
The event took place in the building of the Ministry of Finance in the Capital Abu Dhabi………Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: AXA, the no.1 international general insurer in the GCC, has partnered with one of the world’s largest Takaful and Re-Takaful Group, SALAMA - Islamic Arab Insurance Company to offer Group Life Solutions to AXA’s clients in the UAE.
Combined with AXA’s Group Health policy, the Group Life product allows UAE corporate clients to give a comprehensive Employee Benefits package to their staff………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali yesterday laid the foundation stone for North Africa’s first offshore financial centre.
Situated in Tunis Bay, the $3 billion Tunis Financial Harbour (TFH) project is the brainchild of Gulf Finance House (GFH) and will play host to some of the world’s leading names in finance, advisory and support services at a strategic crossroads between the European, North African and Middle Eastern markets………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Al Salam Bank-Bahrain yesterday announced an investment in a prime real estate office building in London.

The seven-storey 200,000 plus square feet Milton Gate building was acquired in an off-the-market transaction in partnership with the privately owned investment banking and private equity group Evans Randall………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com/: Standard Chartered is studying the prospects of offering Shariah-based banking products in Qatar.
Standard Chartered chief executive officer (Qatar & North Africa) Tom Aaker said the bank believed there was an opportunity for Islamic banking in the country. Standard Chartered cannot ignore Islamic banking if it maintains the same pace of growth………Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Standard Chartered Bank has been offering Islamic financial services to clients for over two decades. Clients have included many established families in the Middle East, South and East Asia, including the family of former Malaysian prime minister, Abdullah Badawi.
After some initial uncertainties relating to the development of Standard Chartered Bank’s global Islamic business, the bank has now settled into offering one of the more proactive Islamic banking value propositions especially in the Middle East and in Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia, where it has a stand-alone Islamic banking license………Full Article: Source

From Khaleejtimes.com: ADCB Meethaq, the Islamic Banking Department of the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, or ADCB, has launched the first of its kind Yaqeen Personal Finance, under the concept of Bai Al Salam, which offers customers cash finance in a fully Shariah compliant way.

Bai Al Salam is a sale contract where the bank’s customer (seller) undertakes to supply some specific goods to the Abu Dhabi Commercial Islamic Finance Company, or ADCIF, which is financier/ buyer at a future date, in exchange for an advance price fully paid at spot………Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the largest Islamic bank in the UAE, announced that it is offering auto finance at profit rates starting from just 4.50 per cent p.a. Al Islami Auto Finance is available for up to 72 months, with a minimum monthly salary requirement of AED 3,000.
No down payment or salary transfer is required to avail of this offer, which covers both new and pre-owned vehicles………Full Article:

From Ameinfo.com: Gulf Finance House (GFH) won the ‘Best Islamic Finance House’ at the Banker Middle East Industry Awards 2009 in a ceremony held at The Gulf Hotel, Manama.
The Award further underlines GFH’s position as the leading and innovative Islamic investment bank of the region………Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: Doha Bank, one of the largest private commercial bank in the State of Qatar, has recently been awarded the “Best Commercial Bank in the Middle East 2009” by the prestigious Banker Middle East Awards 2009 for Excellence during a glittering ceremony held in Bahrain on June 10, 2009.

The ceremony was attended by H. E. Mr. Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain and other government officials, academicians, regulators, dignitaries and senior bankers across the Middle East region and the globe. Doha Bank was the only bank from Qatar to get an award at the function………Full Article: Source

From Telegraph: Olivant, the investment firm set up by former Abbey chief executive Luqman Arnold, has taken a £2.3m hit after being forced to write down its stake in a Middle East-focused asset manager.
Olivant Investments has written down the entire value of its 30pc stake in Amiri Capital, a sharia-compliant asset management group, according to documents filed at Companies House………Full Article: Source