From Gulf-daily-news.com: A UAE council that advises the country’s rulers approved a bill yesterday to allow the government to guarantee debt instruments issued by local banks in a bid to boost the bond market.

But the council did not approve a bill to set up the Emirates Development Bank, the state news agency WAM said………Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: The Federal National Council yesterday postponed the creation of the Emirates Development Bank (EDB) amid concerns over the law that would govern it.

The new financial institution was announced in November as a proposed tie-up among the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Industrial Bank (EIB) and Emirates Real Estate Bank, along with Amlak and Tamweel, two large Dubai-based Islamic mortgage firms………Full Article: Source

From Maktoob.com: The United Arab Emirates Federal National Council, the consultative body advising the government, Tuesday failed to agree on a law governing the newly-created Emirates Development Bank, after members questioned the reasons behind the merger of the two smaller banks and the new state-backed bank’s role.

Thirteen out of 31 council members present at the meeting - the council’s last before it adjourns for the summer - voted to review the law again from scratch at another meeting………Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Even in a new country such as the UAE, some buildings have a history and legacy all of their own. The Bur Dubai branch of HSBC, nestling creekside just where Dubai’s waterway takes its final turn to the Gulf, has already played a big part in the emirate’s development.
Now it is heralding another significant shift in its business life………Full Article: Source

From Thelawyer.com: Lovells and Norton Rose have won lead roles advising the Government of Bahrain on the creation and listing of a $750m (£457.96m) ­sovereign sukuk.

Norton Rose Dubai ­partner Karl Rogers advised Bahrain. The sovereign bond will list on the ­London Stock Exchange………Full Article: Source

From Theedgemalaysia.com: Malaysia’s Islamic finance sector is still at a nascent stage, despite the country having developed as an Islamic finance hub, industry players said.

“The industry is still at a pretty nascent stage, for example as far as getting infrastructure for human capital training, and commonality in rules, and these will take some time,” Aberdeen Asset Management Malaysia Sdn Bhd managing director Gerald Ambrose said………Full Article: Source

From Globalarabnetwork.com: Dr. Yazid AbdulRahman Al Ohaly, Chairman of SABB Takaful, welcomed the decision by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) to approve its application to increase the company’s capital through a rights issue.
Commenting on the decision, Dr. Al Ohaly said: ‘We thank the CMA for their approval to proceed with a rights issue………Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The chief economist of SABB bank, HSBC’s Saudi affiliate, has quit and will join Calyon’s Saudi affiliate Banque Saudi Fransi, two banking sources said.

John Sfakianakis has been with SABB for about three years in charge of macroeconomic analysis of Saudi Arabia………Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: What is going on at Ajman Bank? The last couple of months have seen the emirate’s bank shed a number of top level staff, including the CEO and nearly half a dozen department heads. Chief Executive Yousif Khalaf was replaced in early May by Ali E. AlShaqoosh Al Mueen as its new Acting CEO.
Previous to his role at Ajman Bank, Al Mueen did two years at Standard Chartered Bank, 12 years at Citibank and initial two years First Gulf Bank………Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Dubai-based lender Emirates NBD on Tuesday said it raised 4 billion dirhams ($1.09 billion) by issuing debt securities to the bank’s majority shareholder, the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD).

The Gulf region’s largest bank by assets said the 4 billion dirhams in debt securities will lift its tier 1 ratio - a measure to assess a bank’s financial strength - to more than 11 percent………Full Article: Source

From Abc.az: A leasing company founded by Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) has announced the beginning of its work on Islamic principles in Azerbaijan.

Company’s general director Jeyhun Nagiyev says that registered as Azerbaijan Leasing Company they will operate under trademark Ansar Leasing………Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: Dubai Islamic Bank’s (DIB) decision to offer property mortgages of up to 90 per cent of value may add more risk to its real estate portfolio, analysts said.

DIB this month announced 90 per cent loan-to-value (LTV) financing for properties across the UAE. ……..Full Article: Source

From Sharecast.com: Shariah Capital, which creates Islamically compliant financial products, saw net losses narrow for the year as it generated its first year of fee income.

During the twelve months, net losses came in at $2.9m compared to a loss of $3.4m in the same period in 2007. It generated $330,300 of revenue from the Al Safi Trust, a Shariah-compliant platform created with Barclays Capital………Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Fitch Ratings on Monday affirmed Commercial Bank of Kuwait’s (CBK’s) long-term issuer default rating (IDR) at ‘A+’ with stable outlook.

At the same time, its individual rating has been downgraded to ‘C/D’ from ‘C’. Fitch has also affirmed CBK’s short-term IDR at ‘F1′, its support at ‘1′ and support rating floor at ‘A+’………Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: Investment bank VTB Capital sees the region as one of the important capital pools in the world.
Herbert Moos, Chief Executive Officer of VTB Capital, says: “The changed world is no longer dominated by the Western markets and has moved to become dependent on a number of very important capital pools, one of them is Asia, another is the Middle East.” Owned by Russia’s VTB Group, it now has a presence in Dubai………Full Article: Source

From Mysolutioninfo.com: Syria International Islamic Bank has launched new Islamic banking products aimed at the various customer segments. With this launch, SIIB will become the first bank in Syria to offer an innovative range of Sharia-compliant banking services.

For the initial launch, SIIB has introduced four new products: Ijara, Musharaka Moutanakissa (Diminishing Musharaka), Qard Al Hassan and manufacturing contracts (Istisna)………Full Article: Source

From Dailytimes.com.pk: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced on Tuesday that development funds allocated to each member of the National Assembly had been doubled from Rs 10 million to Rs 20 million.

The prime minister made the announcement in the Lower House on the last day of the budget session. Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi later prorogued the House sine die………Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Al Hilal Bank, an Islamic Bank based in Abu Dhabi has announced the launch of Al Wataniya Development Fund in partnership with Abu Dhabi Investment House aimed at tapping the huge potential of Abu Dhabi real estate sector.
This is a first of a series of investment products to be launched by the bank to capitalize on the opportunities available locally and across the globe ……..Full Article: Source

From Allafrica.com: Lotus Capital Limited has announced the listing of its Islamic Halal Investment Fund on the Daily Official List of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The fund was listed on the Memorandum Quotation segment of the official list………Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The GCC states saw a marked increase in investor confidence during June with the UAE leading the region, according to a new study.

The GCC Investor Sentiment Report issued by Shuaa Capital, a leading financial services institution, said the UAE index witnessed the highest increase in investor confidence, rising by 16.8 points from 107.0 points to 123.8 points month on month………Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Arab Bank Plc said loans given to Saudi Arabia’s Saad and Algosaibi groups, which plan to restructure debt, shouldn’t affect the financial position of Jordan’s biggest lender as they are backed by guarantees.

The loans are backed by personal and institutional guarantees and mortgaged shares, Arab Bank said in an e-mailed statement from Amman yesterday. The bank extended the long-term loans because Saad and Algosaibi have more than $40 billion (Dh146.9 billion) in assets, it added………Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Ziad Makkawi, Chief Executive Officer and founder of leading asset management company Algebra Capital Limited (Algebra), is optimistic that the worst of the impact of the global credit crisis on emerging and regional market economies has passed already.
According to Makkawi, the persisting global credit crisis is the single most dangerous impediment today to a global recovery………Full Article: Source