From Arabnews.com: The UK government remains committed to Islamic finance and will continue to work with other authorities and with industry to establish and maintain the UK as a global gateway to Islamic finance, said Sarah McCarthy-Fry, exchequer secretary to the UK Treasury in London last week.

McCarthy-Fry, who is the minister responsible for leading Islamic finance policy at the UK Treasury, was giving the keynote address at the inaugural session of the 2009 London Sukuk Summit held on July 2-3………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Islamic banks in the Gulf Arab region need to adopt a new business model and take on more customers to weather the economic downturn, Ernst & Young’s head of Islamic finance said.
Islamic banks, many of which are investment houses, have been heavily exposed to the real estate market, which saw prices start to plummet at the end of last year………Full Article: Source

From Euromoney.com: The Islamic finance industry is undergoing a big test as defaults and restructurings appear in the sukuk market for the first time.

Last month there was a default on a $650 million Islamic bond launched in 2007 by an offshore vehicle linked to Maan Al Sanea’s troubled Saudi group, Saad………Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Figures on the industry are scant but one estimate last year said there was US$500 billion (Dh1.83 trillion) in Islamic bank assets worldwide, a small portion of the global figure.
But Accenture, the global management consultancy, forecasts that household Islamic savings will amount to $24bn a year by 2020………Full Article: Source

From Reuters: State-owned Saudi Electricity will sell more Islamic bonds, or sukuk, to finance expansion of capacity, its chief executive said on Saturday.

“In the future there is a plan (to issue more sukuk) to fund projects,” Ali Saleh al-Barrak told reporters in the Saudi Red sea port of Jeddah. He gave no details………Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: Fitch Ratings has assigned Saudi Electricity Company’s SR7 billion (Dh6.8bn) sukuk issue a final ‘AA-’ rating.

The structure for the sukuk is similar to SEC’s 2007 SR5bn sukuk, which is also rated ‘AA-’. The transaction involves the transfer by SEC of sukuk assets to a custodian, Sukuk Electricity Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SEC………Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Given the predominance of Islam as the religion and being closer to Islam’s two holiest shrines, it was quite natural for GCC countries to embrace Islamic financing as an alternative to interest-based financing.

Although a late comer compared to Iran and Malaysia, the growth in the Islamic finance industry in the GCC over the past years has been impressive………Full Article: Source

From Reuters: CIMB Islamic, The world’s leading arranger of Islamic bonds, is poised to complete its 19-strong sukuk pipeline by year’s end, its Chief Executive, Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, said on Thursday.

Ghani told Reuters on the sidelines of the London 2009 Sukuk Summit that the string of deals involves several companies around the world. In March, Ghani said CIMB Islamic would raise $2.5 billion through its intended sukuk sales………Full Article: Source

From Arabiansupplychain.com: Ajman Free Zone Authority (AFZA) has secured financing with Ajman Bank to complete the third phase of its large-scale warehousing complex.

Valued at Dhs54 million, the agreement is a type of Islamic finance known as Ijarah and will be utilised to support the free zone’s continued growth as a storage and transportation hub………Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: The Abu-Dhabi based utility company National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed), which secured new two-year Dh750 million ($204.15 million) loan facility from the First Gulf Bank, said it would fully repay its $200 million (Dh734m) sukuk upon its maturity in July 2011, said its chief finance officer yesterday.

Steve Ridlington said the source of funding to repay the sukuk will be determined nearer the time……….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Muhammad Al-Jasser, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), who took over at the Saudi central bank earlier this year, won the “Outstanding Contribution by a Regulator to Islamic Financial Services” Award at the 2009 London Sukuk Summit Islamic Finance Awards, which was held last Thursday evening at the Radisson Hotel in London.

The awards, organized by ICG-Events, recognizes the achievements, progress and effort by individuals and institutions in the Islamic finance space. Altogether eight Saudi or Saudi-based institutions and individuals were recognized by the awards organizer………Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Ernst and Young was awarded the world’s ‘Best Takaful Advisory Firm’ at the International Takaful Awards ceremony held at the 3rd International Takaful Summit 2009 in London last week.
The event was organized under the auspices of the Middle East Business Forum - a consortium of institutions that work with governmental and regulatory bodies across the Middle East and Europe to promote development in the field of Islamic Finance. ……..Full Article: Source

From Bi-me.com: For the second consecutive year, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has been voted “Best Takaful Ratings Company” at the International Takaful Awards 2009.

The accolade, presented during an awards ceremony at The 3rd International Takaful Summit 2009 in London, acknowledges our commitment to supporting the development of the Islamic insurance industry………Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: IPO activity in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) declined by a staggering 87 per cent during the first half of 2009 compared to the corresponding period of 2008, data showed.

According to Zawya.com data, Mena markets collectively raised $1.21 billion (Dh4.44bn) in H1 2009, down from $9.3bn during the same period last year………Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Kuwait’s Global Investment House is expected to post “good results” in the second quarter due to an improvement in the financial markets, the company’s chief executive said in remarks published on Sunday.

Global, like other investment firms, has benefited from a recent rise in the Kuwaiti stock market, Badr al-Sumait said in an interview published in local newspaper al-Anbaa………Full Article: Source

From Sukuk.net: The Central Bank of Bahrain announces that the 9th issue of the $250m International Islamic Leasing Sukuk, which was issued on 30th June 2004 on behalf of the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has matured and been fully settled on 30th June 2009.

The CBB has recently launched a successful $750m Islamic Sukuk denominated in US dollar; the first sovereign Islamic Sukuk issued in the region in 2009………Full Article: Source

From Presstv.ir: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has agreed to allocate 91 million euros to help implement a project to carry drinking water to the central city of Qom.

The loan offered by the IDB is part of a 325-million-euro budget needed to carry out the water project, Iran’s Finance Ministry declared………Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) was named ‘Best Financial Centre’ at the second annual ‘International Takaful Awards’ ceremony held at the Jumeirah Carlton Towers in London recently.

The award was selected by a panel of industry practitioners, lawyers and journalists, who recognised the CBB for the strength and transparency of regulation that exists in Bahrain as well as the multitude of Takaful and Retakaful institutions that have chosen to base their operations in the country, said a CBB release………Full Article: Source

From Channelnewsasia.com: Experts said on Friday that Malaysia’s recent economic liberalisation measures are geared towards attracting investors from the Middle East as it aims to boost investment flows into the country.

Earlier this week, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak removed a rule which required initial public offerings to reserve 30 per cent of stock for Bumiputras or indigenous Malays………Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Bahrain- based Islamic investment bank Gulf Finance House (GFH) has dismissed as ‘erroneous and completely without foundation’ media reports about its engagement in merger talks with Kuwait’s First Investment Bank or any other bank.
‘Gulf Finance House would like to assure its shareholders, investors and clients that it has no plans to merge with any bank or financial institution and continues to operate as a standalone Islamic investment bank,’ it said………Full Article: Source

From Menareport.com: ‘Capinnova Investment Bank’ - the Shari’a compliant investment banking subsidiary of BBK will co-invest in a project valued at US$50 million in the retail sector.
Construction of this large commercial project has already begun and scheduled completion date is expected to be the second half of the year 2010. This will be the largest commercial mall in Bahrain’s Muharraq area which will be operated by one of the most successful GCC retailers………Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: The total reserves of Kuwait amounts to KD103 billion ($350 billion), Al-Qabas daily said, quoting government sources.
Of this reserve, KD55 billion has been allotted to state general reserve which is 6 percent less compared to last year, and KD48 billion has been allotted to the future generations reserve, showing a dip of 16 percent from last year. ……..Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: QNB Private, the private banking arm of QNB, announced the launch of an exclusive Private Service for QNB elite customers.
The service provides customers with the highest level of personalized concierge services while traveling in Europe. ……..Full Article: Source

From Arabianbusiness.com: Alwashem Economic Consulting Services, Kuwait, in co-ordination with the Malomaty company – Riyadh is organizing an Islamic Finance Seminar to be held from September 26 – 30, 2009 in Bali, Indonesia, at the Westin Resort and Convention Center.
The prime goals for the seminar are to raise awareness of the diverse global interests of members of the Islamic Finance industry and promote greater participation in international dialogue and exchange of information and, by doing so aim at strengthening the finance industry systems at the national levels and globally………Full Article: Source