From Reuters: A default on Islamic bonds by Kuwaiti firm Investment Dar is just the tip of the iceberg, with more failures expected as the weak global economy hits issuers, industry experts warned on Wednesday.

Unlike traditional banking, the $1 trillion Islamic finance industry has just begun to feel the chill of the global downturn, with practitioners and analysts trying to assess the extent of the fallout on the sector………Full Article: Source

From Thebanker.com: Issuer defaults and high exposure to falling Gulf real estate markets have cast doubt over the stability of Islamic capital markets, but a difficult year could help create a more established asset class in the future.
These defaults suggest that, behind the rhetoric on the stability of Islamic financing models, the reality is a young asset class that has grown rapidly in the unprecedented period of global economic boom since 2002………Full Article: Source

From Iimagazine.com: After a decade of growth that transformed Islamic finance from an obscure niche into a mainstream alternative, the industry has suffered its first major setback.
The market for sukuk, or Islamic bonds, tanked last year, as the global economic slowdown hit the Gulf region hard and forced governments to bail out many lenders, including Islamic financial institutions………Full Article: Source

From Reuters: The Islamic Development Bank could raise the size of a $500 million Islamic bond depending on market conditions, the latest in a flurry of sukuk issuances from the Gulf Arab region.

“The minimum amount for the sukuk is $500 million,” Mohammad Tariq, the bank’s treasurer told Reuters on Wednesday. “It may be upsized depending on market conditions … when people show interest we will see what rate will be good.”……..Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: The ongoing financial crisis followed by the Saad-Algosaiby multibillion-dollar crisis involving almost all the ‘who’s who’ in the region’s banking industry, are bound to force the banks to go slow on their lending for some time, said leading bankers.

Incidentally, the default crisis of the Saudi duo is exactly a decade after the billion-dollar Madhav Patel scam shook the GCC’s banking industry in 1999………Full Article: Source

From Aawsat.com: Saudi banks may have between $4 billion and $7 billion in lending exposure to troubled conglomerates Saad Group and Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Bros, according to an HSBC analyst report.

A recent sell-off in Saudi banks suggests the domestic bad debt exposure to Saad and Algosaibi is around $15 billion, but those assumptions are “too pessimistic”, HSBC analyst Aybek Islamov said in the note on Tuesday………Full Article: Source

From Reuters: There has not been any systemic risk arising in the global Islamic finance industry from problems due to Saudi Saad group’s debt restructuring, Malaysia’s central bank governor said on Wednesday.

“Right now we do not see it having systemic implications on the Islamic financial industry,” Zeti Akhtar Aziz said in response to a question during a conference about Saad and Al Gosaibi, another Saudi group also restructuring debts………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: International Islamic chief executive officer Abdulbasit A al-Shaibei has said the shift in focus to core business activities will help local banks’ earn stable returns in the medium term.
“In the last two years local banks have earned good income from investments. But this has dropped as a result of the global economic slowdown and may get reflected in their performance in the days ahead………Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Suriname is the only county in South America which is a member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission headed by Gamal El-Masry of the Western Hemisphere Department issued the following statement at the end of its discussions in Paramaribo:……..Full Article: Source

From Nationmultimedia.com: Global index provider FTSE International and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) have teamed up to create the FTSE SET Sharia Index (FSTSH) as a basis for index-linked products.
The FSTSH, which made its official debut on the SET on May 25, opens up the Thai capital market to investors looking for Islamic investment products. The index includes a wide range of products including exchange traded funds, funds and other index-linked products………Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) still plans to explore opportunities to expand its takaful business overseas despite the termination of an agreement with Jeddah-based Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) in April.

President and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said that in terms of its takaful business expansion, Maybank was looking at countries it was already present and also markets with high Muslim population………Full Article: Source

From Bernama: Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd aims to capture more than half of the takaful industry’s total asset market share within the next two years amid the current economic slowdown.

Group managing director, Datuk Mohamad Hassan Kamil, said the industry’s total assets amounted to between RM11 billion and RM12 billion while the company’s share currently was RM4.05 billion………Full Article: Source

From Maktoob.com: Qatar National Bank (QNB) on Wednesday posted a 12 percent rise in second-quarter net profit, beating forecasts, as higher income from its Islamic finance business outweighed an increase in provisions against bad loans.

QNB, the largest bank by market capitalisation in the Gulf state, said net profit for the quarter climbed to 1.056 billion riyals ($290 million) from 939 million riyals in the same period in 2008………Full Article: Source

From Bernama: The international integration of Islamic finance should be facilitated by the mutual recognition of financial standards and products across jurisdictions, said Bank Negara Governor, Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz on Wednesday.

“It is one of the most important factors in sustaining the internationalisation of that sector,” she said in her address at the Malaysia-United Kingdom (UK) Islamic Finance Forum held here………Full Article: Source

From Forexyard.com: Religion may be the bedrock of Islamic finance but influential sharia adviser Mohd Daud Bakar says the bottom line drives the industry.

“Commercial gains are very important,” said Daud, who is listed by consultants Funds@Work as among the world’s most active scholars, sitting on 22 sharia boards………Full Article: Source

From Bernama: CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd has increased the sizes of two of its Islamic funds, namely CIMB Islamic DALI Equity Growth Fund which now has 1.8 billion units and CIMB Islamic Money Market Fund which has 337.5 million units.

In a statement here Wednesday, the company said previously the fund sizes were 1.2 billion units and 225 million units respectively………Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: MENA equity markets retreated by 2.0% in June bringing down their gains to 12.6% in H1 2009, with the Lebanese market posting the best results with a gain of 21.4% after the Hariri coalition defeated the Hizbullah bloc in the June elections.
As for GCC markets, Oman was the only market to gain this month………Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), one of the region’s leading Islamic banks, confirmed today that it has arranged an Dhs200m Islamic finance facility for RAK Ceramics to finance its working capital requirements, fund projects to improve energy efficiency, production optimization and cost reduction initiatives.
The agreement was signed at Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) by Ibrahim Al Sane, Executive Vice President Corporate Banking Group in ADIB and Dr. Khater Massaad, CEO of RAK Ceramics………Full Article: Source

From Saudigazette.com.sa: In an effort to help national small and medium enterprises (SMEs) achieve their full potential, Ruwad Establishment has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mawarid Finance to provide these businesses with the necessary financial support.

The alliance aims to set up joint programs and mechanisms to develop the SME sector nationwide.
The signing ceremony was attended by Ahmed Mohammed Al Midfaa, chairman of Ruwad, who signed the cooperation agreement with Mohammed Al Neaimi, CEO of Mawarid Finance………Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Oman’s M2 money supply growth, an indicator of future inflation, slowed to an annual 10.5 per cent in May from 10.9 per cent in April, the Ministry of National Economy said on its website on Wednesday.

M1 money supply growth, a narrower measure that excludes longer-term deposits and money- market funds, rose to 4.5 per cent in May from 3.5 per cent in April, the ministry said………Full Article: Source