From Zawya.com: The first Islamic financial services mission of the UAE to Australia ended successfully and the Dubai Export Development Corporation (EDC) is expecting new business opportunities for the Islamic finance sector as a result of the trade mission.

The delegates sought to encourage changes in Australia’s federal taxation which will allow Islamic financial products to be treated at par with conventional financial products…….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The United Arab Emirates central bank may buy into the second tranche of Dubai’s $20 billion bond programme after buying the first tranche earlier this year, its governor was quoted as saying.

Sultan Nasser Al-Suweidi also said the UAE economy may contract in 2009, according to news agency Bloomberg…….Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: Allen & Overy LLP and its affiliated office in Riyadh, Abdulaziz AlGasim Law Firm, have advised Saudi Electricity Company Saudi Electricity Company ( SEC SEC ) on the issuance of a SAR7 billion (USD1.87 billion) sukuk, the largest sukuk issue globally to date in 2009 and the first public issuance of 2009 in Saudi Arabia.
This is the largest sukuk issue globally this year, and it is unsurprising that it has come from Saudi Arabia…….Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: Gulf corporate profits are expected to recede in the second quarter of 2009 and real estate, banks and petrochemicals will be the main victims.

For the whole year, listed firms in three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states – the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain – will record positive growth in their earnings…….Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: Kuwaiti Islamic firm Investment Dar has filed a court case against the country’s central bank for not approving its 2008 financial data, the company’s legal advisor said in a statement.

“[Dar] has filed a case requesting that the central bank be obliged to approve the company’s financial data for 2008,” Yousef Al Harbash said in a statement yesterday…….Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: The Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the world’s fourth largest Islamic bank in terms of assets, reported an impressive QR812.6m net profits for the first half (H1) of this year, braving all odds posed by the global financial crisis.

The H1 profits represent 32 percent increase over the first quarter of 2009. The bank achieved robust results through an increase in revenues from its operational activities and aggressive expansion of its non-operational income sources…….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Bank Muscat SAOG reported on Wednesday a 62 per cent fall in second-quarter net profit, according to Reuters calculations, partly because of provisions against potential losses at two Saudi conglomerates.

Oman’s largest bank by market value said it took 40.2 million Oman rials ($104.4 million) in provisions in the second quarter and part of that was for its ‘exposures to two large business groups in Saudi Arabia, the Al Gosaibi and the Saad Group’…….Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) made an operating profit of BD16 million ($42.5m) in the first half of the year.

This underlines the continuous growth of the bank in spite of the numerous difficulties faced by the regional markets that were negatively affected by the current global financial crisis, according to chairman Khalid Abdulla Al Bassam…….Full Article: Source

From Maktoob.com: Bahrain-based Islamic investment house Capital Management House (CMH) is leading a consortium taking a 15 percent equity stake in the Al Dur power project, an executive said on Wednesday.

“On the equity side, CMH and the consortium we’re involved in are acquiring a 15 pct stake in the project,” Khalid Mohamed Najibi, managing director at CMH, told the news agency Reuters, adding that the project’s equity amounted to almost $600 million…….Full Article: Source

From Euromoney.com: Running a bank in Qatar appears to be getting easier all the time. The local government’s latest bailout plan for its financial sector will involve the state clearing up to $4.1 billion of troubled real estate loans and investment from lenders’ balance sheets.

Details have been sparse – for example, about who will manage the assets. With the government lacking institutional capacity to collect repayments, the job might go back to the banks – potentially allowing lenders to reap fees for this…….Full Article: Source

From Kuwaittimes.net: KAMCO (KIPCO Asset Management Company KSC) - a premier asset management and financial services company in Kuwait - is committed to realize returns on investment for its institutional and individual investors through its products and services.
The KAMCO Energy Services Fund, which is a Sharia compliant Fund was launched in 2007 and aims to optimize value through a conservative yet opportunistic approach. The Fund is benchmarked against the MSCI All Country World Energy Equipment Index and the ML Renewable Index…….Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) yesterday appointed Tan Sri Dr Hadenan A. Jalil, Datuk Seri Ismail Shahudin and Datuk Dr Tan Tat Wai independent directors.

In a statement, Maybank also said Mohd Hashir Abdullah and Tan Sri Chua Hock Chin would step down as directors effective yesterday…….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Non-GCC investors were net buyers on ADX in the first half of 2009 announced Tom Healy, chief executive of Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

Healy said that the ADX Index, market capitalisation and volumes were all up in the first half of 2009, influenced by an appreciation for the positive long-term economic outlook for Abu Dhabi…….Full Article: Source

From Bernama: AmIslamic Bank’s second Islamic structured deposit, AmMomentum Select Islamic Negotiable Instrument of Deposit (NID-i), aims to perform in bull markets and protect investors against bear markets.

AmBank retail banking executive director, Mahdi Murad, said the NID-i was a highly innovative rule-based asset allocation strategy that used momentum to decide how to invest in a portfolio of multiple assets…….Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: Etiqa Takaful Bhd has won the Best Banca Takaful award at the International Takaful Award 2009 held in conjunction with the Third International Takaful Summit 2009 in London recently.

Etiqa Takaful was the only Malaysian takaful company to win in the global 17-category event, it said in a statement…….Full Article: Source

From Kuwaittimes.net: The economy of the United Arab Emirates is likely to contract 1 percent this year, led by a decline in its oil sector as it implements OPEC production cuts, Samba Financial Group said.
Economic growth in the Gulf Arab oil exporter would likely recover to nearly 3 percent in 2010 as global conditions improve and oil production recovers, the Saudi-based bank said in a research note…….Full Article: Source