From Arabnews.com: As demand increases for financing in member countries impacted by the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is considering several options to raise financing as part of its resource mobilization strategy.
According to Mohammed Tariq, head of treasury at the IDB, the “zero risk Weighting assigned to the IDB under Basel II and EU Parliament directives and the AAA ratings by all three principal international credit rating agencies, means that the IDB is well-placed to attract strong investor demand for its credit.”……….Full Article: Source

From Saudigazette.com.sa: Dr. Waleed Al Wohaib, CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) headed a delegation of officials from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group at the 2nd Global Review of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Aid for Trade initiative held in Geneva on July 6-7, 2009.
It was rrganized to evaluate progress made since the First Global Review in 2007 with the key objectives of moving from commitment to implementation, mainstreaming trade in national and regional development strategies, sustaining trade flows during the global economic downturn, and assessing the effectiveness of Aid for Trade………..Full Article: Source

From Stuff.co.nz: Former National Australia Bank senior executive Ahmed Fahour is aiming to build the world’s first Islamic global investment bank following his appointment to Middle Eastern bank Gulf Finance House.

The Lebanese-born Australian will take charge of the Bahrain-based bank next month, looking to offer oil-rich Gulf states with investment opportunities ranging from infrastructure and specialist investment products that comply with Islamic rules………..Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Liquidity management and the lack of a global Islamic interbank money market are perhaps two of the biggest challenges for the future development of the global Islamic finance industry. These challenges apply both in Muslim and non-Muslim markets.

While regulators, industry organizations and market players have repeatedly stressed the urgent need for a global Islamic interbank market and a liquidity management scheme, the sector has not moved much forward in this respect, instead relying on tried and tested and potentially contentious commodity Murabaha contracts placed through the London Metal Exchange (LME)………..Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: First defaults of Sukuk are set to expose the vulnerabilities of Islamic finance, with most investors expected to have no better legal redress than conventional bondholders as underlying assets have not been truly transferred to them.

The current financial and economic crisis is a first for the $1 trillion Islamic finance industry, which over the past few years has been spoilt by cheap oil money, and legal provisions and protection clauses in Sukuk worth billions of dollars are being tested for the first time………..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Abu Dhabi’s Dolphin Energy will raise at least $750 million through a Eurobond it will launch at the end of an global road show on Wednesday, said a fund management source.

‘The bond will help replace some of the bank loan debt that the company has,’ said the fund manager, who attended a meeting about the potential issue on Friday………..Full Article: Source

From Khaleejtimes.com: The sheer scale, swiftness and trauma of the global tsunami has exposed the deep flaws in the banking systems, money markets, risk metrics regulatory regimes and governance protocols in the GCC.

Even though media and official cheerleaders predictably insisted that the Gulf was “immune” from the woes of Wall Street’s credit meltdown, the region was not spared a nightmare of corporate defaults, property and stock exchange crashes, bank funding crises, money market nervous breakdowns, economic recession, sovereign debt time bombs, regional contagion, a consumer credit shock and an exodus of both flight capital and expat populations………..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Doha Insurance is looking at writing risks across the region as Qatar’s third largest insurer scouts for opportunities in markets with growth potential.
Doha Insurance general manager Bassam Hussein said opportunities to quote and write risks in energy, engineering and marine portfolios still exist across the Middle East though the premium rates have dropped because of the global recession………..Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Jeff Singer, the head of NASDAQ Dubai, likes to compare the region’s stock exchanges with mid-19th century railway companies in North America’s frontier lands.
“Go back to the 1870s, when the railroad boom was in full swing. Different railroads were laying track literally 100 metres from each other………..Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: As the Qatari economy continues to remain stable despite the recessionary pressure mounting worldwide, business optimism improves further amid increasing expectation of a global economic recovery, stated a key study.

The downward pressure on selling prices will subside while the hydrocarbon sector will remain uncertain on recent oil price rally, as was revealed in the D&B Business Optimism Index (BOI) for Qatar for the Q3 2009 made by Dun & Bradstreet South Asia Middle East (D&B) in association with the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA)………..Full Article: Source

From Globalarabnetwork.com: Saudi companies have been less affected by the global financial crisis compared to their counterparts across the Gulf region, safeguarded by a remarkably strong and resilient Saudi economy, with steady growth rates driven by the conservative monetary policy which subsequently has helped companies maintain a solid financial standing.
In addition, a large number of Saudi companies, especially those in the banking and investment sectors, operate under the Sharia’a principals, which have effectively shielded them from the negative effects of the global financial downturn and have helped them maintain the needed capital and the right personnel………..Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: Malaysia’s recent economic liberation measures have boosted Saudi Arabia’s interest to enhance bilateral economic cooperation, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Saud had expressed the possibility of Saudi Arabia participating actively in Malaysia in the Islamic banking sector, and expand participation in the Islamic services and product manufacturing sectors, and raise its equity in the country as well………..Full Article: Source

From Maktoob.com: Saudi bank and petrochemical stocks tumbled on Sunday following sharp declines in second quarter profits, dragging Saudi Arabia’s index to its largest one-day fall for two weeks.

Most other Gulf Arab markets retreated as earnings from Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) soured sentiment across the region. SABIC fell 8.4 percent, its biggest single-day loss for 13 weeks, after posting a 76 percent drop in second-quarter profit………..Full Article: Source

From Asiaone.com: Maybank Singapore is launching its first retail Islamic term deposit - paying a return four times more than conventional fixed deposits.

For a limited period, the Term Deposit-i will pay 0.6 per cent, one per cent and 1.4 per cent for tenures of three, six and 12 months respectively………..Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: In recognition of its innovative Islamic solutions and quality of services to its customers, Bahrain Islamic Bank has won the Best Islamic Bank in Bahrain Award 2009 from the US Magazine Global Finance.
BIsB’s win of this major award comes in view of the deliberations of the Award’s panel of judges consisting of a number of editors and specialists in Islamic banking and finance………..Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: In a statement released by Yusuf Al Harbash, legal consultant to The Investment Dar, regarding the finalisation of the company’s financial statements for 2008, a press release says thus:

“Due particularly to the global economic crisis, many auditors delayed the completion of the financial statements of several investment companies for the financial year ending December 2008 so as to make sure that the assets of these companies were evaluated fully and accurately………..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: National Commercial Bank (NCB), Saudi Arabia’s largest bank by assets, reported second-quarter profit of 1.19 billion riyals ($317.3 million) on Sunday, down 37 percent from a year earlier.

State-owned NCB, which is slated for privatisation, made a net profit of about 2.24 billion riyals in the six months to June 30, it said in a statement. That is 39 percent lower than the same period in 2008………..Full Article: Source

From Kuwaittimes.net: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) expects to post a better profit in 2009 than last year despite a dive in the second quarter mainly on provisions and a fall in investments.

ABK has an exposure of less than $30 million to troubled Saudi Arabian conglomerate Saad Group and will go ahead with plans to raise its capital by 25 percent later this year, Deputy Chief General Manager Abdulla Alsumait told Reuters………..Full Article: Source

From Menareport.com: Trowers & Hamlins, the International law firm, has advised Capinnova Investment Bank, the Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank, on a $20million investment in a brand new retail construction project in Bahrain.
Capinnova Investment Bank is the Shari’a compliant arm of BBK (formerly known as Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait) and their investment has been structured according to Islamic principles, on the basis of istisna’a (construction finance) and an ijara forward lease………..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: The piling work contract for the construction of 20-storey Future Bank headquarters in Seef district has been awarded to a leading Bahraini firm.
Future Bank’s client representative Al Dahiya Construction and Real Estate awarded the contract to Keller Grundbau Bahrain………..Full Article: Source

From Kuna.net.kw: CEO of Kuwait Finance House (KFH) Mohammed Al-Omar welcomed Saturday the new competitors among Islamic banks and their traditional counterparts, and praised their role in boosting service levels and in the development of the banking industry in general.
In a press release, Al-Omar said that the establishment or acquisition of a bank served Islamic finance and reflected KFH’s success, while adding a new dimension to the Kuwaiti economy………..Full Article: Source