From Maktoob.com: The Islamic finance industry is expected to more than quadruple in value within a decade from its current size of between $800 billion and $1 trillion, as it captures the savings of half of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims, a new study predicted on Monday.

The industry, which offers Shariah-compliant financial services, is expected to grow 15-20 percent annually to more than $4 trillion in invested funds in about 8-10 years, Praesidium, a consulting company, and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), said in a report…….Full Article: Source

From Abc.az: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of Islamic Development Bank, is ready to expand operations for development of world trade.

ITFC CEO Waleed Al Wohaib says that the IDB Group is scaling-up its operations to assist Organization of Islamic Co-operation member countries by an additional US$2.5 bn to increase its annual growth rate from 15% to 30% over the period 2009-2011…….Full Article: Source

From Forbes: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will most likely delay a $500 million Islamic bond issue until early September, its treasurer said on Monday.

‘The bank has not taken a decision yet but will most likely postpone the issuance until the first week of September as legal documents are not yet complete and due to the impending summer vacations,’ Mohammad Tariq told Reuters…….Full Article: Source

From Forbes: Malaysia’s central bank said on Monday it will issue 500 million ringgit ($141 million) of three-month murabaha bills on July 28.

Under a murabaha deal, an Islamic bank buys an asset from a third party and sells it to its customer at cost plus profit. This allows the bank to extend financing without charging interest, which is forbidden by Islamic law…….Full Article: Source

From Saudigazette.com.sa: Though mainstream banking has been recognized as the malefactor of great wealth that developed hideous credit policies and took insane risks wrecking economies and hurting millions of families world over, and though Islamic banking has been recognized as the ideal solution by several jurisdictions, there is still no operational base for this institution.
Most of the existing Islamic financial institutions only deal with the administrative aspect of Islamic banking…….Full Article: Source

From Globalarabnetwork.com: Arab banks should play a bigger role in domestic development to accelerate the recovery of regional economies from the repercussions of the global financial turbulence, said the Arab World’s top banker.

Regional banks have the capability to play that part given their massive financial resources of nearly $2.2 trillion (Dh8trn) and their expanding role in world markets, said Adnan Ahmed Yusuf , Chairman of the Beirut-based Union of Arab Banks (UAB)…….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Bank loans in the UAE increased 0.5 per cent in June from May, while deposits slid 1.1 per cent, the central bank said on Monday.

Bank credit, excluding provisions for bad loans, increased to Dh1.01 trillion ($275 billion), after rising 0.6 per cent the month before, the bank said…….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has become the first regulator in the Middle East to set a minimum qualification bar for representatives of insurance companies to practice in the Kingdom.

The CBB resolution is aimed at strengthening the regulations for the insurance market in Bahrain and also enhance the public perception of the insurance market…….Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Many countries are Islamic, but some may be more Islamic than others. Now moves are afoot to rate nations according to how closely they adhere to the principles of Islam.

The Shariah Index Project is led by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, a New York-based cleric who heads the Cordoba Initiative, a multinational project to improve relations between Muslim countries and the West…….Full Article: Source

From Efinancialcareers-gulf.com: After a rather torrid start to 2009 for Bahraini Islamic investment bank Gulf Finance House, the appointment of a new chief executive with a reputation as a turnaround specialist could spark a change of fortunes. But is it really likely to result in a fresh expansion?

Ahmed Fahour has been unveiled as GFH’s new chief executive today and is due to move out to Bahrain from Australia next month…….Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: The Emirates Development Bank (EDB), a merged lender approved by the Cabinet last month, will begin operations next year with a focus on providing funding to the industrial sector and small businesses owned by Emiratis.

The bank will also help finance the construction of 40,000 houses in the capital under the Sheikh Zayed Housing programme, said Younis al Khoori, the under secretary at the Finance Ministry…….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Kuwait Finance House, the Gulf’s second largest Islamic lender, posted a 61 percent fall in second-quarter net profit on provisions as the global financial crisis hit banks across the country.

Net income in the first half of the year was 72 million dinars ($250 million), or 32 fils per share, KFH said in a statement without giving comparative figures. There are 1,000 fils in a dinar…….Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: Path Solutions announced that Al Jazeera Islamic Co, one of the leading Qatar-based firms specialised in the provision of Islamic consumer financial products to retail consumers and SMEs, has gone live with iMAL Enterprise Banking Solution.

According to Khursheed Hassan, CEO Al Jazeera Islamic Co, this implementation represents not only the relevance of iMAL to the local market, but also its ability to cater for Al Jazeera growth plans…….Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Global Mena Financial Assets Limited (GMFA), a private equity investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange and managed by the private equity arm of Global Investment House in Kuwait has announced a $167 million cash liquidity pool and claims it is comfortably positioned to benefit from high profile acquisition opportunities in the region.

The company said it holds investments in eight companies (two listed and six unlisted), with a total estimated market value of $257.3 million as of the end of last month…….Full Article: Source

From Globalarabnetwork.com: Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said today that it had assigned its ‘A’ credit rating to the upcoming sukuk being issued under the $2 billion certificates (sukuk al-ijara) issuance program from RAK Capital.

As per the original rating of the program in May 2008, we expect all issuances of certificates under this program to be rated ‘A’…….Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has appointed Sarvesh Sarup as Head of its Retail Banking Group. Sarvesh has taken on the role of overseeing all the retail global banking activities and resources in addition to retail operations at all branches.
Sarvesh is tasked with implementing the bank’s retail expansion plans…….Full Article: Source

From Linexlegal.com: How does Takaful differ from conventional insurance? Has the takaful industry been affected by the global recession? What are the threats to the Takaful industry?
Can Takaful Operators purchase conventional reinsurance?……Full Article (Subscription Required): Source

With the global financial crisis raising doubts over the world´s conventional financial system, the banking industry in Indonesia stands to benefit from the global downturn and expects to continue rapid growth in the coming years.
The financial crisis is having no negative impact on the development of Islamic banking in the country…….Full Press Release: Source

Islamic Finance and Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) are receiving considerable attention in the financial press. Islamic Finance is a banking system and investment approach that adheres to the principles of Islamic law (sharia).

Most notably this includes the sharing of profit and loss, prohibition against investing in certain types of businesses and charging a fee for lending money. In the last decade Islamic Finance has exceeded 10% annual growth…….Full Press Release: Source

From Albawaba.com: The Dubai International Financial Centre Authority today announced the release of the updated version of its ‘Guide to Islamic Finance in or from the DIFC’.

Apart from incorporating the new landmarks in the evolution of its model Islamic insurance regulatory framework and operating practises, the latest publication also takes into account the changing overall scenario as a result of the ongoing financial crisis that is gripping the world…….Full Article: Source