From Globalarabnetwork.com: Stocks deemed to comply with Islamic law delivered positive returns during the second quarter of 2009 according to Standard & Poor’s, the world’s leading index provider.

In the recently published S&P Shariah Report, the S&P Global BMI Shariah Index produced returns of 18.93% over the second quarter to June 30, 2009. This compares to the non-Shariah Global BMI Index, which returned 23.89% in the same period……..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Bahrain’s central bank issued a formal warning to Bahrain Islamic Bank for not disclosing its quarterly net loss in a press release this month, it said in a letter to the bank published on Tuesday.

The central bank said it had ordered the lender to reissue its July 15 earnings release — which disclosed six month operating profits but not its second quarter net loss — but Bahrain Islamic had failed to comply with the order……..Full Article: Source

From Moneyweb.co.za: Kagiso Asset Management (KAM) has recently launched a new Islamic equity fund to increase their unit trust offering to four funds.
The new fund, named the Kagiso Islamic Equity Fund, is managed using the same investment process as the award winning Kagiso Equity Alpha Fund……..Full Article: Source

From Seekingalpha.com: Less than a month after Javelin Exchange Traded Shares (JETS) launched the first Shari’ah compliant ETF in the U.S., UM Financial and Jovian Capital are reportedly teaming up to do so in Canada.
The proposed ETF would track the S&P/TSX 60 Shariah Index, a benchmark introduced by Standard & Poor’s just last week……..Full Article: Source

From Khaleejtimes.com: The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank, or IDB, is considering several options to raise funds as part of its resource mobilisation strategy in view of the rise in demand for financing in member countries impacted by the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

According to Mohammed Tariq, head of treasury at the IDB, the total funding requirement of the bank over the next 5 years, is currently estimated at $5 billion with the proceeds to be used primarily for project financing……..Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announces that the monthly issue of the short-term Islamic leasing bonds, Sukuk Al-Ijara, has been oversubscribed by 200%.
Subscriptions worth BD10m were received for the BD5m issue, which carries a maturity of 182 days……..Full Article: Source

From Globalarabnetwork.com: Having been left largely unaffected by the international credit crisis that proved so damaging for financial systems in the West, Saudi Arabian banks have maintained their stability and will now profit from the trickle-down effect of the large government-driven infrastructural development projects.

The downturn has certainly had an impact on the economy though - the government predicts growth will be less than 1% in 2009 - but overall the Kingdom has fared better than other economies in the region. The banks in particular have shown resilience……..Full Article: Source

From Kuwaittimes.net: Abu Dhabi’s First Gulf Bank second-quarter net profit fell 4.13 percent after it booked extra provisions against losses from the financial crisis that has hit banks across the Gulf Arab region.

“During the quarter, additional loan portfolio general provisions of 260 million dirhams were taken over and above the 220 million booked in the first quarter,” the bank said in a statement……..Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: A direct loan of Dh245 million (US$66.7m) by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) to the Saad Group, the troubled Saudi conglomerate, sheds light for the first time on an elusive side of Saad’s borrowings: its use of bank finance to make investments, many of which declined in value during the financial crisis.

ADIB lent the money to Saad in 2007 to finance an investment in Makhazen Industrial Investments, a warehousing company in Abu Dhabi that never started operations, according to a document obtained by The National and verified by sources familiar with the deal……..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Ahlibank is staying focused on expansion in Qatar, adding more branches and ATMs and launching new products and services.
Ahlibank chief executive Salah Murad said at least two more branches – one under “Al Hilal” Islamic banking, might be opened in Qatar before the year-end……..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Qatar’s Doha Bank said it has posted a second-quarter net profit of QR316.32 million ($86.8 million), up 3.6 per cent from the year-earlier period.

The company made a net profit of 646 million riyals in the first half of the year, compared with 579.3 million riyals a year earlier, the firm said in a statement on Qatar’s bourse website……..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Bank lending in Oman grew at its slowest rate of the year to 23.6 per cent in the first five months of 2009 as local banks continued to tighten up credit to the private sector, central bank data showed.

The combined credit extended by the local banks in the five-month period to May 2009, including loans to the government and public sector, rose to RO9.524 billion ($24.74 billion) from RO7.71 billion compared to the same period in 2008, the slowest growth since January this year……..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Commercialbank is managing its asset base to ensure diversity and quality and monitoring lending portfolio closely for better performance in the days ahead, Cb Group chief financial officer Nick Coleman said yesterday.
“Our non-performing loans remain at low levels overall but were higher in Q2 (at 1.46% than the first quarter) mainly due to the effect of the downturn on a small number of retail accounts,” Coleman said at the Cb investors’ meeting……..Full Article: Source

From Ptinews.com: A proposal to set up financial institutions based on the principles of Islamic banking to attract interest free deposits from Non Resident Keralites is being considered by the Kerala government, Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac said today.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function here,Isaac said the proposal was mooted by the industries department to attract investment to the state……..Full Article: Source

From Maktoob.com: Saudi Arabia’s SABB Takaful, said on Monday its net loss has increased by more than six folds during the second quarter of 2009 to 5.07 million Saudi riyals ($1.35 million) from 796,000 riyals ($211,773) a year earlier.

The company, which provides Islamic non-life insurance services, said its net loss for the first six months of 2009 doubled to 10.77 million riyals from 5.29 million riyals a year earlier……..Full Article: Source