From Khaleejtimes.com: Indonesia’s Islamic market is set to overtake Malaysia’s thanks to the growth in sharia-compliant lending, one of Indonesia’s top Muslim clerics said on Monday.

Indonesia, the world’s most-populous Muslim country, currently lags neighbouring Malaysia, the Islamic financial hub for the region, in terms of the market for sharia financial products, but that should change given stronger government support and demand in the domestic market, he said………..Full Article: Source

From Xinhua: Indonesia’s Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that Islamic economic system could tackle the global economy crisis because it was based on real transaction and could create prosperity and economic justice, the private news portal Bisnis.com reported on Monday.

“Islamic world should adopt its own economic system to reduce economic gap amidst ‘non-real transactions’ in the global trade,” he said in the opening speech at a seminar titled “the Islamic World and the Future of World Civilizations”, here………..Full Article: Source

Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced that Argentina, Colombia, Croatia, Lebanon, Mauritius, Nigeria, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Tunisia and Ukraine will be added to the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index universe.
This will increase the total number of countries in the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index universe to 68 from 57………..Full Press Release: Source

From Zawya.com: Building a brand is a complex and multi-faceted process. Even when a range of brand-building tasks are completed, it’s rare that one knows for sure which of them contributes the most to building a trusted and sustainable brand.
There are numerous pressures, including the urgency to launch and budget constraints. There is no magic formula for branding an Islamic bank, but this is our story and I hope there are lessons in what we did or did not do and even in the things we wished we’d done better………..Full Article: Source

From Efinancialnews.com: A London-based Islamic bank has launched what it claims is the first sharia-compliant cash fund in Europe, as the market for Islamic financial products kicks off again following a hiatus during the financial crisis.……….Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Emirates NBD, the UAE’s largest bank by assets, saw second-quarter net profit fall 41 per cent as it booked more bad loan provisions.

Net income fell to Dh852.1 million dirhams (US$232 million) from Dh1.45 billion a year earlier, according to a statement to the Dubai Financial Market. The bank booked Dh1.6 billion in provisions for the first half of the year………..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Saudi and Gulf banks may increase provisions on troubled Saudi groups towards the end of the year but levels will not be threatening, the chief economist of Saudi state-owned National Commercial Bank (NCB) said on Monday.

Banks in the Gulf region have taken provisions after troubled Saudi conglomerates Saad Group and Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers said they would restructure debt………..Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announces that the monthly issue of the Sukuk Al-Salam Islamic securities has been over subscribed.
Subscriptions worth BD6m were received for the BD6m issue, which carries a maturity of 91 days………..Full Article: Source

From AHN: The central bank of Bangladesh issued an instruction on risk factors relating to an Islamic mode of investment Monday aiming to bring the country’s Islamic banking under Basel-II framework.

“We’ve issued the instruction under the guideline on risk based capital adequacy for banks to identify credit risks of the Islamic banks.” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank said………..Full Article: Source

Although financial instruments created on the principles of Islamic finance are still in their infancy, they are at an important crossroads and the current crises in Dubai is a symptom of this.
If we were to examine the progress made in the development of Islamic financial instruments over the past 10 years, we would see that much of the developments have been to replicate Western financial instruments in a bid to make Islamic Finance more competitive and profitable………..Full Press Release: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) and GDF Suez have raised $1.6 billion for the financing of the $2.1bn Al Dur water and power project.
Al Dur Independent Water and Power Producer project is the largest privately-owned industrial development in Bahrain. Financing a project of this size is a landmark in the financial markets after the advent of the economic crisis………..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Investor confidence in Gulf Arab economies, gauged by Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital, fell 7.8 percent in July from the previous month.

The monthly GCC Investor Confidence Index fell to 123 points in July, down 10.5 points from June, Shuaa said in a report on Monday………..Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: A monthly GCC Investor Sentiment Report has said that Qatar’s Investor Confidence Index is the highest in the GCC region.
On the whole, the country has been ranked the most attractive for investors with its index at 137.5, despite a drop of 4.1 points………..Full Article: Source

From Sabanews.net: Governor of Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) Ahmad al-Samawi discussed here on Monday with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s mission led by Ghiath Shabsigh the final results the mission has reached in its study on issuing the Islamic instruments in Yemen .

In the meeting al-Samawi valued efforts exerted by the mission in preparing for the study which would be reviewed by the government to make notes over its recommendations………..Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Abu Dhabi-based Dolphin Energy has signed a $4.1 billion debt package that refinances a $3.45 billion debt facility that was due to mature at the end of July, banking sources close to the deal said.

Last week the company issued a $1.25 billion, 10-year bond, which was the final tranche to be completed………..Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews: The National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (Rakbank) on Sunday reported that first half profits grew 10.3 per cent to Dh343.8 million over the same period last year.

Registering one of the strongest performances by a UAE bank this quarter, Rakbank’s second quarter profits of Dh183.4 million surpassed the previous quarter by 14.4 per cent………..Full Article: Source

Kuwait Finance House - Bahrain (KFH-Bahrain) plays a major role recently in successfully arranging a five year $140m syndicated Ijara facility for Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company - the investment arm of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The bank was the sole lead arranger and underwriter for the transaction acting alongside the Liquidity Management Centre (LMC) who acted as Mandated Lead Arranger………..Full Press Release: Source

From Wealth-bulletin.com: Despite the crash in oil and property prices, families in the Middle East remain remarkably wealthy. But, all too often, their money is stuck in the wrong place.
According to one intermediary: “When I bring them deals, people want to know why they should help me with my problems. They are more interested in refinancing old deals than agreeing new ones.”……….Full Article: Source

From Guardian: With global finance on its knees, this summer’s business graduates face an even trickier jobs market than most. But there is one area of banking still experiencing boom time – Islamic finance – and universities have been quick to grasp its possibilities.

This September will see new courses and postgraduate qualifications in Islamic finance springing up throughout the UK and elsewhere in Europe, reflecting the fact that it has become one of the fastest-growing sectors of the global banking industry, expanding by between 15% and 20% a year………..Full Article: Source

From Bernama: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and Bank Negara Malaysia are jointly organising a five-day course on the fundamentals of Islamic finance which started here Monday.

The course marked an effort in the capacity building programme to enhance knowledge and expertise in Islamic finance among the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member countries, Bank Negara said in a statment………..Full Article: Source