From Xinhua: Malaysia’s Islamic bank, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, is seeking a potential merger partner to expand its business.

New Straits Times quoted the bank’s managing director Zukri Samat as saying that the oldest Islamic bank in Malaysia was venturing into regional expansion as the competition at home intensified………..Full Article: Source

From Asiaone.com: Unicorn International Islamic Bank, Malaysia’s first international Islamic bank, plans to buy a 40 per cent stake in a local Islamic bank to boost its presence in the country.

“We hope to identify a good target in the next six to 10 months,” chairman Datuk Vaseehar Hassan Abdul Razack said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur………..Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: Yemen is a good environment for the issuing of Islamic instruments, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s mission, led by Ghiath Shabsigh, confirmed during its meeting with Yemeni officials chaired by Governor of Central Bank of Yemen (CBY), Ahmad al-Smawi.

The IMF’s official reviewed the final results of the mission to study the issuing of Islamic instruments in Yemen, and recommended beginning planning for issuing the instruments in order to absorb the surpluses at the Yemeni Islamic banks and to use the instruments for financing economic and social planning projects………..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: A Cayman Islands-based wealth management firm has launched a $50mn Shariah-compliant distressed property fund in the UAE to tap into the country’s suffering real estate sector.
Mayfair Wealth Management expects the fund to deliver an annual return of 12-15% by way of leasing and rental income, the firm said in a statement yesterday………..Full Article: Source

From Reuters: South Africa’s third largest fund management company, Stanlib, has put on hold plans to launch a global equity Islamic fund, Ashraf Mohamed, manager of the Stanlib Shari’ah Equity Fund told Reuters.

Mohamed, the only Islamic finance manager within the company, said he had left the company at the end of June after the plan was put on hold. He joined Stanlib in 2007 to help set up the its Islamic equity offering………..Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: AmIslamic Funds Management Sdn Bhd plans to launch at least four new domestic Islamic unit trust products by the end of its current financial year next March to boost its Islamic fund assets to RM1.3bil from RM940mil presently.

But for long-term growth, it would be looking at the international Islamic fund management market, said AmInvestment Bank Group funds management chief executive officer Datin Maznah Mahbob………..Full Article: Source

From Ummid.com: 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………..Full Article: Source

From Legalbusinessonline.com: United Arab Emirates-based law firm Agha & Shamshi is believed to be the first firm in compliance with Islamic law, a move which the firm’s founding partner, Oliver Agha, said is motivated by principle and philosophy.
“The vision is to create a firm that lives true to the principles of Islamic finance, which means having an ethically based law firm that ensures it is practicing law. Also, not engaging in activities that are impermissible under the shariah,” Agha said………..Full Article: Source

From Bernama: The Securities Commission (SC) has launched a book series on the Islamic capital market which will form the basic module for the Islamic Capital Market Graduate Training Scheme.

The scheme is part of an SC training programme for graduates seeking a career in the fast-growing Islamic capital market industry………..Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: Fitch Ratings has assigned Petronas Capital Limited’s USD Guaranteed Notes and Petronas Global Sukuk Ltd’s USD Trust Certificates (Sukuk) expected ratings of ’A’.

The final ratings are contingent upon receipt of final documents conforming to information already received………..Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has received very good response for its soon-to-be issued US$2.5billion dollar bonds.

“The response has been very strong. The bonds have been oversubscribed by more than five times. The investors are mainly foreign and the Asian and European bids are especially strong………..Full Article: Source

From Reuters: The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) has granted a foreign bank licence to the National Bank of Abu Dhabi NBAD.AD to undertake commercial banking services in the country.

The UAE’s biggest bank by market value was granted approval by the CBJ board to set up a subsidiary with a minimum capital of 50 million dinar ($71 mln) as stipulated by the country’s banking regulations, a central bank source told Reuters………..Full Article: Source

From Menafn.com: Mayfair Wealth Management (MWM), an offshore financial and investment advisory services provider based in the Cayman Islands, has announced the launch of ‘Ameerah’, the first truly bespoke wealth management service targeting female investors in Kuwait.
‘Ameerah’ is a specialist division of MWM, offering Shariah-compliant wealth management services, as well as a wide range of global products from different asset classes including bonds, equities, FX and real estate………..Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Al-Rifai was tapped to bring his expertise as a leading authority on Islamic equity and private equity funds to Dow Jones Indexes to advance its position in providing Shari’ah-compliant indexes to the investment world.
He will be based in Dubai and will focus on extending the reach of Dow Jones Indexes’ Shari’ah-compliant index products globally………..Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: Qatar’s economy is weathering the global downturn well, and is one of the fastest growing economies in 2009.

The country’s real GDP is expected to expand by 13 percent triggering positive repercussions on Qatar’s fiscal and external accounts, providing abundant revenues and export receipts as early as the fourth quarter of 2009, forecast an annual GCC credit survey………..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Kuwait’s Gulf Bank, which was rescued by the central bank in 2008, said on Tuesday it had appointed Michel Accad as its new chief executive after central bank approval.

Accad, a US-educated Lebanese national, is the lender’s new CEO and chief general manager, it said in a statement, replacing Louis Myers………..Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: Doha Insurance has reported net profits of QR25.6 m in the first half of 2009, the figure showed a decrease of 29 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

“The insurance industry in Doha has realised it should keep its profit from insurance activities, not from investments,” said Mahmoud Al Naser Assistant General Manager of Doha Insurance during a press conference held yesterday announcing the half year financial results of the company………..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Jordan’s Arab Bank said on Tuesday that its first-half pre-tax profit after provisions fell 26.7 per cent to $452 million.
A bank statement, which did not disclose H1 net profits, said the bank was affected by the impact of the financial crisis………..Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: Malaysia must look at developing other areas of Islamic finance beyond just Islamic bonds, or sukuk, experts say. “Malaysia has all the right ingredients to trailblaze in Islamic finance, but it must go beyond sukuk. We need to develop other new products as well,” said Ali Abbas Zaidi, Maybank Investment Bank’s head of Islamic markets.

Ali was a panellist in a discussion yesterday on the future of Asia’s Islamic investment industry at the IFN Issuers and Investors forum in Kuala Lumpur………..Full Article: Source

From Expatica.com: Islamic banks seem immune from the current credit crisis.
In the past few months, the ‘Islamic Dow Jones’ has lost just a few percent, whereas the original stock market index has lost more than a third of its value………..Full Article: Source