From Tradearabia.com: A key Islamic finance body which proposes industry rules to Islamic lenders said on Sunday it plans to monitor Islamic finance products in the absence of a sector watchdog.

The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) “will screen products and services offered by the industry for sharia compliance”, it said in a statement……….Full Article: Source

From Taragana.com: A survey by a British newspaper has found that due to the rise in the levels of immigration from Muslim countries and low birth rates among Europe’s indigenous population, a fifth of the European Union (EU) would have Muslim populations by 2050.

Last year, five per cent of the total population of 27 EU countries was Muslim. But, according to forecasts, the figure would rise to 20 per cent by 2050, The Telegraph reports……….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: London, the financial center of the world, may be stealing the limelight as far as promoting and developing Islamic finance in the UK and beyond, but another part of the UK, Scotland, is emerging as a new if complementary hub of Islamic finance out of and into the UK.

The Glasgow-based Islamic Finance Council UK (IFC), a non-profit organization established to promote Islamic finance in Scotland and the UK, is now emerging as perhaps the most proactive entity in the country……….Full Article: Source

From Thejakartaglobe.com: Despite a slump in the Shariah bond market last year, HSBC says that it expects more corporations to be tempted back next year following a revival of confidence in the wake of the highly successful sale of Indonesia’s first global sukuk in April.

“We believe that many Indonesian companies are still interested in issuing sukuk, although maybe not this year, but in 2010,” said Mahmoud Abushamma, head of HSBC Amanah Indonesia, HSBC’s local Shariah unit……….Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: GCC-focused money market funds are recovering from their losses and are optimistic about the second half of the year because of increased activity in the treasury, bonds and currency markets.

Buoyed by positive market conditions, providers are launching new money market funds – the second largest category after equity funds. Five new schemes were launched in the second quarter of this year compared with none in the corresponding period last year……….Full Article: Source

From Forbes: Malaysia’s Bank Islam is in talks with several stakeholders in Indonesia’s PT Bank Muamalat and wants to take control of the Indonesian Islamic bank, the Business Times reported on Monday.

Without citing named sources, the newspaper said that Bank Islam was close to a deal with at least one of the stakeholders……….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Sale of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, in Saudi Arabia will probably rise because companies need alternate funding sources as banks are reluctant to lend and the initial public-offering market is depressed, Jadwa Investment said.

“Companies needing to raise finance have generally used a combination of bank loans and IPOs,” Jadwa said in a research report received by e-mail late yesterday……….Full Article: Source

From ynetnews.com: A World Bank report published last weekend reveals that Saudi Arabia has maintained its position as the strongest Middle East economy in 2008.

Riyadh’s gross domestic product (GDP) totaled $468 billion last year, compared to $381 billion in 2007, making Saudi Arabia the 23rd strongest economy in the world……….Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: The recent debt crisis by two major Saudi groups has allied with plunging consumer demand and growing risk sensitivity by domestic banks to hit credit activity in the Kingdom despite a spate of monetary easing measures by the country’s central bank, a key Saudi bank said yesterday.

Despite a growth in deposits with the 12 commercial banks in the world’s largest oil exporter, they have remained reluctant to provide loans, while their investments in government securities have contracted because of lower rates, the Saudi America Bank Group (Samba) said in its August economic bulletin……….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Saudi Arabia’s banking sector is one of the strongest in the Middle East and its strength is based on high profitability, strong liquidity, high capitalization and strict supervision by Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA).
Total deposits with Saudi banks grew to SR916 billion at the end of June 2009, since banks tried to attract more deposits as interbank lending tightened, according to BMG Financial Group’s Saudi Banking Sector Review released this week……….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Kuwait’s Global Investment House reported a net loss of 29 million dinars ($101.1 million) in the second quarter, on investment losses and losses of associates.

Global, which defaulted on most of its debt earlier this year, is among the largest investment companies in the Gulf Arab state to face problems amid tight credit conditions……….Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Alkhaliji yesterday said it had “limited” exposure to the financially-troubled Saad and Algosaibi groups and had made provisions to meet it.
The Qatari bank, which acquired Paris-based BLC Bank, is expected to complete the re-branding of the French-Lebanese bank by the third quarter of this year, even as it ruled out immediate expansion into other European market although BLC has Europe-wide banking licence……….Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust (PLife REIT), Asia’s largest listed healthcare Reit by asset size, has been offered an Islamic revolving credit financing facility by The Islamic Bank of Asia (IB Asia).
This makes PLife REIT the first Singapore-listed entity to be offered a Shari’ah-compliant revolving credit facility……….Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: Essentially, it is because Islamic finance meets their requirements and is competitively priced. In the more recent environment, it has also become more attractive because it reflects basic banking practices.

There is an underlying economic transaction. Islamic finance can only grow in proportion to the growth of economic activity……….Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: There is potential to double annual trade between Malaysia and the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) countries to US$100 million (RM350 million), said a trade finance arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

Assistant general manager for marketing (Asia and the CIS) of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corp (ITFC), Abou M.S. Jallow said trade level can easily reach between US$100 million and US$200 million (RM350 million and RM700 million) a year from the current range of US$30 million to US$50 million (RM105 million to RM175 million)……….Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: A massive property development close to the Grand Mosque in Mecca needs investors to step up at a time when lenders are particularly cautious over making loans in Saudi Arabia.
However, observers are confident the developer can pull it off. ………Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: Foreign banks in Malaysia are developing innovative products and services to tap the growing market.
The next phase of growth in the foreign banking space would likely be the Islamic banking sector, according to most industry players……….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Another sign that these are difficult times, even for the Islamic banking sector, is the announced merger by The Securities House K.S.C.C.,a leading Shariah-compliant investment company listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, of its two London-based subsidiaries Gatehouse Bank PLC and Global Securities House (GSH) UK into one entity under the Gatehouse Bank brand.

The merger was in many respects forced by the prevailing global financial market conditions and once again by the huge costs of establishing and maintaining financial institutions in the City in London……….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: The Islamic finance world is huge and growing hugely,” says Chris Oulton, chief executive of Prime Rate Capital.
As yet, this upbeat description does not apply to money market funds, largely because the traditional short-dated instruments used in such funds are outlawed due to Islam’s prohibition on interest……….Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), the region’s leading Islamic bank, has appointed Malik Sarwar as Global Wealth Management Executive. Malik will lead the team to offer Islamic Wealth Management services to the bank’s high net worth and affluent clients.
Malik has extensive international and US experience in top tier firms like Permal Group (2006 to 2009), Citigroup (1999 to 2006) and Merrill Lynch (1982 to 1999), working in the US, Asia and Middle East……….Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB), a leading Islamic bank in the Kingdom of Bahrain, announced that it has posted a net profit of BD3m for the second quarter of 2009 (BD13.6m during the same period 2008) to realize a net profit of BD7.1m for the first half of 2009 compared with BD26.2m realized for the same period of 2008.
The Bank’s business continued to expand with total assets growing by 8.5% over December 2008, total financing assets increased by 13.8%, and Unrestricted Investment Accounts increased by 17.4% over the same period……….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Qatar-based bank, al khaliji reported net profits after tax of QR108.4 million ($29.8 million) for the first half of the year, a 750 per cent increase over QR12.65 million ($3.47 million) for the same period last year.

Earnings per share were QR0.30, compared to QR0.04 last year. Net operating income was up 89 per cent in comparison with first half last year……….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The initial public offering (IPO) of QNB-Syria, a joint venture bank launched by Qatar National Bank (QNB) in Syria, has drawn good response from Syrian investors, a report said.

The bank, which has a capital of Syrian Lira 5 billion ($108 million), is offering 3.4 million shares representing 34 percent of its share capital through the IPO. The offer is priced at Lira 500, said the Peninsula report……….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has enacted the Dubai International Financial Centre’s (DIFC) new Payment System Settlement Finality (PSSF) law that creates the legal foundation for building a regional transaction processing hub in DIFC that will provide payment systems and other ancillary services.

The first such legislation in the GCC region, the new PSSF Law paves the way for the launch of the Real-time Automated Payments in DIFC (Rapid), a new service that will provide transaction processing services from within DIFC to banks and their customers both in DIFC and the wider Middle East and North Africa region……….Full Article: Source

UAE based ‘Carillon Learning Media’ has produced a novel E-learning training and education series under the guidance of Mr. Muhammad Ayub the author of ‘Islamic Banking and Finance: Theory and Practice’ published by the State Bank of Pakistan in December 2002, and ‘Understanding Islamic Finance’ published by John Wiley & Sons of UK in October 2007 to offer an effective training program for banking professionals and students of business and finance.
See the link: ………Full Press Release: Source

From Bernama: The Muslim community in the country has been urged to continue with its business jihad through the corporate Waqaf concept in order to continue to compete at the international level.

President of the Malaysia Islamic Business Council (DPIM), Tengku Tan Sri Ahmad Rithauddeen, said the business jihad was aimed at uniting all Muslims on a single trading platform and creating a culture of competing at the global level……….Full Article: Source