From Business24-7.ae: Saudi Arabia needs to develop a sukuk market to open up new business opportunities and ensure long-term funding for local investors amid tightening lending by banks, a Saudi investment company said yesterday.

The launching of the long-awaited bond market in the world’s oil powerhouse in mid-June is not enough to create an active sukuk market in the absence of direct government involvement in such activity, Jadwa Investment said in a study………..Full Article: Source

From Saudi-us-relations.org: The global market for sukuk (Sharia-compliant bonds) has grown tremendously in recent years. Total outstanding sukuk rose from $8 billion in 2003 to around $100 billion in 2008.
Sukuk provides companies and governments with access to financing and liquidity and offer a much needed Sharia-compliant instrument to investors………..Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: Bank Negara believes the time is right for the Malaysian Government to issue an Emas bond after Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) raised US$4.5bil through a combination of conventional bonds and sukuk that have attracted significant foreign interest.

The Emas bonds issued by Petronas attracted the largest order book for an Asian transaction at over US$19bil and the national oil company said it would assess future market conditions before raising more money through another Emas bond issue………..Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: Malaysia’s central bank has recommended that the government sell new global bonds, Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said in Kuala Lumpur today.

“We have always recommended for the government to enter the market,” Zeti said at an event marking the sale of Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s US$4.5 billion in Islamic and conventional bonds………..Full Article: Source

From Globalarabnetwork.com: Moody’s Investors Service says that the ratings of entities in the fast-growing Islamic banking sector are stable, largely thanks to their ample liquidity, high profit margins and conservative leveraging.
Nevertheless, Moody’s cautions in its latest report on the sector that future upgrades may be constrained by issues relating to Islamic banks’ under-utilised excessive liquidity, inadequate corporate governance and weak risk management, particularly in terms of the handling of asset-liability maturity mismatches………..Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Four UAE banks have been placed on review for possible downgrade, Moody’s Investors Service said late yesterday.

Emirates Bank International, National Bank of Dubai, Mashreq Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank will have their financial strength ratings and long-term debt and deposit ratings placed on review………..Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House missed a forecast with its third consecutive quarterly loss due to provisions and a slump in income from investment placements.

Islamic investment bank GFH said net loss in the second quarter was $54 million, compared with a net profit of $104 million a year ago. Analysts at SICO investment bank expected a quarterly net loss of $30 million in a Reuters survey in July………..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) is extending $200mn (QR728.3mn) financing to Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco) for the latter’s new low density polyethylene (LDPE) project, whose total cost is estimated at QR2bn.
The LDPE-3 project, which will be using the excess ethylene produced by Qatofin and Qapco, is planned to produce annually 300,000 metric tonnes of LDPE and the commissioning is expected to be in December 2011………..Full Article: Source

From Thejakartapost.com: Indonesia’s fifth largest bank, CIMB Niaga, announced it would open 302 new sharia offices by the end of this year based on its optimist forecasts on the future of sharia business.

The new sharia offices will open in eight provinces comprising Jakarta, West Java, East Java, Central Java, North Sumatra, South Sulawesi, Lampung and Riau……….Full Article: Source

From WSJ: MCB Bank Ltd. has agreed to buy Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC’s (RBS) operations in Pakistan for PKR7.2 billion (US$87 million), people familiar with the situation said Monday, in the latest sale of Asian assets by the Scotland-based bank.
Earlier in the day, MCB Bank said in a statement to the Karachi Stock Exchange that its board had approved a proposal to acquire the assets, but didn’t give any details other than to say the deal is subject to the signing of a share-purchase agreement and approvals from the State Bank of Pakistan and other regulators………..Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: The Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group, Al Baraka Banking Group,announced a net profit of US$ 49.02 million in the second quarter of 2009, reflecting an increase of 14% over the net profit of the first quarter of 2009.
Hence, the net profits for the first half of 2009 reached US$ 92 million. On the other hand, total assets increased by 5.4%, liquid assets by 4.6%, finance and investment by 5.1%, deposits and unrestricted investment accounts by 6.4% and total equity by 1.7% as at the end of June 2009 compared to December 2008. ……….Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: Investment funds that extended redemption periods because of adverse conditions in the market have started to cut their notice periods.

The move comes in response to positive factors such as the recent market rally and improved liquidity levels following the government’s measures to boost the economy………..Full Article: Source

From Themalaysianinsider.com: Malaysia’s capital market regulator has issued guidelines to simplify the registration of religious experts who advise on Islamic financial products and services.

Under the rules which take effect today, syariah advisers who meet the eligibility and appointment criteria stated in the guidelines can advise on all Islamic products regulated by the Securities Commission, the regulator said in a statement………..Full Article: Source

From Washingtonpost.com: Those who came to Dubai seeking fortunes in property, banking and luxury goodies for the rich now face a less alluring prospect — a prison cell or furtive flight.
Only a tiny minority has been picked up by police but, says a longtime foreign resident who runs a company here, “It’s all a bit scary. They are looking for people to carry the can.”……….Full Article: Source