From Business24-7.ae: Underutilised surplus liquidity at most Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) has led to weak asset-liability management, increasing liquidity risk, said rating agency Moody’s Investors Service.

Issuing a stable rating on most Islamic banks, Moody’s said ample liquidity levels, resilient capital bases, high asset returns and relatively low funding costs of Islamic banks add to their strengths…………Full Article: Source

From Businessspectator.com.au: Australia is concentrating on its own insurance affairs – who’s going to buy Suncorp, what’s QBE going to buy next, how well is IAG doing? But what’s happening in other markets?

Not too much play is given to the Middle East – a region that is doing nicely, with its insurance mostly governed under Shariah law and known as ‘takaful’…………Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: The role of Islamic finance in contributing to global financial market stability and preventing the excesses that has led to the near catastrophic collapse of the conventional banking system may not have got a hearing at the G20 summit earlier this year.
But at the World Capital Markets Symposium held in Kuala Lumpur last week and hosted by the Securities Commission of Malaysia, the message was loud and clear, “Let us put faith back in finance” and “Islamic finance has a key role to play in global finance”…………Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Islamic lender Kuwait Finance House is tying up with United States apartment building owner UDR Inc to buy high income property in the United States to tap lower asset prices.

“The joint venture will seek to acquire high income residential real estate in major cities in the United States with total investments of up to $450 million,” Kuwait Finance said in a statement on Saturday…………Full Article: Source

From Dailyexpress.com.my: Bursa Malaysia Bhd scored a first Friday when it listed the first sukuk, or Islamic bond, and conventional bonds of Petronas and Cagamas MBS Bhd.

Petronas listed a US$1.5 billion sukuk and US$3 billion conventional bond on the local bourse and the Labuan International Financial Exchange (LFX), wholly-owned by Bursa Malaysia. Both securities, issued in US dollars, would be for a period of five and 10 years, respectively…………Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Zahid Atique, who has been a UAE resident for over 25 years, became the first bondholder to win the Dh1 million prize offered by National Bonds.

Since he started saving with National Bonds in 2006, he has won the grand prize twice, in addition to winning other smaller prizes regularly, that are also offered at the weekly draws…………Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Qatar National Bank-Syria (QNB-Syria) announced the successful completion of the subscription phase of its IPO, which concluded on 10 August 2009, after a nearly month-long initial subscription period that commenced on 12 July 2009.
The public offering, which was open to Syrian private and institutional investors, was nearly 2.5-times oversubscribed…………Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Investors are watching intently as time runs down on the developer’s US$3.52 billion sukuk, and a $300 million instalment on another loan. They await some clue as to how their investments in Dubai-government backed firms will fare in the global financial crisis.

Nakheel, the developer behind Dubai’s palm-shaped islands, is quickly running out of time and options to handle a US$3.52 billion (Dh12.92bn) debt that comes due in December…………Full Article: Source

From Menareport.com: Gulf Finance House (GFH), the leading Middle Eastern Islamic investment bank today announced its results for the second financial quarter of the year.
The Bank reported a net loss for the second quarter of US$ 54 million (US$ 92 million loss for the year to date), which compares to a profit of US$ 104 million made during the second quarter of 2008 (US$ 220 million for 2008 year to date)…………Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: The Saudi British Bank, has received further prestigious accolades for the performance of its internet banking service.
In its ‘World’s Best Internet Banks 2009′ awards, the highly regarded Global Finance magazine selected SABB as the Best Consumer Internet Bank in Saudi Arabia and - for the fourth year in succession - and the Best Online Consumer Credit Site in the Middle East & Africa…………Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: QNB announced the launch of a new campaign for users of its EAZYLife suite of e-Channels, with each EAZYtransaction between 16 August 2009 and 28 February 2010, providing customers with instant entry to a monthly prize draw.
QNB launched this promotion to continue building on the success of the EAZYLife campaign held in 2008 which encouraged customers to utilize the various features of QNB’s e-Banking services…………Full Article: Source

From Menareport.com: Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB), a leading Islamic bank in the Kingdom of Bahrain, today announced that it has posted a net profit of BD 3 million for the second quarter of 2009 (BD 13.6 million during the same period 2008) to realize a net profit of BD 7.1 million for the first half of 2009 compared with BD 26.2 million 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: Al Salam Bank Bahrain has announced a net profit of BD2.7 million ($7.3 million) for the second quarter this year. This compared to a net profit of BD7.9 million over the same period last year, a decline of 65 per cent.

The net profit for the six-month period ended June 30 this year reached BD10.6 million with earnings per share for the period of 8.9 fils…………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Ahli United Bank (AUB) has announced that its long-term issue credit rating has been affirmed at ‘A-’ (stable) by Standard and Poor’s.

The rating firm’s announcement complements AUB’s other long-term ratings from Fitch Ratings ‘A-’ (stable) and Capital Intelligence ‘A’ (stable)…………Full Article: Source

From Saudigazette.com.sa: Under the Endorsement of Dubai Chamber, the World Islamic Retail Banking Conference will be held in Dubai and comes at a time when the world economy is perceived to be gradually exiting the financial crisis.
There is also a marked shift occurring on the global business landscape, with Shariah compliant banking services increasingly becoming part of the banking mainstream…………Full Article: Source

From Scotsman.com: OIL-rich Arab states have continued to snap up depressed western assets by acquiring stakes in luxury car maker Porsche and in US property.
Qatar Holding, an investment vehicle of the ruling family, has bought a 17 per cent stake in Porsche’s new owner Volkswagen AG for $10 billion (£6bn) and is now the third largest shareholder in Volkswagen, which is merging with Porsche…………Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: Ahli Bank-Alhilal Islamic Banking has announced that its investment deposits and savings accounts have posted the highest profit rates in the market during the second quarter of 2009.

The annual profit rate of 6.25 percent on investment accounts of more than one year is considered to be the highest return declared in Qatar. The annual profit rates of 6.10 percent, 5.90 percent, 5.82 percent and 5.62 percent for one year, nine-month, six-month and three-month investment accounts respectively, are also considered to be among the highest returns in the local banking industry…………Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is keen to expand its cooperation with the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) following the launching in early July 2009 of their joint $500 million Islamic Infrastructure Fund, which will invest in the equity of infrastructure companies of member countries common to both the ADB and IDB.
According to Jaseem Ahmed, director financial sector, Southeast Asia Department at the ADB, the two partners are exploring opportunities to invest directly in infrastructure projects in these countries…………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Al Mal Bank will be a Platinum Sponsor of the 4th Annual World Islamic Infrastructure Finance Conference (WIIFC 2009), which will be held in Qatar on November 3.

Building on the huge success of the conference in previous years, the 4th Annual WIIFC 2009 sets the stage for critical discussions amidst the challenging global economic scenario as players in both the public and private sector consider alternative options to raise finance for vital infrastructure projects - seeking to kick-start a new wave of growth…………Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: SAS, a developer of analytical software, is upbeat about Malaysia’s recovery and plans to roll out its first Islamic banking product here soon.

“We have retooled and have a solid list of products for the second half as it looks like the economy and conditions are picking up,” executive vice-president Mikael Hagstrom said in an interview with Business Times in Singapore…………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Takaful International has signed a contract with Eskan Bank to provide health insurance for the bank’s employees and their families for one year.

The contract has been awarded through the Tender Board, which is recognised for its highly-transparent policy in managing tenders…………Full Article: Source