From Tradearabia.com: Dubai-based Al Habtoor Group, a stakeholder in Barclays, has up to $1.3 billion to invest in British banks and hotels in Europe, its chairman said on Wednesday.

The company, one of the United Arab Emirates’ largest family businesses, was one of several Middle East investors that bought into Barclays in 2008 as the lender looked to boost its capital to weather the financial crisis………..Full Article: Source

From Thisdayonline.com: International Islamic Financing expert, Mr. Mehmet Asutay said the Islamic finance option provides Nigeria with a ‘fantastic’ opportunity to come out of its current economic doldrums.

He said while commercial banking may not provide immediate solution to the current economic crisis, the Islamic commercial banking, if embraced, will help source the needed investment capital in the country………..Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: On December 14, Nakheel will have to pay back the money to investors who bought its $3.52bn in Islamic bonds, or sukuk, as well as the profits that are due to them – another $528 million.

Normally, a company might decide to refinance that kind of debt by borrowing the money to pay off investors from someone else, such as banks or even the same investors who lent it the money in the first place………..Full Article: Source

From Menafn.com: During the first half of 2009, GCC bonds and sukuk volume reached USD18.4 billion, an increase of 37% compared to the respective period of 2008.
The increase was fueled as a result of new issuances by either sovereign or corporations that are fully or largely owned by the governments, which together represented 92.1% of the total issuance during the period.
Nonetheless, H12009 volumes remain lower than half, 38.3%, of the total year volume peak of 2007………..Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Dubai World is reconsidering its involvement in a US$4.5 billion (Dh16.52bn) port and property project in Malaysia because of the economic crisis, MMC Corporation, its Malaysian partner in the development, said on Wednesday.

The plan to build a sprawling maritime centre, including an oil terminal, dry docks, a shipyard, cargo-handling facilities, logistics parks and a property development in south Johor, was first agreed to in September 2007………..Full Article: Source

From Menareport.com: Moody’s Investors Service says the outlook for the Egyptian banking sector is stable, reflecting the system’s relative isolation from and resilience to the global crisis and the considerable progress of the banking sector reforms.
However, downside risks remain, as the potential intensification of the economic slowdown and its impact on the banking sector is a major risk to our stable outlook………..Full Article: Source

From Zawya Dow Jones: Dow Jones Indexes said Tuesday it will add Saudi Arabian equities to its stock measures after rival MSCI Inc. earlier threatened to pull the kingdom’s stocks from its indexes over a licensing dispute.

The index arm of Dow Jones launched four new indexes for the region that will include equities in Saudi, the Middle East’s largest economy, for the first time. They’re the Dow Jones GCC Index, Dow Jones GCC Islamic Market Index, Dow Jones GCC Titans 50 with Saudi and Dow Jones Islamic Market MENA indexes………..Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: The Central Bank of Bahrain has announced that the monthly issue of the short-term Islamic leasing bonds, Sukuk Al-Ijara, has been oversubscribed by 300%. Subscriptions worth BD15m were received for the BD5m issue, which carries a maturity of 182 days, CBB has said.
The expected return on the issue, which begins on 20 August 2009 and matures on 18 February 2010, is 1.05%………..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Saudi Arabia’s economy remains solid and its banks have weathered the global crisis, the IMF said in a report and also commended the world’s leading oil exporter for helping stabilise oil prices.

“The outlook remains broadly positive” despite a projected one percent contraction in GDP this year due to lower oil production, the International Monetary Fund report was quoted as saying in our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News………..Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: The board of executive directors of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has agreed to finance new development projects worth $244.4 million in Sudan, Jordan, Egypt, Mauritania, Cameroon, Kazakhstan and Niger, an IDB statement said.
The board also agreed to finance a number of educational and training projects of Muslim communities in Kenya, China, India, Rwanda, Tanzania and the United States………..Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Investcorp Bank BSC, the Bahrain-based alternative investment firm with $17.6 billion (Dh64.5 billion) of assets under management, posted a full-year loss as fee income declined and it wrote down the value of investments.

The net loss was $780.6 million, or $1.12 a share, in the year ended June 30, after a profit of $151.1 million, or $0.212, a year earlier, Investcorp said yesterday in a statement………..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Bahrain-based Investcorp saw an improvement in performance in the second half of its fiscal year to the end of June.
In spite of the continuation of highly challenging business conditions, hedge fund returns rebounded strongly with a return of 12.3 per cent for the period………..Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: ADCB, one of the largest UAE lenders, has recently launched a chic marketing campaign, Long Live Ambition, to reach out to its 350,000 customers and many more.

The bank’s customer base has more than doubled over the last three years………..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Jordan Islamic Bank, a subsidiary of Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group, said first-half net profit rose three per cent to 20.7 million Jordanian dinars ($29.2m) on the same period a year ago.

The bank’s total assets rose 5pc to 2.28 billion dinars ($3.2bn) at the end of June against 2.17bn dinars at the end of June last year, the bank said yesterday………..Full Article: Source

From Menafn.com: Dubbed Sadaqa, or “charity work”, the project will be launched Thursday by the Islamic Organisations and Societies Council (IOSC) on the occasion of Ramadan. It entails collecting donations and extending interest-free loans to the targeted segments.

“The project seeks to promote charity work, especially in Ramadan, and enhance solidarity between the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak,” Chief Islamic Justice Ahmad Hilayel, who is also president of the council, told reporters yesterday………..Full Article: Source

From Insurancedaily.co.uk: Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) has granted authorisation to Islamic insurer, Allianz Takaful – QFC Branch, to carry on regulated activities in or from the Qatar Financial Centre.

Allianz Takaful is the first Takaful firm to be authorised by the QFCRA and will be primarily advising on investments in respect of contracts for long-term insurance………..Full Article: Source

From Menafn.com: Gulf Finance Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SHUAA Capital, announced that Capital Intelligence, a regional credit rating agency, has reaffirmed its long-term ‘BB’ rating with a stable outlook.

In its rating report, the rating committee of Capital Intelligence highlighted the low level of non-performing loans, adequately capitalised balance sheet and the management capability as the rational for the rating decision………..Full Article: Source

From Thenews.com.pk: In the backdrop of difficult political and economic conditions, Meezan Bank, the largest Islamic bank in Pakistan, announced an increase of Rs66 million in its net profit in the half-yearly results for 2009.

Despite the negative impact on all segments of business, net profit of Meezan Bank increased from Rs443 million to Rs506 million………..Full Article: Source

From Individual.com: India’s first interest-free financial institution along Islamic banking principles is expected to come up in Kerala next year.

The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), the nodal agency for setting up the institution, has initiated the process for registering a company with an authorised capital of Rs5 billion, says Thomas Kutty deputy general manager of the KSIDC………..Full Article: Source

From Bernama: CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd bagged the Best Islamic Fund Award for the CIMB Islamic DALI Equity Growth Fund at the Third International Takaful summit held in London recently.

The same fund also won the Best Malaysian Equity Fund for a 3-year performance as at 31 December 2008 at the 4th Failaka Fund Awards………..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Bahrain-based Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) has assigned Sharia Quality Rating of AA to Dawood Islamic Bank.

The rating on the Pakistan-based bank reflects IIRA’s opinion that the bank conforms to very high standards of Sharia compliance in all aspects of Sharia quality analysis………..Full Article: Source

From Examiner.com: The way Islamic Financing works is, the lender will purchase the home of your choice based on the same guidelines as FHA or Conventional financing except that the fee charged for the transaction is just that, a fee.
There is noone holding your property for ransom, you will essentially rent-to-own your home with an agreement that once the proposed amount has been satisfied the deed will be turned over to the buyer. The buyer will still be required to qualify for the loan………..Full Article: Source

From Americanthinker.com: Britain, birthplace of parliamentary democracy, has fallen to Islam. Oxford, once home to the likes of C.S. Lewis, now houses a giant Eastern Islamic Studies Center.
If this were the only Islamic addition to Oxford, the mood would be less somber, but when Oxford citizens are forced to awake every morning to the Muslim call to prayer with the full consent of the Church of England, nothing short of conquest has taken place………..Full Article: Source