From Reuters: Holders of a $650 million Islamic bond issued by a unit of troubled Saudi firm Saad have been asked to vote on dissolving the sukuk, trustee Citi said on Tuesday.

Citi said a “dissolution event” had taken place, triggering the bondholder vote………….Full Article: Source

From Forbes: South Korea plans to offer a tax waiver on foreign investors’ interest income from sukuk issued by its companies to encourage fund raising from Islamic bond markets, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said on Tuesday.

Foreign nationals are currently exempted from such taxes on investments in foreign currency-denominated bonds issued by South Korean firms, but the rule does not apply to sukuk due to the different structure of Islamic bonds, the ministry said………….Full Article: Source

From Bernama: CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd aims to grow its assets under management to US$1.7 billion by year-end given the high potential market for Islamic-based instruments globally, chief executive Datuk Noripah Kamso said Tuesday.

The company, which is an offshoot of CIMB Principal Asset Management Bhd, has about US$1.3 billion in assets under management as at June 30, 2009………….Full Article: Source

From Bernama: Malayan Banking Bhd’s pre-tax profit for the financial year ended June 30, 2009 fell 59 per cent to RM1.67 billion from RM4.09 billion last year.

The profit was achieved over an 8.9 per cent rise in revenue to RM17.586 billion against RM16.153 billion previously………….Full Article: Source

From Brisbanetimes.com.au: Macquarie Group is eyeing a bigger role in the Middle East and has entered a joint venture with one of the region’s key Islamic investment banks.

The planned tie-up with Gulf Finance House is a boost for Ahmed Fahour, the former National Australia Bank executive who took charge of the Bahrain investment bank this month………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House (GFH) aims to have its planned partnership with Australia’s Macquarie Group operational by the beginning of 2010, a GFH executive said on Tuesday.

GFH said on Monday it plans to set up a shariah-compliant joint venture with the Australian bank for the Middle East and North Africa region………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the leading bank in Kuwait, has launched a 0% promotion during the Ramadan and Eid period for its credit card, car and retail loan customers.

“We want to make this Ramadan and Eid special for our customers with a 0% offer covering credit cards, car loans and retail loans, and also reward customers for banking with NBK,” said Abdullah Al Najran Tuwaijri, deputy general manager – consumer banking group, NBK………….Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: International Bank of Qatar’s (IBQ) Al Yusr Islamic banking services yesterday launched the annual ‘Do Good Deeds’ campaign.
It comprises several community-serving initiatives to engage and support various sectors of the public during the holy month of Ramadan………….Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: International Investment Bank (IIB) remains hopeful of an improvement in investors’ sentiment during the second half of the year after suffering a small loss in the first six months.

Several deals are being looked at for later in the year and the bank is in the healthy position of having no borrowings or off balance sheet commitments………….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Mashreq Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in the UAE, Monday said it has unveiled 16 new branches throughout Abu Dhabi and Al Ain as part of its expansion plans in the capital.

This increased presence is a result of the rise in customer demand, and future growth plans include 10 new ATM machines, bringing the total to 46………….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Bros, the Saudi conglomerate that accused Saad Group chairman Ma’an Al Sanea of a $10 billion (Dh36.73 billon) fraud, said Mashreq Bank PJSC helped Al Sanea.

Algosaibi sued in the New York State Supreme Court on May 22 alleging that Al Sanea “organised a massive fraud” through transactions he brokered at the Money Exchange, a financial arm of the Algosaibi group………….Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: The Central Bank of Jordan said yesterday it sold six-month T-bills worth 100m dinars ($141m), with the average yield rising to 3.187 percent compared with 3.058 percent at the previous auction on August 19.

The CBJ had invited offers for 100m dinars worth of treasury bills at the auction………….Full Article: Source

From Kuwaittimes.net: UAE banks, whose second-quarter profits were hit by credit provisions, may see growth curbed by difficult funding conditions but their overall profitability is attractive, Goldman Sachs said yesterday.
The bank earlier revised its ratings and stock price targets on five UAE banks………….Full Article: Source

From Gulfjobsmarket.com: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, the United Arab Emirates’ third-biggest bank by assets, will provide a 300 million-dirham ($81.7 million) loan to Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority to fund the development of a technology park.

The Mudarabah Islamic loan to part-finance the development of facilities in Dubai Silicon Oasis will be provided by the bank’s Islamic unit ADCB Meethaq, it said in an e-mailed statement today………….Full Article: Source

From Linexlegal.com: Islamic finance had its start in the 1960s and 1970s with the influx of petrodollars into the Gulf region.
The rapid development of Middle East markets - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates - has stoked interest in a type finance that is based on the principles of Shari’a. Industry experts estimate that Islamic finance has enjoyed double digit annual growth with nearly USD 1 trillion put to work in Shari’a structures………….Full Article (Subscription Required): Source

From Business24-7.ae: The mortgage market in Saudi Arabia continues to be limited due to the delay in passing of the new mortgage law, said a report.

“Finance options are still largely unavailable due to a price sensitive population. There has been significant economic ‘trickle down’ to the local population, but although the mid-income sector now has resources to buy accommodation, it continues to be frustrated by a lack of available land and mortgage finance,” CB Richard Ellis said in a market view report on Saudi Arabia’s residential market………….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: The annual growth in Saudi Arabia’s M3 money supply fell for a third month in a row in July to 15.3 percent, as loans to the private sector posted their lowest annual expansion in at least three years.

Bank claims on the private sector, a key indicator of lenders’ confidence in the economy, stood at SR728.84 billion in July, inching up from SR728.7 billion in June, according to data published by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) on Tuesday………….Full Article: Source

From Twocircles.net: Charity, for which the expression used in the Holy Quran is “spending out of what God has given you”, means using your energy, talent, resources, money, possessions, or whatever else, to help and do good to those in need.
In Islam charity is very often mentioned alongside prayer because just as the latter is man’s relation with God, or man’s duty towards God, the former (charity) represents his relation with his fellow-beings, and indeed with all the creation of God………….Full Article: Source