Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Business24-7.ae: The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) announced the launch of an Islamic investment bank with initial capital of $1 billion (Dh3.6bn) to promote the growth of Islamic financial industry, the bank said.
Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of the IDB, said the mega bank’s initial contributions to the new bank’s capital will be $250 million………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabnews.com: Islamic bankers from all markets in the global Islamic finance industry have expressed their disappointment at the recent announcement by the Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf that the Kingdom had no plans to issue sovereign bonds — whether conventional or Islamic.
“Government bonds are issued when there is a need for them. Thank God, lately there has been no need to issue bonds or sukuk,” he reportedly told Al Arabiya news channel………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Reuters: Bahrain’s Unicorn Investment Bank is interested in buying Dubai Group’s stake in Malaysia’s Bank Islam and plans to issue sukuk in Saudi Arabia before the end of the year, its chief executive said on Sunday.
Dubai Group, an investment vehicle owned by the ruler of Dubai, said Oct 1 it is reviewing its options for the 40 percent stake in Malaysia’s second largest Islamic bank as it shifts its focus closer to home………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Alibaba.com: Dubai Group, an investment vehicle owned by the ruler of Dubai, is reviewing options for its stake in Malaysia’s Bank Islam as it shifts its strategic focus closer to home.
If Dubai Group eventually sells its stake in Bank Islam, it could spark a round of consolidation among Malaysia’s Islamic banks. Several Islamic bankers in Malaysia have said Maybank’s Islamic subsidiary wanted to acquire a stake in Bank Islam………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulf-daily-news.com: Gulf Finance House (GFH) has announced a new organisational structure to align with its business strategy effective setting up two divisions within the organisation.
This structure will support a rejuvenated business model designed to catalyse a new period of growth and achieve GFH’s emergence as the world’s leading player in the provision of Islamic finance. …………………Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Albawaba.com: Gulf Finance House, the leading Middle Eastern Islamic Investment bank today announced the details of its forthcoming capital raising exercise to the market. The bank will offer up to 907,898,065 shares at an offer price of US$ 0.38 a share.
The offering period will open on October 15th 2009 and close on October 29th 2009 with an allotment date of 5th November 2009………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: Qatar Islamic Insurance Company (QIIC) is planning to launch another innovative and socially valuable insurance scheme for women in the country.
Deputy General Manager Jassim Ali Al Saadi said women will soon be able to be insured against risks of breast and uterus cancer………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Minivannews.com: The government has signed an agreement with the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank to introduce Islamic banking services in the Maldives.
The signing ceremony between the Maldives and the Islamic Cooperation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) was held during an annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Istanbul, Turkey last week………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Brudirect.com: Malaysia has broached the idea of working side by side with Brunei Darussalam in promoting the two countries jointly as an Islamic banking hub.
“We can promote Brunei and Malaysia as an Islamic banking hub,” Malaysian High Commissioner to Brunei Dato’ Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari said in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday at his residence during his Hari Raya open house………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulf-times.com: The Malaysian bond market provides good opportunities for investors who look for alternatives to dollar-based investments, a top executive of the country’s leading credit rating agency has said.
Wong Fook-Wah, deputy Group CEO of RAM Holdings, which owns RAM Ratings, said the bond market in Malaysia - third largest in Asia after China and Japan-totalled $174bn, equivalent of 35% of the south east Asian country’s GDP, in the first half of this year………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulf-times.com: Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) is seeking to strengthen its relations with Qatar to pave way for cross-border collaboration, according to a visiting delegation from Malaysia, whose first Shariah-based commodity trading platform has gone live.
“One of the mandates of the MIFC is to strengthen the international linkage in the global Islamic financial system with the leading financial centres such as Qatar,” an MIFC spokesman said………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Zawya.com: By offering minority stakes in government industries, Egypt is set to resume the sukuk privatization program temporarily suspended last year, reported Al-Shorouk.
With the stabilization of the Egyptian economy, the privatization program will reportedly launch in the chemical industries sector, with sales of minority shares of 10 to 20 percent of companies belonging to the Chemical Industries Holding Company…………………Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Albawaba.com: Asset Management Group at National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has signed an agreement to assign Standard &Poor’s Custom Indices for the calculation and maintenance of the NBAD UAE Listed Islamic Index.
The index has been developed and maintained by NBAD since it was incepted in August 2006 and designed to measure the overall performance of Shariah-compliant securities listed on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and Dubai Financial Market (DFM)………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Bloomberg: Etihad Etisalat Co., the second- largest mobile-phone company in Saudi Arabia, rescheduled a 1.5 billion-riyal ($400 million) Islamic loan with four Saudi banks.
The short-term financing will be repaid over four years, the Riyadh-based telecommunications provider said in a statement to the Saudi bourse today. Samba Financial Group, Riyad Bank, Saudi British Bank and National Commercial Bank were the lenders involved in the transaction………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Bloomberg: Dubai, which set up a $20 billon fund to help state-related companies through the credit crisis, will probably raise a second $10 billion for the program in November, Emaar Properties PJSC chairman said.
“I am not sure of the date, October, November? November is a more reasonable date,” Mohammed Alabbar, who also headed the government committee evaluating the impact of the global credit crisis on Dubai, told CNN in an interview from Dubai today………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Zawya Dow Jones: Dubai needs to raise another $10 billion for its economic support fund as it has insufficient capital to prop up its struggling government-related companies, according to a leading analyst at Standard & Poor’s.
“Dubai has about $4 billion to support government-related entities,” Farouk Soussa, head of Middle East government ratings at S&P, told delegates Sunday at a Dubai International Financial Centre economic conference. “From our point of view, that’s insufficient.”…………………Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thenational.ae: The Government should provide financial support to mortgage lenders to help revive the flagging UAE housing market, says Mahdi Mattar, the chief economist at Shuaa Capital.
Such lending has come to a virtual standstill as the UAE’s two largest mortgage lenders have yet to complete a tie-up announced last November………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Zawya.com: RAM Rating Services Berhad (RAM Ratings), Asia’s leading credit rating agency based in Malaysia, is looking for possible cross-border collaborations with Qatari institutions in the areas of funding and investment, particularly in the areas of Islamic finance.
Currently, Qatari investments in Malaysia include 70 percent equity in Asian Finance Berhad and a 49 percent stake in the Pavilion Mall, both in the city of Kuala Lumpur………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Cpifinancial.net: RAM Ratings has reaffirmed the respective long- and short-term ratings of Kuala Lumpur Kepong’s (KLK) MYR 500 million ($147.4 million) Sukuk Ijarah Commercial Paper/Medium-Term Notes Programme (2007/2012) at AA2 and P1; the long-term rating has a stable outlook.
KLK is one of the largest established plantation players, with more than 220,000 hectares of plantation land bank in Malaysia and Indonesia………………….Full Article: Source
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More stories about: Financial Instruments (Credit Cards, Debts, Loans, Mort, Performance
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Turkishweekly.net: Although Islamic finance has steadily grown from its inception in the 1970’s, until now, its has been seen as a small niche market of Islamic countries.
But Islamic finance may soon be rising even in European markets………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabnews.com: The Islamic banking and finance, which is based on profit-sharing and economic principles of the Shariah, has gained global reputation as a result of its ability to withstand the whirlwind of global financial crisis.
When the world’s largest banks and financial institutions have either collapsed or needed multibillion dollar government-funded bailouts, Islamic financial institutions stood firm without making big losses………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Midlandsbusinessnews.co.uk: Birmingham is second only to London as Europe’s leading centre for Islamic Finance, specialist consultant Mohammad Nazir told a business seminar.
Speaking at a breakfast event hosted at the Edmund Street offices of city centre law firm Clarke Willmott LLP, Mr Nazir said: “There are massive opportunities for professional firms in the West Midlands to take advantage of this growing market.”…………………Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Menafn.com: Hitherto, Islamic capital markets products especially sukuk (Islamic securities) have largely been targeted at institutional investors.
Bahrain, Malaysia and Indonesia are the exceptions in that they have issued retail sukuk in their local currencies and in the case of the first two countries, these issuances are fairly regular………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
A number of statements, resolutions and judgments relating to Islamic banking that have been issued and passed during the last two years have rekindled the debate over the very nature of the Shariah governance process in the global Islamic finance industry.
These included Resolution 179 (19/5) on Tawarruq issued by the International Council of Fiqh Academy in April 2009; the statement issued by the Shariah Committee of the Accounting and Auditing Organization of Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) in Bahrain in February 2008 relating to musharaka and mudaraba sukuk; and the judgment of the Malaysian Appeal Court in April 2009 that the Al-Bai Bithaman Ajil (BBA) deferred payment contract as practiced in Malaysia is a valid Islamic sale contract………………….Full Press Release: Source
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More stories about: Banking, Compliance, Tax, Legal, Regulatory, Islamic Law / Economics
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabnews.com: The UK banking regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), published its long-awaited policy statement on “strengthening liquidity standards” for authorized financial institutions in the UK on Oct. 4.
The provisions stress that the FSA takes a “no obstacles, no special favors” approach to regulating Islamic banks in the UK………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabnews.com: Housing is one of the basic needs of an individual and Islam encourages home ownership because it is deemed to give stability to the family and thus society as a whole. House purchases are the single most expensive outlay of the ordinary family.
And this is usually financed through a housing loan from a bank or mortgage provider………………….Full Article: Source
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More stories about: Financial Instruments (Credit Cards, Debts, Loans, Mort, Market Moves
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabnews.com: We have heard all too often, especially in the recent past, that local banks are not lending. This is largely attributed by many to apprehensions of the effects of the global financial crisis on the local economy and local commercial enterprises.
Of course, many local banks have been quite hesitant to lend given the uncertainties, especially after the defaults of a couple of large conglomerates………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Livemint.com: Gulf Arab economies will grow 5.2% next year as oil prices rise, credit markets improve and the property industry stabilizes, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.
The growth forecast for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman is based on an average oil price of $76.5 (Rs3,557) a barrel in 2010, the Washington-based IMF said on Sunday in its regional economic outlook for West Asia………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulf-daily-news.com: The biggest challenge facing the Gulf is mobilising private sector capital to replace government spending as fiscal programmes are rolled back, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Bank lending remains tight in the wake of the crisis, particularly in the region’s financial centres of Bahrain and Dubai, the IMF semi-annual Regional Economic Outlook Middle East and Central Asia said yesterday………………….Full Article: Source
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Posted on 12 October 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Maktoob.com: United Arab Emirates banks are expected to see non-performing loans, or NPLs, rise this year and are projected to reach between 4.5% and 5% of gross loans by mid-2010, investment bank Shuaa Capital’s chief economist said Sunday.
“We still haven’t seen the peak,” Mahdi Mattar said, adding that Shuaa forecasts a rise in NPLs to 3.5% by the end of 2009………………….Full Article: Source
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