From Dow Jones: The International Finance Corp. said Wednesday it will list a $100 million, five-year Islamic bond with the Nasdaq Dubai and Bahrain stock exchanges.

The private-sector financing arm of the World Bank plans to become the first non-Islamic financial institution to issue a so-called sukuk for term funding in the Gulf Cooperation Council. The bonds comply with Islamic law, known as Shariah, by not charging interest. Instead, sukuk make payouts derived from underlying assets sold to a special purpose vehicle that is the issuer of the paper……………………Full Article (Subscription Required): Source

From Business24-7.ae: International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of World Bank, is planning to lower the cost of its $100 million (Dh367m) sukuk listing in Dubai and Bahrain after discussing it with the bourses, Emirates Business has learned.

“The whole process is more difficult. It’s more expensive in structuring and doing it and the pricing tends to be higher than global markets,” Nina Shapiro, IFC Vice-President for Finance and Treasurer told this newspaper on the sidelines of a conference yesterday……………………Full Article: Source

From Business24-7.ae: Shariah indices performed well during the financial crisis compared to their conventional counterparts but this performance – far from being limited to volatile times – is spread across the full market cycle.

Over the past 11 credit-challenged quarters, the MSCI World Islamic Index has maintained a good track-record with lower volatility than the MSCI World Index……………………Full Article: Source

From Seekingalpha.com: It seems as though two prominent Middle Eastern investment companies - Kuwait’s Investment Dar and Saudi Arabia’s Saad Group - are at the cusp of a legal battle that will largely determine the $1,000bn Islamic-style bond industry.
This bond industry is one of the fastest growing niches of international finance. The deal is simply this: invest in Islamic operations that can technically comply with Islamic law against interest while providing a product that creates a guaranteed or floating interest rate that is, well, not an interest rate. A product such as this is called a sukuk……………………Full Article: Source

From Cantos.comThe last few years have seen the Islamic finance sector expand rapidly; growth in 2007 reached nearly 30%.

In Autumn 2009, BDO in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed over 170 global financial institutions to establish if this growth was expected to continue, what products and services are deemed most attractive and the barriers that institutions feel may hinder the growth of Islamic finance…………………….Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com:Shariah Indices have performed better than their conventional counterparts throughout the credit crisis. Over the last eleven credit-crisis challenged quarters, the MSCI World Islamic Index has delivered a good track-record with lower volatility than the MSCI World Index.
However, it is not just this out performance in volatile times that speaks positively for Shariah Investing but its performance across a full market cycle……………………Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Dubai World, the state-owned holding company grappling with $40 billion of debt, may be able to sell bonds to repay loans, including a $3.5 billion Islamic bond due at year-end, two bankers familiar with the group’s plans said.

Some of the money needed to settle the Islamic bond, or sukuk, of Dubai World’s real-estate unit Nakheel PJSC may be raised from a bond sale and the rest from local lenders, said the bankers, who declined to be identified because nothing has been decided yet……………………Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Dubai’s Emirates airline has appointed BNP Paribas to arrange a $289 million bond offering for two Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, for delivery in 2009 and 2010.

Emirates, the world’s largest non-alliance airline by international passenger traffic, has mandated the French bank to arrange the $289 million facility, guaranteed by U.S. Export-Import Bank, BNP Paribas said on Wednesday……………………Full Article: Source

From Btimes.com.my: Although Malaysia is recognised as the market leader in Islamic finance, there is still scope to enhance its position, says National Economic Advisory Council chairman Tan Sri Amirsham Abdul Aziz.

He said local technology companies should reposition themselves and fully leverage on the recognition as a solution provider for the Islamic finance system……………………Full Article: Source

From Themalaysianinsider.com: Owing to a pick-up in property sales, analysts do not expect the national Budget to be tabled tomorrow to hold goodies for the sector, except perhaps for Islamic real estate investment trusts (Reits), given that Syariah financing is a key area of promotion for the government.

After an initial bout of activity, Malaysian Reits have become under-invested on the lack of size, liquidity, investor understanding and news flow……………………Full Article: Source

From Finextra.com: Callataÿ & Wouters, a provider of core banking and multi-channel distribution solutions, today announced the formalisation of its partnership with the IA Group Sdn Bhd (IA), a Malaysian management consulting, technology and outsourcing company.
The two companies are partnering to develop an Islamic banking solution for the region and global market……………………Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Increased provisioning for bad loans and a decline in income from investments have led Bahrain Islamic Bank into a quarterly loss.

Bahrain’s biggest Islamic retail bank by market value said on Wednesday provisions for impairments in the third quarter increased more than threefold to 2 million Bahraini dinars ($5.31 million) from 600,000 dinars in the same period last year……………………Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: First Gulf Bank (FGB), one of the region’s leading financial institutions, announced today its financial results for the third quarter, reporting a Net Profit of Dhs930m, which is 20% higher than the second quarter of 2009, and 9% higher than the third quarter of 2008.
André Sayegh, FGB’s Chief Executive Officer, said:”At a time where the global economy is witnessing slow recovery, FGB stands out as a solid financial institution, delivering a strong performance……………………Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: Doha Bank has achieved 17 percent increase in operating income for nine months ending September 30 this year, demonstrating the bank’s robust growth and sustainable performance.

The operating income for the nine months ended September 30 this year has increased by 17 percent to an impressive QR1,545m compared to QR1,324m for the same period last year, announced H E Sheikh Fahad bin Mohammad bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairman of Board of Directors of Doha Bank. …………………..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Doha Islamic plans to open three more branches in Qatar in view of the growing demand for Shariah-based banking products and services. Doha Islamic is the Shariah-based arm of Doha Bank.
Doha Bank Group chief executive R Seetharaman said the number of Doha Islamic branches would go up to eight from the current five in the next few months……………………Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: In a move to enhance its risk management policies, Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB) has signed an agreement with Emcredit to use its credit information reporting services. This announcement was made yesterday by Emcredit, the UAE’s first government-backed credit bureau.

Through Emcredit’s Credit Scope, which provides factual records of a company’s or individual’s credit history, EIB will gain an accurate perspective on its borrowers’ repayment history as well as their capability to service new and existing debts……………………Full Article: Source

From Azernews.az: The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), the country`s leading bank, plans to introduce Islamic banking in the South Caucasus republic, its board chairman, Jahangir Hajiyev, has announced.
He noted, however, that the measure can be enacted no earlier than in 2010……………………Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Takaful International has signed an agreement with Qatar Islamic Insurance Company to launch the ‘Heya’ insurance product in the Qatar.

Present at the signing ceremony in Doha were Qatar Islamic Insurance family takaful and health manager Mohammed M Al Ja’bari, Takaful International chief executive officer Younis Al Sayed, assistant general manager family takaful Ali Ebrahim Noor and Family Takaful manager Reema Ghuloom Nawrooz……………………Full Article: Source

From Islamicfinancespot: In the last 25 year, Islamic banking practice has progressed tremendously. The past two and a half decades, serious research done, has established that Islamic banking is a viable and efficient way of financial intermediation.
Several Islamic banks have been established during this period under mixed, social and economic settings. Recently, many conventional banks, including some major multinational Western banks, have also started using Islamic banking techniques. All this is encouraging……………………Full Article: Source