From Koreaherald.com: The Financial Supervisory Service approved Korea’s first Islamic investment fund that operates in strict conformity with the precepts of Islamic Sharia law. The Yurie Shariah Compliance Korea Index developed by Yuri Asset Management invests in 78 local blue chips acceptable under Sharia.
Shinhan Financial Group, KB Financial Group and Samsung Life Insurance are excluded from the list as it is unlawful for an Islamic fund to purchase, hold or sell shares of brokerages. KT&G and Kangwon Land, Inc. are also excluded to leave out the drug and gambling industry……………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Zawya Dow Jones: Troubled Dubai real-estate developer Nakheel faces another key test of its credit worthiness next week with the maturity of a $980 million Islamic bond, or sukuk.
Nakheel must repay bondholders and avoid a default as its parent Dubai World hammers out an agreement with more than 90 creditor banks to restructure $23.5 billion of total debt……………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Malaysia’s Bank Islam and Middle Eastern investors are keen to buy a stake in PT Bank Muamalat, the Indonesian bank said on Thursday, as they look to tap Indonesia’s vast but untested Islamic banking market.
The potential investors want to take a stake in Bank Muamalat, Indonesia’s biggest sharia bank, via a planned 1 trillion rupiah ($110 million) rights issue in June, the bank’s finance director said……………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Bank Muscat, Oman’s largest lender by market value, is considering selling more foreign assets to reduce rising operating costs, two bank officials with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.
‘We are considering, after the sale of HDFC Bank, to sell more of our foreign assets to make up for the higher operating costs and impairment credit losses,’ said one Bank Muscat official who declined to be identified……………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Muslims.net: Malaysia, with an Islamic banking sector of about $43 billion, has been a pioneer in Islamic finance in Southeast Asia where as philippines, Singapore and Thailand have relatively small Islamic banking sectors, matching the smaller Muslim populations in these countries.
The Malaysian government has recently made the announcement that it will introduce several key measures to support the speedy development of Islamic finance……………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Arabianbusiness.com: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is considering launching a medium-term note (MTN) programme worth several billions dollar for Islamic bonds, or sukuk, to finance infrastructure in Asia, an official said.
“If we use such an instrument we’re able to tap a wider wealth pool,” Jaseem Ahmed, a director of ADB’s Southeast Asia Department, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Manama……………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Thecitizen.co.tz: Commercial banks in the country need to disseminate knowledge that will overcome a negative banking perception by the Muslim community, minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Mustafa Mkulo has said.
He was speaking at the official launch of the Islamic banking service by Stanbic Bank on Tuesday in Dar es Salaam. “Even as I commend you for being innovative and coming up with products that will attract more people into banking, I still challenge you to go out and educate people on the importance of banking,” he said……………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) has imposed fines amounting to $506,000 on Al Mal Bank and withdrawn its “authorisation” for violating rules laid down by the Regulatory Authority
The disciplinary action follows an investigation which identified “serious and systemic contraventions by Al Mal of the regulations and the rules of the Regulatory Authority,” the QFCRA said in a statement. “Al Mal was authorised on the 3rd December 2008 as an Islamic Financial Institution to conduct Islamic Financial Business……………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Bahrain-based Futurebank posted a net profit of BD2.6 million ($6.9 million) in the first quarter of this year, a 45.8 per cent increase over BD1.8 million profit for the same period last year.
‘Futurebank has had a great beginning to this year,’ Futurebank chief executive officer and managing director Dr Valiollah Seif said……………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Kuwaittimes.net: For the second year running, NBK Capital, a leading regional investment bank, has been named “Best Investment Bank in Kuwait” by Global Finance magazine, a prestigious financial services publication. The results will be published this June in a special edition of the magazine, World’s Best Investment Banks 2010.
NBK Capital received the award based on a series of criteria judged by Global Finance editors and industry experts. …………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Fitch Ratings has today commented that amidst the robust growth of the takaful industry in recent years, one key challenge for takaful players is the limited clarity in the regulatory and supervisory framework for the sector.
Nonetheless, with the introduction of guiding principles and standards for the Islamic financial services industry by the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), a Malaysia-based international standard-setting organisation, the situation is gradually improving……………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: Family Takaful has achieved significant success in SE Asia, with the family segment in Malaysia reaching a substantial 73% of net contributions according to the Ernst & Young World Takaful Report 2010, launched recently at the 5th Annual World Takaful Conference (WTC 2010) held in Dubai.
Working in strategic partnership with Etiqa, the launch of the 1st Annual World Takaful Conference: Family Takaful Summit-Malaysia to be held in Kuala Lumpur on the 14th and 15th of July 2010, builds on this solid foundation and focuses on: “Bringing Family Takaful into the 2nd decade of the 21st century.”…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From UNI: In a major expansion plan in India, which will benefit mostly Muslim educational institutions, Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has approved several new projects for its financial grants.
Initial investments, totalling 600,000 dollars, would be to start among others an extension centre in New Delhi of a premier civil services coaching institute presently run by Hamdard Education Society……………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Brunei.fm: Among the many booths located in the Brunei Pavilion in Expo 2010 Shanghai, one booth stands out due to it’s promotion of a field that is very much unknown in China, Islamic banking.
Hjh Salma Latiff, the Managing Director of Crescent Sdn Bhd, third prize winner of the ThinkBig Business Plan Competition 2009/10, is at the expo to promote her company’s Islamic Banking course to the rest of the world……………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Africa’s Islamic finance industry needs to overcome negative perceptions among non-Muslims to successfully expand into predominantly Christian sub-Saharan Africa, an industry leader has said.
Northern Africa is largely Muslim and countries such as Egypt and Sudan have offered Islamic banking for decades. Now some lenders are looking to expand into sub-Saharan nations, such as Uganda which is 80 per cent Christian……………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: Adopting Islamic finance practices could lead to a more equitable global economic system, an Islamic finance expert told an AUB audience. Sheikh Zaher Nsouli, chief of Sharia audits at the Lebanese Islamic Bank, added that methods applied in Islamic institutions could help prevent future economic meltdowns.
Nsouli, in the talk “Islamic Finance in the Midst of the Meltdown Crisis,” held at AUB’s Suliman S. Olayan School of Business, praised the Islamic Zakat system where a 2.5 percent of all revenue is continually redistributed to the poor……………………………………..Full Article: Source