From Asiaone.com: Asia’s relatively illiquid currencies restrict the region’s Islamic finance growth potential as foreign investors have limited appetite for holding local currency assets, PricewaterhouseCoopers said on Tuesday.
Malaysia is regarded as a key Islamic finance centre and has the world’s largest sukuk market, while Indonesia is seen as offering vast untapped opportunities in the sector……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Moneylife.in: The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM), a Bahrain-based Islamic capital markets body, and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) have come up with standardised documentation for derivatives instruments that comply with Sharia, or Islamic law.
In theory, derivatives are supposed to hedge risks in developed markets. Often, they have the reverse effect and they can create a disaster far larger than the problem that they were supposed to cure. There are several reasons……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: Allen & Overy LLP and its affiliated office in Riyadh, Abdulaziz AlGasim Law Firm, have advised Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) on the issuance of a SAR7 billion (USD1.87 billion) sukuk, the largest sukuk issue globally in 2010 to date.
The issuance, which is the third by SEC, is the first public offering of the year in Saudi Arabia, and is also the first corporate sukuk with the equivalent of a seven year maturity to be offered in the Kingdom……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: State-controlled power utility Saudi Electricity Co has raised 7 billion riyals ($1.87 billion) from a seven-year Islamic bond at 95 basis points above Saudi Interbank Offered Rate (Sibor), sources said.
The sources, who asked not to be identified, said the bond would start trading on the Saudi bond market before May 24……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Kippreport.com: Nakheel, a property developer unit of the troubled Dubai World conglomerate, has received financial assistance from the Dubai Financial Support Fund (DFSF) to pay back an Islamic bond due to mature on May 13.
The DFSF assistance will allow Nakheel to pay back the sukuk – or Islamic bond – in full, according to a report by Bloomberg. The bond closed at 97.5 fils to the dirham, the report added……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Dubai has given developer Nakheel, a Dubai World unit, enough funds to repay a $980mn Islamic bond due tomorrow, Nakheel said in a statement yesterday.
Nakheel, the builder of man-made islands shaped like palms, is widely expected to repay the bond on time despite the absence of a formal debt deal on parent Dubai World, which is in talks with banks to restructure $24.8bn in debt repayments………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Indonesia trimmed the size of its planned sales of Islamic and yen-denominated debt because of concern that Greece’s debt crisis will spread, a finance ministry official said. “We will only sell at benchmark size,” Rahmat Waluyanto, director general of the debt management office, said in a telephone interview in Jakarta. A benchmark sale typically means $500 million.
“The sales will be in the second half of this year.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Saba: A lecture on issuing Islamic sukuk (the Islamic equivalent of bonds) was organized here on Tuesday by the Yemeni Banks Association.
The lecture, attended by 40 specialists from the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY), Yemeni banks and the unity of the stock market and the relevant agencies, was carried out by the General Manager of the Stock Market in Khartoum Dr. Osman Khair, who is an expert in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and delegated to assist the CBY in determining the structure and systems of the Islamic sukuk unit……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Bahrain’s BBK bank is set to meet investors in Asia on Thursday, as it plans a bond issue, bankers from two of the arranging banks said on Tuesday.
The lender has appointed HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup to arrange the meetings, to be held in Europe and the UAE……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Malaysia-based Islamic lender Asian Finance Bank will boost its net profit by at least 30%-40% this year as it beefs up its corporate banking and sukuk business, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
The three-year old bank will focus on activities such as trade financing, machinery leasing and providing letters of credit to the infrastructure, oil and gas and services industries in Asia, Mohamed Azahari Kamil said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Emirates NBD PJSC, the UAE’s biggest bank by assets, is in talks to sell a significant minority stake in Network International, the bank’s card-processing unit, banking industry sources said yesterday.
Earlier in the day a Bloomberg report said the bank had hired a consultant to value Network International LLC……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Albaraka.com: The Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group, Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C (ABG) announced that it had posted a net profit of US$ 48.3 million in the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 13% over the profit of the first quarter of 2009.
Balance sheet items also witnessed significant growth as total assets increased by 4%, liquid assets by 6%, total finance and investments by 3% and deposits by 4% as at the end of March 2010 compared with the end of December 2009……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB), a leading Islamic bank in the Kingdom of Bahrain, today announced that it has posted a net profit of BD0.5m for the first quarter of 2010 (BD4.1m during the same period 2009).
The Bank’s business continued to expand with financing assets growing by 3.4% over December 2009, and Unrestricted Investment Accounts remaining at the level of December 2009. The Bank’s financial position remained strong with liquid asset ratio of 24.6% and capital adequacy ratio of 32.2%……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Globalarabnetwork.com: S&P has affirmed ‘A+/A-1′ long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on National Bank of Kuwait S.A.K. (NBK). At the same time, the outlook was revised to stable from negative.
S&P has affirmed ‘BBB+/A-2′ long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK). At the same time, the outlook was revised to stable from negative……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: Al khaliji, said it recently participated in the $255 million (QAR 928 million) dual currency Islamic structured Murabaha syndicated facility for Turkey’s largest Islamic bank - Bank Asya - through al khaliji Group Corporate and Institutional Banking.
The biggest Islamic Murabaha syndication ever executed in Turkey in dual currency ($121.5 million and €99.15 million), represents the largest and most successful international syndicated finance involvements by regional and international banks to date. The Bank Asya Murabaha facility was more than three times oversubscribed……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Shuaa Capital said on Tuesday it will sell its 48.69 per cent stake in Kuwait-based Al Kout Industrial Projects Company (AIP) to a group of prominent Kuwaiti investors. The sale is expected to generate more than $50 million of liquidity for Shuaa.
Listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, AIP specialises in the production of chlorine, hydrochloric acid, caustic soda and other related chemicals for a range of applications from water treatment and food manufacture to oil drilling. Shuaa bought the stake in 2006……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Brunei.fm: The Brunei-hosted International Halal Market Conference (IHMC) in June will address cutting-edge issues in the emerging halal market and review key developments in the sector in recent years, the government yesterday said.
In a statement, the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR) said the conference will analyse current trends and dynamics at work in the halal market and look at what the coming decade is likely to bring……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: Funds-at-Work, a research-based strategy consultancy focusing on the investment industry, recently released “Shariah Scholars - A Network Analytic Perspective,” which links Sharia scholars to board positions.
It is a more comprehensive study than previous Sharia scholar reports. Rushdi Siddiqui puts some challenging questions to four international Sharia scholars to get their view points:………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Dailystar.com.lb: Wrangling among scholars and wiggle room in interpretation of Sharia principles threaten to derail any attempt to arrive at global standards in Islamic finance, holding back the $1-trillion industry.
Analysts say that unified rules that could have fuelled growth will be difficult to establish given the differences not just between regulators but also between practitioners……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Maktoob.com: The French parliament on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the full-face Islamic veil as an affront to the nation’s values, setting the stage for a law banning it.
The vote in the National Assembly put France on course to become the second European country after Belgium to declare the wearing of the burqa or the niqab illegal in public places……………………………………….Full Article: Source