Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thisisguernsey.com: Moves to make it easier for Sharia-compliant institutions to hedge their risks would be a bad step for the Islamic finance industry. Birch Assets managing director Toby Birch said the launch of a 42-page document for derivatives that comply with Muslim religious principles made for depressing reading.
The standardised documentation for derivative instruments that comply with Sharia, or Islamic law, which is known as the Tahawwut Master Agreement, is the creation of the International Islamic Financial Market and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Cityam.com: The last two years have shaken traditional western forms of finance to the core. Lax regulation combined with complex trading products proved to be a lethal cocktail and governments across the developed world are now picking up the bill for hefty bailouts.
But should investors be looking at other financial models to invest their cash? Islamic finance, which conforms to the principles of Sharia law, has predominantly been based in the Middle East but there are ways to access it in the UK and one way is through listed products. Exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider iShares offers an Islamic ETF that tracks the MSCI USA Islamic index………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Alrroya.com: Despite representing a microscopic portion of the global conventional bond market, Islamic bonds or sukuk have managed to gain a steady ground and post significant gains even during the recent tough economic conditions, financial analysts say.
In its Global Sukuk report published last month, credit ratings agency Moody’s mentioned that the worldwide issuances of Islamic bonds in 2009 jumped by a massive 50 per cent compared to the 2008 records. This growth had been primarily attributed to a growth in the number of issuances initiated by sovereigns and government-related issuers (GRI) for mega energy and infrastructure projects in the GCC region………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Middle-east-online.com: Dubai’s troubled real estate giant Nakheel said on Wednesday it will repay maturing Islamic bonds reportedly worth 980.1 million dollars on time and in full.
“Nakheel today announces that the Dubai Financial Support Fund has made available sufficient funds to allow for the repayment in full of the sukuk issued by Nakheel Development … which matures on 13 May 2010,” the firm said………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tempointeractive.com: Bahrain-based Elaf Bank signed cooperation deals with two indonesian firms today (12/5) for energy projects worth US$84 million (Rp766 billion), which provides the latter parties with financing facilities from islamic bond issue by the bank for the next five years.
PT Java Energi Semesta signed a US$62 million deal from bond issue by Elaf to fund gas compressing and refilling station in East java, Karawang (West Java), and Cilegon (Banten Province). While PT Mitra Abadi Raharja will get US$22 million also from bond issue to fund a micro 2X4 megawatt hydropower plant in Jambi Province………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Reuters: Qatar’s Al Khaliji Commercial Bank on Wednesday said it is in talks to merge with International Bank of Qatar, but that the discussions were still at an early stage.
Al Khaliji, Qatar’s sixth-largest bank by market value, is “in discussions with another financial institution regarding the evaluation of the possibility of a combination of the businesses of both parties, and revealed that this financial institution is International Bank of Qatar,” according to a statement posted on the bourse website………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulfnews.com: UAE banks are very solid with high liquidity and are continuing to show signs of relatively high lending activity, UAE Central Bank Governor Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi was quoted as saying by the Oxford Business Group (OBG) yesterday.
In a recent interview with the OBG the central bank governor dispelled concerns UAE banks could become risk averse………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: The UAE’s central bank will continue to ensure sufficient liquidity in the banking system and would like to see lower loan to deposit ratios but is not too concerned about lending risks, its governor was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
UAE banks are heavily exposed to the multi-billion dollar debt restructuring of Dubai’s state-owned conglomerate Dubai World, which is expected to weigh on economic recovery in the UAE, the world’s third-largest oil exporter, this year………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulf-daily-news.com: Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB) is set to launch itself across the region as a full service retail banking operation. As part of its new strategy, it yesterday launched its new brand identity.
Designed to reflect the wave of change the bank is riding into a dynamic and exciting future, the logo retains key elements of the earlier design………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabianbusiness.com: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) approved on Wednesday the conversion of a 3.75 billion dirham ($1.02 billion) state deposit into tier-2 capital, the bank said.
An extraordinary general meeting approved the tier 2 wakala, or Islamic deposit, agreement with the finance ministry, the emirate’s largest Islamic lender said in a statement………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thenational.ae: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) shareholders have approved a Dh3.75 billion (US$1.02bn) capital injection from the Ministry of Finance arranged last year as part of the Government’s efforts to shore up the banking system.
The funds, structured as a Sharia-compliant wakala agreement, follows a Dh70bn Ministry of Finance stability programme put in place in October 2008 to help restart lending at banks………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Cnbc.com: The top Palestinian financial regulator sought to assure an anxious public Wednesday that the Gaza Strip is not facing a banking crisis after the Palestinian territories’ largest lender closed two of its three Gaza branches last week.
The decision by the Jordan-based Arab Bank to shutter the shops set off jitters among its Gaza customers. On Wednesday, dozens of clients lined up at the bank’s sole remaining branch in Gaza City, some of them in order to close their accounts………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Cpifinancial.net: Qatar First Investment Bank Chairman Abdulla bin Fahad Bin Ghorab Al Marri reviews bank’s activities in 2009 and future plans. “We are proud to report on our successful first year of operation,” said Chairman Abdulla bin Fahad Bin Gohrab Al Marri during his opening remarks.
“Setting up a new, non-affiliated investment bank at a time when financial markets were under a great deal of stress was never going to be easy. The hard work and dedication of the people in the bank has shown that a Qatari Islamic investment bank can play an important role in the region and wider international markets.”……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Albawaba.com: Capinnova Investment Bank, the Shariah compliant investment banking arm of BBK, today announced that the Bank has reported a gross revenue of US$3.37 million for the period ended 31st March 2010 in comparison to US$421 thousand for the period ended 31st March 2009.
The net profit reported for the period ended 31st March 2010 was US$1.46 million as compared to net loss of US$1.65 million for same period in 2009. The total revenue includes US$1.63 million in relation to the fair value adjustment for transfer of Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thestar.com.my: Malaysia and Qatar will sign a memorandum of understanding tomorrow to explore deals worth up to US$5bil in fields including energy and Islamic finance, a source said yesterday.
The government-to-government deal would be signed here, said the source, who is familiar with the plan. The source declined to elaborate. An official with a Malaysian state investment authority declined to comment………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Mineweb.co.za: Qatar Holding, the investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, has set up a $1 billion Indonesian fund to invest in infrastructure and natural resources in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, officials said.
The new investment fund is a sign of increasing interest in Indonesia among Middle East and other international investors thanks to the country’s abundant resources and desperate need for financing for infrastructure projects ranging from power plants to roads, railways, and bridges………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
Alaric International, a leading supplier of advanced technology solutions for the card payments industry, today announced that Kuwait Finance House (KFH), one of the world’s leading Islamic financial institutions, has gone live with a deployment of Alaric’s ‘Authentic’ payments platform. The project was implemented with the local support of 3SC Technologies, Alaric International’s regional partner in the Middle East.
In a key technology refresh, Kuwait Finance House selected Authentic as a replacement integration layer to manage the bank’s entire channel banking payments traffic between its legacy switching system and the back office………………………………………Full Press Release: Source
Posted on 13 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From KUNA: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFS) said Wednesday it was keen on developing markets and increasing the abilities of the trade sector in Islamic countries.
ITFS Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Waleed Al-Wuhaib told KUNA that the USD 2.166 billion operations of the corporation in 2009 aimed to increase trade among member countries of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC)………………………………………Full Article: Source
RSS
