From Gulf-daily-news.com: The prospects for growth in Islamic securities markets are likely to be positive in spite of the credit crunch, an increase in commodity prices and the widespread global economic slowdown.
That was the message to the opening session of the Sixth World Conference of the Islamic capital markets and investment funds at the Gulf Hotel from Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) executive director of financial institutions supervision Abdul Rahman Al Baker yesterday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: Investor sentiment has shifted in both Islamic and conventional finance since the economic downturn with people now looking at lower risk investments, delegates at the conference were told.
‘People are looking to move away from equities to safer havens like gold and cash at the moment,’ said Malaysian Stock Exchange global head of Islamic markets Raja Teh Maimunah Raja Abdul Aziz……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: The following borrowers are expected to sell Islamic bonds, which use asset returns to pay investors to comply with the religion’s ban on interest.
Sales of so-called sukuk globally increased to $20.2 billion last year from $14.1 billion in 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They climbed 31 percent to $4.8 billion so far this year……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Thejakartaglobe.com: Malaysia’s national mortgage company, Cagamas, will launch an Islamic bond program worth up to $3.02 billion, using the new structure to court Gulf investors and bridge the divide on Shariah compliance between the two regions.
Sukuk , or Islamic bonds, being developed with the Malaysian unit of Saudi’s Al Rajhi Bank, will be structured to enable Middle Eastern investors to trade the securities in secondary markets……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Indonesia’s finance ministry said it rejected all incoming bids, worth 1.2 trillion rupiah ($129.6 million) in total, at its sukuk auctions on Tuesday, as debt woes in Europe prompted investors to demand high yields.
Indonesian stocks fell more than 4 percent on Tuesday afternoon before closing down 3.66 percent, as most Asian markets declined on concerns that the euro debt woes could trigger a new banking and global economic crisis……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: The number of Islamic fund liquidations is expected to rise unless the nascent industry can develop the scale needed to tap into a large enough pool of Muslim wealth to succeed, a director at Ernst & Young said.
Assets managed by Islamic funds are hovering at about $52 billion, a fraction of the Muslim wealth pool estimated to be $300 billion, Ashar Nazim, a director at Ernst & Young, told Reuters on the sidelines of a two-day Islamic capital markets conference which ends on Tuesday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Newzglobe.com: Backed by strong fundamentals and increasing demand, Takaful premiums are estimated to increase by 30 percent to US$8.9 billion (Dh32.6bn) this year globally with GCC holding a lion’s share of 70.4 percent of the total. The UAE is the fastest growing takaful market in the world with a compound annual growth rate.
Encouraged by growth in Muslim population and non-Islamic countries’ warming up to the concept of Islamic banking, the value of assets managed by Islamic banks is expected to grow to US$4 trillion by 2020……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Insurancenewsnet.com: Although Islamic Shariah law has strict limitations on the use of premiums from takaful sales, Allianz Malaysia said it is open to tapping the market, with its estimated annual growth of up to 20% under positive government support.
“We are interested in takaful business as it is an attractive and promising segment with a lot of potential for growth,” Alexander Ankel, chief executive of Allianz Malaysia, told BestWeek Asia/Pacific……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Commodityonline.com: The internal working group of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), led by Anand Sinha, was supposed to examine the feasibility of Islamic banking business in India; they concluded that Islamic Banking in India is not possible unless we amend the Banking Regulation Act. This in my view is not imperative.
Had there been any objective of finding possibility to erode the hurdles for financial inclusion of any community who hate involvement in interest based transactions, one could have well concluded that ‘though Islamic banking needs amendments, under prevailing acts in India, interest free banking is quite possible’……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: Growing tendency towards favoring Islamic banking requires the upgrade of financial services at Sharia-compliant banks, Ahamdi Governor Sheikh Dr. Ibrahim Al-Duaij Al-Sabah said Monday.
His remarks to reporters came on the occasion of inaugurating the new branch of Boubyan Bank at Al-Bairaq Shopping Mall in Oqaila, the 16th for the Kuwaiti lender……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Thestar.com.my: Come June, there will be some excitement in the banking industry when Bank Negara reveals some of the successful recipients for foreign commercial banking licences in line with the financial sector liberalisation plan.
Up to five new banking licences are expected to be issued in niche and up to two new takaful licences will also be announced……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Ratings agency Fitch downgraded Dubai Bank on Tuesday as concerns mount that other Dubai companies to which it is connected, including its owner, state conglomerate Dubai Holding, face financial difficulties.
Fitch cut its individual rating on Dubai Bank to ‘D’, which means there are concerns regarding its profitability and balance sheet integrity, management, operating environment or prospects, according to the agency’s website……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Gulfnews.com: In the next few months, banks in the smaller economies in the region will reduce their loan to deposit ratios and investment banks will be regulated in a much harsher way, according to the UAE Central Bank Governor.
“Banking regulations will probably be amended in the coming few months…. will steer their banking system towards lowering the growth rate of loans and advances plus investments versus stable deposits,” Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, UAE Central Bank Governor, said at the closing of the Menasa Forum on Monday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Firstthings.com: To what extent is sharia compatible with Western law? Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Britain’s Supreme Court president Lord Phillips created a stir in 2008 by proposing that British courts might permit the application of Muslim religious law.
Numerous American scholars have suggested that sharia might have an application to family law. All the proponents of importing sharia into the West cite the example of Jewish religious law, Halakha, which has coexisted seamlessly with Western law for two thousand years……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa will gain momentum in 2010 along with global recovery, but challenges to some banking systems weigh on the outlook, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.
A potential repricing of sovereign debt due to the Dubai and Greek debt crises was adding uncertainty to the outlook for the MENAP region, which also includes Afghanistan and Pakistan, the IMF said in its regional economic report……………………………………….Full Article: Source