Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Bloomberg: A U.K. court ruling involving Kuwait- based Investment Dar Co. and Lebanon’s Blom Bank SAL will heighten the “operational risk” for Islamic finance transactions, said Moody’s Investors Service.
Investment Dar was granted the right to a trial by an English court as its attempts to effectively void an Islamic finance transaction with Blom, Khalid Howladar, a senior credit analyst at Moody’s wrote in an e-mailed report today……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thestar.com.my: Malaysia has delayed making a decision on the size and timing of its first sale of Islamic bonds in eight years due to unstable market conditions, say two people with direct knowledge of the plan.
The decision would not be made this week because of swings in emerging-market assets, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because discussions were private. Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah didn’t pick up calls to his mobile phone seeking comment……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thedailystar.net: The world is slowly but surely realising the importance of the “halal” branding as major companies around the world move in to capture a global Muslim community, where the “ummah” brings together nearly 1.8 billion people around the world.
The majority of those people are in Asia, particularly South and East Asia. It’s also a very young demographic — 52% are under 24. This means a trend-setting, ambitious, and internationally connected market is at hand here……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Timesofmalta.com: Research into the implications inherent in the regulation of banking activities based on Islamic principles, as well as the accounting of such activities, is still ongoing, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech told Parliament in reply to a question by Labour MP Leo Brincat.
Such research involved close examination of various banking aspects in the context of current legislation, regulations and legal principles at local, European and international levels……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabianbusiness.com: Noor Islamic Bank remains on track to break even by 2012 despite challenges in the banking sector due to Dubai World’s financial woes and new worries over Dubai Holding, said Noor Islamic’s chief executive on Wednesday.
The company has no exposure to Dubai World and less than 2 percent exposure to Dubai Holding, which some analysts fear could be the next entity to face a large scale restructuring, said Hussain Al Qemzi in an interview with Reuters……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Reuters: Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank made its market debut on the Amman stock exchange on Wednesday, nearly 18 months after UAE-based investors bought a majority stake in a local Jordanian bank and rebranded it.
The UAE’s Dubai Islamic Bank had bought a 52 percent stake in Industrial Development Bank of Jordan and shares in the predecessor of Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank were then suspended on Dec. 30 2008……………………………………..Full Article: Source
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From Arabianbusiness.com: UAE’s central bank plans to launch new liquidity facilities within the next three months to expand its policy arsenal and help the Gulf state’s Islamic banks manage cash, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Speaking to Reuters, Mohamed al Tamimi, deputy executive director at the central bank’s treasury department, said: “I believe that we are the first central bank in the region to issue Islamic certificates of deposit with maturities of one week up to one year.”…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
Industry analysts at the International Islamic Finance Forum 2010 are of the opinion that the value of assets managed by Islamic banks is expected to grow to AED14.6 trillion (US$ 4 trillion) by 2020 . This would be possible as the world’s Muslim population grows larger and globally more non-Islamic jurisdictions warm up to the concept of Islamic banking. However, the need of the hour according to analyst is addressing issues such as evolving sukuk structures, poor corporate credit and product innovation .
These sentiments were expressed through an electronic voting system by delegates and high-profile speakers at the Forum. Poor corporate credit was rated deemed as the primary cause of recent sukuk defaults and near defaults, followed by lack of Islamic regulatory oversight. 44.5 percent of participants voted that sukuk structures will evolve only over the next three years from asset-based arrangements to true asset-backed……………………………………..Full Press Release: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulfnews.com: Emirates NBD Wednesday announced the resination of its Vice-Chairman Abdullah Mohammad Saleh. The board accepted his resignation, the bank told the Dubai Financial Market in a statement.
Saleh was the first Emirati officer of National Bank of Dubai (NBD) and served it right from its inception in 1963, according to the bank’s website. He was managing director of the bank from 1981 until December 2003……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Msn.com: Standard and Poor’s ratings agency on Wednesday placed the A- long-term counterparty credit rating for top Islamic bank Kuwait Finance House on “credit watch” with negative implications.
“The rating action reflects our view that the material deterioration of asset quality indicators and reduced revenue-generating capability — linked to the bad performance of equity and real estate markets — have negatively affected KFH’s financial profile,” S&P said……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: Volatile equity markets and low interest rates on deposits in recent years are drawing investors in Saudi Arabia towards bonds, a new asset class poised for growth, a senior investment banker from HSBC said.
Some SR50 billion worth ($13.33 billion) of bonds have been issued in the kingdom from mid-2006 with more issues in the pipeline, Fahad al-Saif, director of investment banking at HSBC Saudi Arabia, said on Wednesday……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Zawya Dow Jones: Saudi Electricity Co., or SEC, plans to issue an Islamic bond, or sukuk, in the international markets by early next year, after three sukuk issues in the local market, a senior company executive said Wednesday.
“We are soon going to tap the international markets. It might not be this year, maybe beginning of next year,” Ahmed Al Jogaiman, executive vice president for finance, said at a forum in Abu Dhabi……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Zawya.com: The Gulf Bond and Sukuk Association (GBSA) and EMTA, Trade Association for the Emerging Markets, announced today that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together in actively promoting the fixed income markets in the Middle East.
The agreement was signed by Michael Grifferty, President of GBSA, and Michael Chamberlin, Executive Director of EMTA. Diego Gradowczyk of Barclays Capital, one of EMTA’s Co-Chairs, also attended the signing and witnessed the MoU……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Lexology.com: It is with great interest that the introduction of tax legislation dealing with Islamic finance has been noted in the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, 2010 (the Bill) that was released for comment recently.
In this context South Africa is thus following countries such as the United Kingdom and France that have introduced similar legislation and have attracted substantial investments following from the regularisation of these types of investments from a tax perspective……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Cpifinancial.net: In a new Special Comment, Moody’s examines the new concept of the “Shari’ah risk” associated with Islamic financial instruments and considers the implications of a recent English court decision, which highlighted a particular legal concern relating to potential disputes over Shari’ah compliance.
“Although the story is not yet over, the recent ruling in the case of Blom Bank (Blom) vs. The Investment Dar (TID) has some material implications for the Islamic finance industry,” says Khalid Howladar, a Moody’s Senior Credit Officer and author of the report……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulf-daily-news.com: MEGA Events managing director Davis McLean predicted that next year would see the industry bounce back after a year of stabilisation. “This year we have seen the Islamic funds industry re-invent itself and by 2011 we expect growth to be back on track,” he said.
“That is certainly the view that came across here from experts from all over the world……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: Middle East investors are looking to invest more in emerging markets than in North America, Europe or Japan, lured by the higher returns such regions offer, a study released by US-based fund manager Invesco showed.
In a report published on Wednesday, the global money manager said about 82 per cent of the more than 200 participants it surveyed forecast a preference for exposure to emerging markets in the next three to five years, compared with 30 per cent for North America and 14 per cent for Europe……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Saudigazette.com.sa: GCC’s high net worth individuals (HNWIs) are the most actively involved in their portfolio and are seen increasingly involved in socially responsible investing, Barclays Wealth said in its latest report released on Monday titled “The Changing Wealth of Nations”.
It also forecast that GCC HNWI’s have rosy outlook on global economy, particularly bullish on equities and property……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulf-daily-news.com: Economic prospects for the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) have improved with the resumption of capital inflows and rising crude oil prices.
But stress in the banking and financial sectors along with slow credit activity are weighing on the rebound, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest Regional Economic Outlook report……………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Expressindia.com: Days after a leading Islamic seminary held as un-Islamic women working in offices in proximity with men, another seminary has issued a fatwa that Muslim women can work in offices but with a veil.
Mufti of Darul Iftah of Bareilvi Sharif Mohd Ayyub Alem Rizvi has issued the fatwa that Muslim women can work in institutions after wearing the veil but with some conditions. However, the conditions were not known…………………………………….Full Article: Source
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