Posted on 31 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Reuters: The Islamic insurance industry, or takaful, is debating who should chip in extra cash when its funds see deficits, showing the conflict of interests between policy holders and shareholders caused by its hybrid structure.
Islamic insurance is similar to mutual insurance but with a clear segregation of the assets owned by policy holders and those owned by the insurer…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 31 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Business24-7.ae: Islamic loan volume exceeded $5.66 billion (Dh20.78bn) in Saudi Arabia during the May 2009 to May 2010 period, according to different research data. The loan volume in Qatar was the next highest at $2.75bn, followed by the UAE at $900 million, Bahrain at $540m, Turkey at $306m and Kuwait at $293m.
The Islamic finance industry would touch the $2 trillion mark in three to five years, said Rushdi Siddiqui, Global head of Islamic Finance, Thomson Reuters……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 31 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabnews.com: There is no doubt of the potential for Islamic finance in Russia and the CIS countries, but the major stumbling block is the absence of enabling legislation and a regulatory framework to facilitate Islamic financial products such as Murabaha, Ijara and sukuk.
These sentiments could not have been articulated better at the Moscow Forum on Islamic Finance & Investments which was held in the Russian capital last Thursday and attended by a host of local and international participants including Ali Hassan Jaafar, the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Russia…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 31 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Btimes.com.my: Backed with over 30 years of development in Islamic banking and finance, the country now has a deep capital market and broad range of consumer banking and Takaful products that attract both Muslims and non-Muslims.
Malaysia now has the critical mass of players - Syariah experts, products, tax incentives as well as legal clarity and certainty that support the expansion of Islamic banking and finance…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 31 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: Al Jazeera Finance has recently launched a new, more flexible approach to Shariah-Compliant financing, allowing customers a more comfortable manner in which to achieve their goals.
Al Jazeera Finance’s open financing assists its customers in creating tailor-made credit packages using Murabaha, Mosawama, Mosharaka and other Islamic financing models that can fully service their financing requirements unlike most banking models which focus on funding a single asset, says the company…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 31 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Guardian: The son-in-law of Tunisia’s president launched the country’s first Islamic bank on Friday to tap into growing demand for alternative finance and investment products in the secular-leaning country.
North Africa has begun to embrace Islamic finance after years watching from the sidelines, partly to channel more Arab Gulf petrodollars into the region…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 31 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tunisiaonlinenews.com: Zitouna Bank, the first Tunisian Islamic bank founded by the businessman, Mr. Mohamed Sakher El Materi, Chairman of “Princesse Holding Group”, officially started operations on Friday.
The inaugural ceremony, held at the Bank’s head offices, in EL Kram was attended by Messrs. Taoufik Baccar, Governor of Tunisia’s Central Bank (BCT), the Finance Minister Mohamed, Mr. Ridha Chalghoum, in presence of the Bank’s founder and a number of businessmen and finance professionals…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 31 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Bdnews24.com: The central bank has moved to introduce an independent, comprehensive guideline and monitoring system to supervise Islamic banking operations. The initiative has been included in the first-ever five-year strategic plan of the banking sector regulator.
The plan was officially unveiled at a programme on Sunday in the capital’s Hotel Purbani by Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 31 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Ameinfo.com: Emirates Islamic Bank, one of the financial institutions in the region is running “take-off with up to 40, 000 bonus Skywards Miles” promotion this travel season. In addition to the various advantages and benefits of Skywards EIB credit card, new credit card holders will now earn introductory bonus of up to 40, 000 Skywards Miles.
Customers who subscribe to the Skywards EIB Credit Card during the promotion period will benefit through tiered bonus packages, dependent on the type of their card. Also they will have the chance to earn up to 15,000 monthly Skywards mile through the new spend grids introduced…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 31 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulfnews.com: Arab banks have long neglected the East and their priority now is to focus towards the fast-developing region, said Sulaiman Al Mazroui, board member of the Union of Arab Banks (UAB), in an exclusive interview with Financial Review.
“We shouldn’t just concentrate on the West, [but] explore opportunities in India, China, Japan, the Far East, Malaysia, Indonesia [and] Singapore,” he said. “There are huge developments there.”……………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Gulf-times.com: Underpinned by the government’s sound fiscal measures, local banks have seen their assets growing by about 21% in the first quarter of this year compared with Q1, 2009, Qatar Central Bank Governor HE Sheikh Abdulla bin Saoud al-Thani has stated.
Addressing a business seminar on ‘changing market dynamics’ jointly hosted by Doha Bank and Doha Bank Assurance Company here he said measures undertaken by the QCB in line with Government directives have led to a ‘robust growth’ of the country’s banking industry…………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Thenational.ae: Dubai International Capital (DIC), the emirate’s premier investment vehicle, has reached a deal with its main bankers to delay repaying debts of US$2.6 billion (Dh9.55bn) for three months.
In a brief statement, the company said it and a “co-ordinating committee (Co-com) of banks presented a request to lenders for a three-month extension to September 30 of certain maturities…………………………………….Full Article: Source
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From Financeasia.com: The Malaysia sovereign ended an eight-year absence from the international debt markets with the issue of a $1.25 billion sukuk, or Islamic bond, early Friday morning. The 144A/Reg-S registered securities were issued with a five-year bullet that has been set to mature on June 4, 2015.
With a 3.93% fixed-rate coupon and a yield of 3.87%, this is only the second bond to be issued by an emerging market country in the past five years to yield below 4% — and the first ever by an Asian emerging market sovereign. The last country to issue at sub-4% was Russia, which sold a $5.5 billion dual-tranche bond in April that paid a yield of 3.741% on the $3.5 billion five-year tranche…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 31 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Ameinfo.com: In the last three years, policy makers and regulatory authorities have made progress in promoting the growth, competitiveness and development of the insurance industry in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
As the industry looks to build on this success, several key challenges will need to be addressed to sustain growth and bring the region in line with developed insurance markets around the world, according to a new study by Booz and Company……………………………………Full Article: Source
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From Thestar.com.my: Promoting takaful via agency is fast gaining prominence with more players now investing significantly to beef up their agency channel and grab a larger slice of the competitive takaful market.
This mode of distribution, according to an industry player, had become more significant in view of the “Takaful For All” approach adopted by newer takaful entrants whereby takaful could be sold or promoted by anyone regardless of faith and religious beliefs…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 31 May 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia: The Greek debt default problem which transformed into a Euro crisis, dragged down Islamic markets in May as the Dow Jones Islamic Indexes (DJIM) posted losses across the board during the month (-2.0% as of May 26).
In an Industry Commentary issued yesterday, DJIM said only two of its indexes posted positive returns: the DJIM Amana Sri Lanka Index (up 1.30%, closing at 1,766.82 points) and the Dow Jones Citigroup Sukuk Index (1% higher at 120.21 points)…………………………………….Full Article: Source
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