From Zawya Dow Jones: Islamic equity funds have come a long way since their launch in the 1980s. While the first Islamic banks were established in the Middle East in the 1970s, it took about ten more years until the first Islamic equity funds arrived. And surprisingly the first products were launched in the U.S., Singapore and South Africa, followed by Malaysia and then finally the Middle East.

In 1996, there were approximately 40 Islamic equity funds globally, today there are more than 400. This impressive growth was paralleled by a surge in assets under management. From 2000 to 2008, assets under management in Islamic equity funds grew at an average annual rate of 30%………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Cpifinancial.net: New research from The British University in Dubai shows GCC-based Islamic banks performed better during the recent recession than conventional banks. Study suggest that in general Islamic banks are less cost-efficient than conventional banks, possibly due to a lack of economies of scale or because customers are predisposed to Islamic products regardless of the cost.
Islamic banking practice performed better and showed greater resilience during the recent economic crisis than conventional banking practice, according to new research by The British University in Dubai (BUiD), a research-based postgraduate university…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-times.com: Shariah-compliant loans slumped to a five-year low in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the first half on credit-ratings downgrades and falling property prices.

Islamic syndicated loans declined 40% to $2.2bn, compared with a 5% drop in total lending to $304bn, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Real-estate prices have dropped 50% in the UAE from their peak in August 2008, according to estimates from Colliers International…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: London-based Gatehouse Bank, the latest Islamic bank to be authorized by the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA), has acquired One Sovereign Street, the home of British Telecom (BT’s) regional headquarters in Leeds, for 40.175 million pounds sterling in one of the biggest commercial property deals to be closed in Yorkshire this year.

One Sovereign Street represents Gatehouse’s third real estate acquisition in the UK to date following its acquisition of the headquarters of Proctor & Gamble in Weybridge, Surrey in December 2009 and a portfolio of student accommodation units in Liverpool and Loughborough in March 2010…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) is planning to increase its capital base. The bank said it is to boost its paid-up capital to address the growth requirements of its finance and investment portfolios.

The decision was taken during a board meeting under the chairmanship of Khalid Abdulla Al Bassam. Mr Al Bassam said the bank has registered non-cash losses to the tune of BD5.7 million for the first half of this year…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Saudigazette.com.sa: The Saudi Arabian economy remains one of the strongest in the region, and indeed globally, at a time when macroeconomic concerns still abound on the pace of recovery after the financial crisis of 2008-2009, the “Saudi Factbook 2010” report by NCB Capital said on Saturday.
The performance of the Saudi economy has been characterized by considerable resilience in the face of the global economic slowdown…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Saudigazette.com.sa: Saudi Hollandi Bank’s second-quarter net profit more than doubled, beating analysts’ forecasts, helped by falling operational costs.
The bank made a net profit of SR250.5 million ($66.8 million) in the three months to end-June 30, up from SR90.6 million in the year-earlier period, it said in a statement on the Saudi bourse website on Saturday…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Saudi Hollandi Bank had the best second quarter among three local lenders that announced quarterly earnings yesterday after it cut costs by more than half to offset a decline in lending income.

The bank, part owned by a Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium that may sell its stake through a public offering, has more than doubled its net profit in the three months to June end to 250.5 million Saudi riyals ($66.8m), beating analysts’ forecasts…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Al-Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s biggest lender by market value, said second-quarter profit increased 0.5 percent as the Islamic lender maintained its “conservative” provisioning policies against bad loans.

Net income advanced to 1.78 billion riyals ($470 million) from 1.77 billion riyals in the year-earlier period, the Riyadh- based bank said in a statement on the Saudi bourse website today. That beat the 1.73 billion-riyal median estimate of four analysts…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: International Islamic (QIIB) posted net profit of QR272.3m in the first half (H1) of 2010 ended June 30 compared to QR 255.2m in the corresponding period last year, showing a 6.7 percent growth.

Announcing the H1 results QIIB Chairman and Managing Director, Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani Al Thani (pictured left) said the results show that International Islamic has maintained its planned growth and further strengthened its position in the local banking sector, which has greatly benefited from Qatar’s economic development…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Tradearabia.com: The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has appointed Mark Watts as the new head of Fixed Income as part of its plans to strengthen the Asset Management Group’s (AMG) team.

Before joining NBAD’s asset management group, Watts worked at European Finance House, a London-based Islamic bank, where he founded the asset management function and served as the head of asset management…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Visa has said the number of payment transactions across the GCC has grown 19.4% in Q1 2010. Nominal payment growth also rose by 18.9% in the same period.
The increase was attributed to a number of key debit partnerships the payment solutions provider signed with GCC based banks last year including ADIB, Emirates NBD, HSBC, Dubai Islamic Bank, Doha Bank Qatar, Bahrain Islamic Bank Bahrain, NBK Kuwait and KFH Kuwait…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: “That’s Why” is the name of a worldwide media campaign that the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has launched to raise public awareness about its economic and social development efforts around the world.

Nine short videos are being aired via CNN, France 24 and Al-Jazeera networks, coinciding with the 35th annual meeting of the IDB in the Azeri capital of Baku last month…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: The failures of 10 rupiah sukuk auctions this year are prompting Indonesia’s finance ministry to revive demand for its Islamic debt by tapping international investors and possibly changing its sales practices.

The world’s most-populous Muslim nation raised 4.9 trillion rupiah ($540 million) from notes that comply with Islam’s ban on interest in 2010, down 40 percent from a year earlier, according to the finance ministry’s Debt Management Office. The next auction on July 13 is seeking 1 trillion rupiah…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Ameinfo.com: Ali Al Emadi, chief executive of Qatar National Bank (QNB) has said the lender is not planning a bond sale this year as it balance sheet remains “extremely liquid,” Reuters has reported.
The bank also plans to increase its ownership stake in its Syrian unit, QNB Syria, to 55% from the current 49%, he said. QNB will raise the Syrian unit’s share capital by $200m to $300m as part of the increase in ownership…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Nst.com.my: The Defence Ministry of Malaysia plans to use the sukuk system to pay contractors involved in upgrading 100 military camps and other facilities at the cost of RM3.5 billion under the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP).

Its minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the system would be implemented if it was approved by the Finance Ministry and the Public Private Partnership Unit of the Prime Minister’’s Department…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Alcoa’s joint-venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden) has raised $4.5 billion in debt for their giant aluminum project. Pricing for the combined conventional and Islamic debt ranges from 165 to 275 basis points over Saudi Interbank Offered Rate (SAIBOR) depending on riyal and dollar funding and the stage of projects.
The $7.5 billion project, expected to be one of the world’s largest aluminum projects, consists of a rolling mill and a smelter which will each be financed separately and signed by September, bankers said…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Constructionweekonline.com: Barwa Real Estate Company’s vehicle for its Barwa City development is to enter into a Shariah-compliant property purchase deal with Qatari Diar Finance.

The deal between Barwa City Real Estate Company and the Qatari Real Estate subsidiary will also extend to real estate projects undertaken by Barwa Financial District WLL and Barwa Commercial Avenue Company WLL, providing capital and discharging liabilities previously incurred in connection with those projects, according to Ghanim Al Saad, Barwa Real Estate Company chairman and managing director and Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment company managing director…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Malaysia is fast establishing itself as the global hub for dedicated Islamic fund management companies. The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), the securities regulator chaired by Zarinah Anwar, granted at the end of June 2010 the latest Islamic fund management license to Saturna Capital Corp., an American fund manager with a good track record in managing Shariah-compliant funds.
This brings the number of dedicated Islamic fund management companies licensed in Malaysia to twelve…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Bernama: As the global economy develops slowly, the government is undertaking a form of economic transformation by focusing more on new sectors and development of the domestic economy. Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanazlah said new sectors such as Islamic finance where Malaysia occupies the top spot globally and services, can support the fall in manufacturing exports.

He said the move to expand domestic investments is the right action towards the projection for the Malaysian economy to expand positively…………………………………..Full Article: Source

From Albawaba.com: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), an autonomous entity within the IDB Group, received a historic recognition for its ground-breaking Structured Murabaha sugar trade finance deal for Indonesia when it scooped the prestigious “Deal of the Year” Award 2009 from Euromoney.
In addition the ITFC also received a global corporate banking recognition, the EMEA Award for Excellence as the Best Development Financial Institution (DFI) Middle East also from Euromoney…………………………………..Full Article: Source