Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Reuters: A small British manufacturer has become the first company in Europe to raise funds through sukuk, kicking off an industry which has struggled to find traction in the wake of debt worries in Islamic finance centre Dubai.
International Innovative Technologies, a maker of industrial milling machines in northeast England, has raised $10 million (6 million pounds) through a private-equity-style sukuk to help develop new products, its legal adviser, Norton Rose, told Reuters……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Bloomberg: Malaysia is attracting Islamic investment funds from the U.S. seeking higher returns in Asia as growth in developed economies slows.
“Emerging markets is where we see global growth going for the next couple of decades and the source for a lot better opportunities,” Bryce Fegley, chief investment officer at Saturna Sdn., the Malaysian unit of Saturna Capital LLC, the biggest Shariah-compliant stock fund in the U.S., said………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Mn.ru: As Russia’s 20 million Muslims observe the holy month of Ramadan, the country’s banks are beginning to wake up to the growing opportunities offered by Islamic banking.
But more than the strict ethical guidelines that govern Islamic banking, it’s a cultural leap that is proving the most difficult for Russian bankers……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulf-times.com: HSBC Amanah Qatar launched HSBC Amanah Premier - the world’s first Islamic banking service aimed at internationally mobile, affluent consumers.
HSBC Amanah Premier, a cross-border Islamic banking and wealth management service, is an expansion of HSBC’s market-leading premium banking proposition HSBC Premier, offering customers access to HSBC Premier benefits with sharia-compliant products……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabtimesonline.com: Aggregate profit of the GCC banking sector (banks under coverage excluding DIB and Burgan bank) posted a decline of 5%YoY and 10%QoQ in 2Q10. Poor bottom-line performance was exhibited by UAE banks that declined by 30%YoY with a further dampening act coming from KSA banks which were down by 7%YoY.
The aggregate net interest income of GCC banks grew by a meager 1%YoY, spelling out stagnancy in the top-line……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Cpifinancial.net: First Energy Bank (FEB) announced a net profit of $6 million for the first half of 2010, an increase over the $5.6 million achieved during the same period last year.
FEB also reported achieving a gross income of $18.1 million in the first half, registering a boost over last year’s $16.6 million for the same period, with total assets of $1.21 billion of which 51 per cent of assets were liquid……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: Bahrain’s Gulf Finance House (GFH) plans to raise its capital, the second such increase in less than a year, as the investment firm hit hard by a regional property crash seeks to boost liquidity.
GFH, in its statement to the Dubai Financial Market on Monday, did not say how much capital it plans to raise, only saying it would restructure its business……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabnews.com: Bahrain-based Ithmaar Bank, an Islamic, retail-focused bank, reported a profit attributable to the shareholders’ for the second consecutive quarter and announced year-to-date profits of $4.6 million as compared to a loss of $47.6 million during the same period last year.
It is Ithmaar’s first financial reporting as an Islamic retail bank following its successful reorganization in April with its then wholly owned subsidiary, Shamil Bank……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Reuters: Egypt’s National Bank for Development (NBD) said its net loss widened 4.7 percent in the first half of the year, according to a statement published by the Egyptian stock exchange on Monday.
The bank reported a net loss of 203.4 million Egyptian pounds in the period from December 31, 2009 to June 30, 2010, up from a loss of 194.2 million pounds in the same period last year……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Hudson-ny.org: Even more troubling is the potential cover provided by Sharia finance for the financing of terrorism. Sharia law requires Muslims to donate as a tithe a percentage of their money to charity, called ‘Zakat.’
There is roughly US$ 3.5 billion donated by Muslims as ‘Zakat’ [Islamic Charity]; the use of these monies, as per provisions of Islam, is in spreading the words of this religion. For this reason, a vast segment of Zakat funding goes to toward patronizing pro-Islamist — or even pro-Jihadist — media internationally……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gazeta.kz: The announcement last week by the Kelantan state government in Malaysia that it is introducing gold dinars and silver dirhams as legal tender alongside the Malaysian ringgit, is a damp squib of a failed attempt at financial UDI (unilateral declaration of independence).
Perhaps more importantly, it betrays the financial and monetary policy illiteracy which has been symptomatic of the ruling PAS administration since it won power at the state level in 1990. PAS is the Islamic Party of Malaysia which has a running battle with UMNO (United Malays National Organization), over who really represents the Muslims in the southeast Asian country……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabianbusiness.com: Muwa’adah is a permissible basis for forward currency transactions, a respected sharia adviser said on Monday, challenging a widely held view which has limited the range of Islamic hedging tools.
The use of muwa’adah or mutual promise in forward foreign exchange contracts has drawn strong criticism from a broad section of the industry who say it can lead to riba or usury which is forbidden by Islam……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Albawaba.com: Bahrain Financial Harbour Holding Company B.S.C., whose owners, Emar Bahrain, agreed to purchase Gulf Finance House’s 49.88% investment in BFHHC in June 2010, announced it has fully repaid a US$134 million sukuk facility arranged by Liquidity Management Centre which was used to finance the construction of the Financial Centre within Bahrain Financial Harbour.
GFH advised upon the structure of the sukuk and raised funds for the facility as part of its remit as financial advisor to Bahrain Financial Harbour, as well as being the originator and driving force behind the project……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Cpifinancial.net: MARC has withdrawn its DIS ratings on Ingress Sukuk Berhad’s (ISB) RM160 million Sukuk Al Ijarah Programme with immediate effect following the full redemption of the Sukuk and cancellation of the programme on July 2, 2010, as confirmed by its facility agent, HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad.………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulfnews.com: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), the UAE’s third-largest lender by assets, became the second Abu Dhabi-based bank to tap the Southeast Asian pool of liquidity this year when it kicked off its 3.5 billion Malaysian ringgit (Dh4.04 billion) medium-term note (MTN) programme yesterday.
The first phase will see the issuance of 500 million ringgit in five-year bonds going up to 3.5 billion ringgit, the bank said……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Khaleejtimes.com: Dubai-based mortgage company Tamweel reported on Monday its fourth straight quarterly profit while its rival, Amlak Finance, said it narrowed its loss as provisions for bad loans fell in the second quarter.
Tamweel posted a net income of Dh5.4 million in the three months to June 30, compared with a loss of Dh35 million a year ago, the UAE’s leading Shariah-compliant mortgage provider said in a statement to the Dubai bourse……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Bloomberg: Barwa Real Estate Co. reported a 33 percent increase in first-half profit as the largest Qatari developer by assets received help from the gas-rich country’s government to repay some Islamic finance obligations.
Net income rose to 498.4 million riyals ($137 million), or 1.63 riyals a share, from 374.2 million riyals, or 1.43 riyals, in the year-earlier period, the company said in a statement to the Qatar Exchange website today……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 17 August 2010 by Laxman | Email|Print
From WSJ: How fraught is the debate over the proposed Ground Zero mosque? Even President Obama can’t seem to decide, or at least to say clearly, what he thinks about it. First, at a White House dinner in honor of Ramadan on Friday, the President gave an unqualified defense of building the mosque on religious freedom grounds.
Then a day later he said he was only backing the “right” to build the mosque, not the wisdom of doing so near such a politically sensitive site. On the latter, he is apparently taking no view……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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